The almost finished playhouse

The kids' playhouse is almost finished! Just a bit more painting and decorating inside and out and it'll be done. In the meantime, here it is!

Joseph insisted on green walls, so green is what he got. We applied a pink/green/yellow fabric on one wall to cover the wall seams and add some fun. 

We left one light fixture where it was originally, and then after painting the floor joists and hanging cover panels, joe hung Christmas lights for lots of extra light. And heat. Cause they definitely warm the space up!

We hung a bunch of hooks on the walls and installed a few mirrors from the playroom in the old house. 

I also brought the sink and stove downstairs and although the "fridge" doesn't fit, I was able to repurpose the toy storage of little bins for the play food. Leftover pillows from Aunt Toots' classroom and an old rotary phone from my grandmother, and the space is all set!

They love playing down there and I'm excited to see them use the space as they grow!

A trip to the zoo

The weather Thursday was gorgeous, so I took the kids to the Zoo. The last time we went Josrph wanted to ride the team, which goes down to Africa, so we hopped on it right away. I decided to take the kids on the Sky Safari which takes you high over the plains where a number of different animals roam free. It was really neat!

We even were able to catch a glimpse of the baby giraffe. 

From there we headed to see the monkeys, leopards and gorillas. We had gotten a late start so the kids were wearing down. 

After a quick trip on the team back to the main part of the zoo, we caught the trains to see the camels, llamas and kangaroos. Joseph asked to get off the train so he could check out the snakes, so we headed there next. 

We then stopped to watch the polar bear play. Maddie was amazed and it was hard to convince them it was time to leave. I love having a membership so we can go and play for a few hours when the weather is nice!

Checking out the "water park"

On Tuesday I took the kids to the Tiffany Springs Aquatic Center. They allow little kids to come out early in the morning and play without any bigger kids. We had never been before but I know we will be back! The kids had a great time playing and after a while our neighbor Owen showed up, so Joseph had even more fun! 

I went down the slides with both kids after a while, noticing that Joseph wasn't trying them. Apparently that was the little push he needed, as he wouldn't do much else after that! I knew he would like them, but was happy to see him having such a great time. 

Owen, Maddie, and Joseph were the last kids out when the session was over, so it was definitely a success. I hope we are able to make it back a few more times before summer is over!

Hills of Walden Typhoons Swim Meet

This morning Joseph participated in the Hills of a Walden Typhoons swim meet! The typhoons are the training team for the swim team, and we've been going to "practice" four days a week for the last seven weeks. When he started, Joseph wasn't comfortable putting his face in the water and wasn't sure about swimming without his puddle jumper. He has made great progress this year!

Hanging out with his friend William before the start of the meet. They had all of the kids swim in three events-kick with the kick board unassisted, a length of freestyle and a length of backstroke. 

Joseph did great! He didn't complain about having to jump in, although he decided to hold off on trying to jump from the blocks until next year. He's gotten a lot more comfortable on his back and is working hard to get those arms and legs going the right direction. And he's figured out how to paddle and kick with his face in the water doing freestyle. He definitely learned a lot this summer!

After the meet, the kids got to enjoy sprinkle donuts and juice before the award ceremony. 

Joseph was pretty excited about getting his swim medal!

A group picture, although a few of the coaches were missing. Joseph had at most a 3-1 ratio all summer, but usually it was 2-1 which was nice. 

The boys in Joseph's group with coach Kirsten. 

I'm so glad we signed him up for this program and look forward to doing it someday with Maddie! 

Trains !

This weekend we watched Mason while Ashley and Mikael were at a wedding. We took the kids to the KC Northern Railroad and they had lots of fun riding the train over and over. 

Mason was really funny. He wouldn't mile when prompted and really didn't want his picture taken. 

But they all had a lot of fun, and I'm glad Maddir has warmed back up to riding trains!

This ship has sailed

After 9 months of taking up a big chunk of prime garage real estate, we (read:Joe) finally decided it was time to move the pirate ship. Although we have no idea when it will be reused or repurposed, Joe installed a couple of hooks in the garage yesterday to hoist the pirate ship shell up to the tip top of the garage. Hooray for having the floor back! 

Buggies!

