Hot tub, please

We were eating lunch this week and I was talking to the kids about their upcoming swimming lessons. Gemma perked up when she heard the word swimming.

Gemma: swimming? Swimming mom? Mom! Mom! Swimming?
Mom: yes, we will go swimming.
Gemma: I swim!!!! Swimming suit!!! Yes!!!

(All of a sudden, she swung her head back toward me as if an idea had just occurred to her)

Gemma: swimming suit?? Hot tub?? Babpa? Babpa? Hot tub?
Mom: you like to sit with grandpa in the hot tub?
Gemma: (head in hands with a dreamy look in her eyes) yes. Yes.

Then I had to figure out a gentle way to break it to her that she wasn't signed up for lessons, so she wouldn't need her swimming suit, and grandpa wouldn't be there.

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Amelia conversation

Background:

We were at the resort with my family and we were discussing getting ready to go to the pool. With so many of us, there is always some strategizing to get people anywhere. Who is going? For how long? When are you going? What are we going to do after that? Has anyone seen my missing ____________ ?

Amelia picked up on the fact grandma might be swimming immediately.

Amelia: grandma! Grandma! Do you really have a swimming suit?
Grandma: yes, I do.
Amelia: you do? Why haven't I seen it?
Grandma: well, the swimming suit is ancient and I'm not sure I want to wear it.
Amelia: you should wear it! It will be so fun! I'll show you how I can (insert pool tricks Amelia has mastered).
Grandma: well, I'll look at my swimming suit and decide if I think it will be okay.

(Later, at the pool)

(Grandma walks in wearing her swimming suit)

Amelia: oh! Look! There is grandma! She looks beautiful in her Egyptian swimming suit! I've never seen an Egyptian swimming suit!

Apparently, if something is ancient, it must also be Egyptian.

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Gemma is not allowed at the splash pad

There is a park by our house that has a splash pad area. Basically, it is a small concrete area that has sprinklers shooting out of it at random times. There is a more standard swings and slides park adjacent to this park. This summer has been a small battle as some days aren't conducive for splash pad. If we have to go somewhere else, the kids will be soaking wet when we get there. I also don't always have towels and extra diapers on hand in the car. Other days it is too crowded/rainy/muddy.

This day, I told the kids NO SPLASH PAD. I can't remember why, but everyone was very good about listening. That is, until Gemma discovered the drinking fountain was malfunctioning.

The fountain still worked, it just had too much pressure. When the button was pressed, the water over shot the fountain by several feet.

Gemma was fascinated. She would not leave it alone. After a few minutes, she had it figured out. If she pressed it and then stuck her head out far enough, she would get her head wet. Despite my protests and attempts to distract her, Gemma managed to play with the fountain until she was totally wet.

Good thing the splash pad was off limits, right?

More crazy

This piece is the portion we completed this last weekend. John built yet another retaining wall. This one is in our backyard under our deck. The grass didn't really grow because it didn't get enough sun.

The wall and rock look really nice here and make me wonder why didn't do this years ago. While we were back there, we cleaned up the patio and the steps of the deck. The backyard is much nicer looking now!

The problem is that we STILL HAVE the rock pile currently on the driveway, even with all of these additional projects. Next up, John is going to try and squeeze a little extra rock in a few other places and then built yet another retaining wall to hold what we hope will be the last of the rock.

Although this rock turned into WAY more than we had planned, our yard is looking nice. For the last 3ish years (since my pregnancy with Gemma), we have just been doing enough to get by and not worrying about really making things nice again. It was just too hard with 3 little ones and not enough time. It makes me happy every time I drive up and see how nice everything looks.

I think I would be happier to drive up and see the driveway missing the rock pile, but I'll take what I can get!

I love crazy, an update

As of this morning, here is the rock pile remaining on our driveway. It feels like it is never going to go away! We have added multiple projects that weren't planned until we had the big pile to use up! It's hard work, but things are starting to look nice!

The second photo shows the area we initially purchased the rock to fill.

The last picture here is where we extended our retaining wall in the front yard to join it to our front step. It looks really nice and like it has always been there. We filled this area with rock from the big pile.

After that area was full, we had left over rock, so we repurposed the edging pieces from the mulch and created tree rings. The two tree rings are just barely visible in the first picture in the series.


Of course, I am incapable of writing about this without reminding you all that we wouldn't have this problem if we had used my rough estimate when ordering the rock (I have to hold this victory near and dear as it may be the ONLY time in my marriage when my estimation will be correct. I will fully admit that I am NOT a person you want to trust with giving you an estimate for anything. John is so precise and careful, he is almost always correct. Therefore, I have to take full advantage while I can. The opportunity likely will not come around again soon.)

More 4th!

Even our hair accessories are patriotic! What is better than a curly hair girl with curly ribbons? Nothing.

We drove back to Rochester after lunch on the 4th and managed to catch the parade in the next town over. I will always include a parade on my summer bucket list. Lucky for me, every one else was willing to play along!

We are a picnic while we waited and enjoyed the weather. After the parade, we put Gemma to bed and took the big kids to see fireworks with Kaye and Scott. (John stayed home with Gemma. We obviously didn't leave her alone).

The next day, we packed everyone back up in the van and we made the long drive home again. What a wonderful trip! The kids are already talking about next year....

4th of July

Sadly, we had to leave the lake resort on the 4th of July. However, we had other exciting plans for the day!

It's always fun to find something a little festive to wear on a holiday like this one, I made sure to plan ahead for everyone but me! Isn't that the way it usually goes? I don't know of I'll ever find a 4th of July shirt that is more perfect for William. Dinosaur with flag? Perfection. Huge credit goes to John for spying this gem last month while we were at the lake of the Ozarks! You'll notice that William has his staple accessory of swim goggles still.