Xander is learning all four strokes in swimming lessons this fall. Go, Xander!!! It is so fun to see his progression from one lesson to the next. He’s listening really well and catching on quickly and will be moving up to the next level in October. I think his favorite thing thus far is the dolphin kick from the butterfly stroke…of course! 🙂
Roman just started his third season of playing soccer. He had his first game today and rocked it out until all of the games were called off early due to the stormy weather. It’s so fun to watch him play with old friends and new friends and to watch the magic that coaches of little people can work to help them grow so much each season.
After a year of gymnastics and a year of rock climbing, Jonas wanted to try his hand (or rather his foot) at soccer this fall. His first two practices got off to a rocky start with a no show coach both times (I actually ended up coaching one of his practices with the help of a few older, soccer-playing siblings). Jonas had his first game today and did a GREAT job of getting in there (especially considering the fact that he hasn’t had any real soccer training since the one season he played when he was four AND the fact that it was blazingly, ridiculously hot). The assistant coach stepped up to be the head coach and did such a wonderful job guiding the boys through their first game of the season.
Xander championed his first aquatic animal rescue this weekend!!!
It has been a while since we’ve hung out in the backyard because it’s been so brutally hot lately. But it was actually really nice out today, so we all hung outside together for a little backyard clean up time. We have a water feature in our backyard that somehow became home to a few frogs. And before Tom dumped out the baby pool (which had been there for a while with water in it), he realized that there were hundreds of tadpoles in it. When Xander saw all of those little baby tadpoles, he started crying when he thought of them dying. (I was right there with him in my heart.) So, I told him to run and ask the neighbors for their butterfly net, and we scooped all of the tadpoles into a plastic fish bowl. Then, we loaded up in the van and headed to the creek to set them free. I love Xander’s heart. Yay for Operation Tadpole Rescue!!!
“All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.”
Roman and I drove out to Pratt’s Orchard this morning to go peach picking with some friends. It was hot, but there were a lot of peaches to be picked. We came home with three bags of China Pearl peaches and made some delicious peach jam.
I love this picture of Xander blowing off some steam after school, playing in the sprinkler. He is our resident water dog. He started swim lessons this week and will be working on learning all four strokes…a good thing to know as a future dolphin trainer. 🙂
The boys and I headed to the Cornerstone Indoor Playground this morning. It ended up being a little bit crowded (I guess everybody else was looking to beat the heat and let the kids burn off some energy too). But they still had a good time running around being wild. 🙂
Roman started swim lessons this week!!! He took right to it (except for the floating on his back part). The pool is super cold, so he’s enjoying wearing a wet suit too.
The boys and I went blueberry picking today at Valley Home Farm!!! That place just keeps getting better…not only do they have strawberries for picking but now they have blueberries AND blackberries. We met some dear friends there, that we have been fruit picking every spring and summer with since Roman was 2 months old…so precious. The boys all had homemade blueberry ice cream afterwards, and I had a homemade strawberry honey pop. Delicious. Kim and I sat on the shaded deck and got to visit a little bit while the kids ran around the farm. It was a good morning.
The boys had VBS at Holy Family this week and loved it!!!
The boys and I went downtown to the Cumberland Park Sprayground this morning. The coolest part by far was seeing the Blue Angels fly over the parking lot and hearing them break the sound barrier…I was jumping up and down and hooting and hollering…and the boys were super pumped about it too. We met one of our good neighbor friends at the sprayground, and the kids had a blast together. We picnicked and picked up an ice cream treat on our way out. I was smiley about a first for me…all three of the boys went into the boys bathroom with their dry clothes in hand and came out with their wet clothes in hand!!! It’s the little things. 🙂
Tom and the boys and I put out flags in our neighborhood (for the HOA) in honor of Memorial Day. I gave Tom a hard time about using a cordless drill to make the holes for the flags, but it TOTALLY worked and made things so much easier. The boys had a good time running all over the neighborhood and helping out.
We went to the Smyrna Splash Pad this afternoon! We had a picnic under a shady tree and had fun running around in the water.
The wagon that the Paccassis gave us for Christmas comes in SO handy for outings like these filled up with a cooler full of food, sunscreen, and dry towels and clothes. And I’m absolutely loving the rash guards that I found on clearance at Lands End with SPF 50 in them (thanks to a tip from Xander’s piano teacher)…I think they’re going to save my skin this summer.
I took the boys to gymnastics this morning. We met some moms and kids from our moms’ group, and if truth be told…I left crying. Ha! Funny now but not then. The boys were not listening and running around like wild banshees. I had to go and ask the gymnastics coach, as she was taking payments, what her rules were so that I could enforce them with my boys (because I knew they would push every boundary they could until they found out what they were). What made it a little more tough was that there were lots of little ones there who are used to having the gym all to themselves at that time. Suffice it to say that I will not be taking them back there this summer. They still had a good time, so I guess that counts for something.
We went to Percy Priest Lake this morning. I had never been there before, and I probably never would have braved going with the boys had it not been for my dear neighbor sending the moms’ club invite (and for Tom coming with us since it was his 41st birthday today!!!). It definitely gives you that feeling of being “somewhere else”…wading in the water, playing in the sand, etc. We enjoyed a picnic with friends in the shade afterwards and the kids had fun running around on the playground. We hope to go back soon.
The boys and I went to the zoo this afternoon. It was good times…even though we had tantrums over maps, potty emergencies, and three strong willed little boys running all over the place with selective hearing…we had a wait in a hot long line thwarted and handled with maturity by a 7 year old, a quiet 5 year old using his getting lost skills and approaching a zoo employee and giving her important information to locate his mommy (sitting 10 feet away), and big brothers giving little brothers piggy back rides. An overall success. 🙂
Story times and marionette shows at the Nashville Public Library downtown are such a treasure!!! We are so grateful for the wonderful cast of people who work so hard to bring joy to the lives of children and their parents in that children’s theater.
This morning, the boys and I got to the children’s library a little bit early to check out the play structure, climbing wall, puppet theater, and tinkering tables (although they all immediately got sucked in by the iBoard and iPad). Then, we met friends for a marionette show, “The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings”.
It was good times (except for Xander’s meltdown over sharing the iBoard that could be heard through the entire second floor of the library and Roman pushing some little girl trying to get her to “sit down” instead of reaching up for the smoke special effects even though he himself was standing up). Sigh…such are the ups and downs of experiencing life with children. Here’s to more of that this summer…
The boys and I spent the afternoon at Pinkerton Park with friends. We packed a picnic lunch and played on the playgrounds, dug in the sandbox, climbed the rope pyramid, and took a walk. It was fun. It was exhausting. I’m sure we’ll go back again this summer. 🙂
Jonas had a dentist appointment this morning, so I packed up our stale bread for feeding the ducks at a little pond close by on our way to the park.
Roman’s preschool put together such a sweet Mother’s Day Luncheon for the moms and kids. I wish Roman had gotten the sweetness memo…ha ha!!! I don’t know what it is with our family and these types of things but they seldom work out for us. I thought it would be easier this year with just one child but no dice. I almost picked him up and left early at one point but decided to wait it out to see if the tantrums got better after he ate. I tried not to let Comparative Mommy Brain take over and just go with it. I sat in the floor with him and watched the science show after lunch which was great fun. We even got to get up and participate in a science experiment! I think his favorite part was the cotton candy and mine was the peace that came over him while he was eating it. 🙂