The kids have entered a phase whereby they love bugs. And and all. The creepier the better and yes, they love to pick up dead ones and show them to us. 

Imagine my surprise when I came outside to see them staring intently at something on the ground, and Maddie is chirping "mommy! Look at this mommy! Buggies!" Turns out, they has found a lizard and it's baby. We hear them rustling around in the bushes all the time but rarely see them. 

I had been sweeping out the garage and thought they were hiding in a piece of garbage. I was surprised they weren't running off to hide, but figured they'd be gone once we came back. Except they weren't, because that piece of garbage was actually a glue trap left behind by the exterminator last week. Oops. I'm glad I didn't have to explain that one to the kids  and am a little sad to see the lizards end up with that fate. 

Finally fishing

Yesterday morning after breakfast we headed to the marina so Joseph could go fishing. I'm embarrassed to say it was our first time going to the marina but won't make that mistake again. We had such a fun time!

Joseph had done some fishing earlier this summer with Elliot, and we were all impressed that he knew how to cast so well. Maddie just took everything in and waited to take a turn. 

Joseph "let" her carry his tackle box around, which made her happy. She is his biggest fan, cheering "yay jojo, good fishin'!" Every time he cast. 

Eventually papa helped Maddie takes turn, which didn't last long. 

So, we didn't catch anything. Turns out the fish don't care whether you have a hook or not... Which we didn't for the first half of fishing as I hadn't bought any yet. Oops. Thankfully a nice neighbor gave us one, but it didn't change the outcome. 

We will just have to wait for a story about catching a Riss lake fish for another time (hopefully when I have backup again!)

Swimming!

Last night we went to the pool for a bit. Joseph was very hesitant to swim without the puddle-jumper , but eventually agreed. After convincing him to look underwater with his goggles on, he started to realize he could see and that was really fun for him. All of a sudden, while he had his face in the water he pushed off the floor and started swimming, completely unassisted! I think he surprised himself and shocked us all! We were so excited, as was he, that he continued swimming his own crawl style for the remainder of the night. He even stopped briefly to exclaim "this is so much fun!"  It took a lot of convincing to get him out of the pool. 

We went back this afternoon after he asked to swim, but he was less enthusiastic today and didn't really swim unassisted at all. Hopefully we can keep him working on it as he has his last week of swim class this week!

A morning through the eyes of a 4 year old

This morning the kids and I went with Mimi and papa to The Corner Cafe for breakfast while Joe stayed home to work on the playhouse. Joseph took my phone outside with him, Maddie and Papa after they were done eating, and I guess he decided to take some pictures. 

It's fun to see things from his perspective! I forget what it's like to be a tiny little kid and how different things look when you are 4 feet tall. 

Look a likes

This little cutie looks an awful lot like her parents at the same age!

5th of July Parade

Last night we spent a couple of hours shooting off fireworks. The kids had fun taking turns picking which ones, and interspersed a few rounds of sparklers. 

We bought way more than we could feasibly do in one night, especially with an early morning the next day. 

This morning was the 5k and 1mile fun run. Lisa, Dan, Joe and I did the 5k, while mom ran with all the kids. We left her with our double stroller, assuming she would want it for Maddie and Claire. Turns out, once Maddie saw everyone else running, she wanted to also and hopped out. Apparently she jogged almost the entire way, still in her jammies! 

We didn't have great expectations for the. 5k, but joe placed 15th overall, and 2nd in his age group. Lisa came in 4th in her age group, and I was 5th in my age group. Dan did great too! It helps when there are only 150ish runners :).

After the race we went to the fire station for a pancake breakfast, then staked out spots on the parade route. The kids were really excited when the first car came rolling by!

This parade was mainly lots and lots of cars, and not a lot else. Luckily there were plenty of people throwing candy to the kids, so they had a great time. 

Joseph was great about sharing his candy with Maddie, who wasn't quite old enough to figure out how to stand still, look cute and pick up the pieces thrown to her fast enough. 

That's ok, because Papa bought her a balloon from a vendor that she was really excited about. 

Early morning races and parades are tough work! We went back to the hotel for early naps, so the kids would have enough energy to get through another fun afternoon of fireworks and carnival rides. 

Lisa brought her camera out tonight, and I can't wait to see her pictures of the kids having fun at the carnival!