Amelia jumps

Here is Amelia jumping in!

William cannonballs

William has been very anxious to try out his "cannonball" technique this summer....

Tantara, Lake of the Ozarks

Last week was the annual professional meeting for adult education programs that is held every year at Tantara. This is the third year I have attended and the second year I've brought the whole family. I presented again this year and I felt like it went really well. I had a brief conversation with someone from the state department of adult education after my presentation about some other opportunities in the future. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

Our location wasn't as good this year, but we had a nicer room with some exciting features that made up for it.

All three kids were anxious to hit the pool area. William, Amelia and Gemma hopped in without any problem, but Gemma wasn't thrilled. Guess it's been too long! It took her a good hour to unwrap herself from my head and then she finally started to enjoy herself. And boy, then she was a wriggling fish! She was hard to hang on to after that!

More pictures to come!

More Father's Day

This is the first time we've been to the Magic House and really let Gemma participate. She has always been too little. This time she is finally perfect! She had a blast!

She also loved the baby area and enjoyed copying Amelia's every move, although much less carefully with her poor baby. Her favorite part was rocking with her baby in the chair!

William

So, William was having a great time cooking pizzas while Amelia was tending to her babies.

Rewind: back to Father's Day

Life has been non stop lately and I can't keep up. I hate, hate things being out of order. I dislike it so much, I sometimes don't write anything, just so it will be in order. I had to give that up this month!

Here is Amelia at the Magic House on
Father's Day in the hospital nursery room. Amelia has been here before, but this time she was totally captivated. She tenderly held the babies and insisted on doing everything herself, in order, according to the checklist on the walls. She adored the process and in a beautiful moment turned to me and said, "mom? Can I be a baby doctor when I grow up? Do girls do that job?"

Which I then assured her, yes. Yes, she can do that job, she do any job she can imagine. Nothing is off limits.

Apparently, I slipped onto my soapbox with this particular topic because just as I was getting warmed up, Amelia turned back to me and said something like, "sure mom. Is it lunch time?"

Conversations

It's lunch time and I'm running around like crazy trying to get food to the table for 3 kids and fold a basket of clothes before they become unacceptably wrinkly. I was probably not at my most patient, especially as I was super hungry myself.

William: mom! I don't like this fruit! I hate these dried blueberries.

Mom: what? You've never tried them. It's like raisins, but with blueberries. You like raisins, try these.

William: I just know I don't like them! I'm not eating them! I won't!

Mom: how about you just try a few?

William: (yelling loudly) I WILL NOT!! I WON'T EAT THEM!

Mom: William, you need to talk to mom in a different voice - this one isn't very nice.

William: (now in a higher pitch voice) I do not want these blueberries. I don't like them. I won't eat them*.

And then it took everything I had not to laugh out loud.

* he ended up eating them. Because they are a lot like raisins and we love raisins. Also: because I knew he would like them.

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