Beat the Heat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What can you do when it is literally over 100 degrees outside???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided if we were going to be outside the past few days, we either had to play in the sprinkler, make our own water slide or go to the pool!

Thursday and Friday, our friend Tara invited us to swim.

Saturday the boys got out the beach ball sprinkler, the crazy spraying sprinkler, the water air hockey game, water guns and more.  They put water on the slide to make their own water slide.  

All in all, they had a blast outside in the water.

What did you do the past few days to beat this heat?

This is the temperature as of 7 pm Saturday evening at my house.  YIKES!!!  I was hoping it would cool off some before I attempt a run tonight.  I am not sure that is going to happen.

Free Falling

If you read my last post about our beach vacation, you know that Greg and Noah did the bungee swing at a putt-putt/game place in Destin on our last night in Florida.

It was kind of crazy and I cannot believe I agreed to it, but Noah LOVED it!!

 Right - waiting and watching the people in front of them

Left - putting them in the harness

Waiting to drop














I expected Noah to scream when they let go and they were swinging in mid-air.  But they were SILENT!!!

Greg said Noah just kept saying - "This is AWESOME!!"

Noah is definitely my adventurous child for sure!

Beach Fun

On the porch swing at our beach house

We have spent the entire last week at Grayton Beach in Florida.  I can HIGHLY recommend the house we rented along with the area for family fun!

The waves were a little crazy and we were unable to get in the ocean for the first two days.  Rip currents were strong.  Even once we were able to swim, red warning flags and purple warning flags were up warning us of dangerous waters and dangerous marine life.  Mom scooped up a jellyfish one day.  Another day, we saw a black tip shark swimming just 15 -20 feet from shore.  That caused a bit of a stir!

We were fortunate to have a pool in the backyard of the house we rented, so when we couldn't swim in the ocean, we went to the pool.  The kids had a blast playing in the sand and trying to catch minnows in the clear gulf water.

On our last night, we drove in to Destin for dinner and ended up going to play putt-putt.  Jenny and I ran into one of our high school science teachers who was there with his family.  I haven't seen him since I first went to college!  While there, Noah asked if he could do the bungee jump swing thing.  Greg agreed and did it with him!  I was sitting on the bleachers watching them and heard all the adults across the way saying things about how little Noah was - YIKES!  He did look pretty small, but he LOVED IT.  I wanted to video tape it, but right after I got their picture in the air, my phone died.

Here are a few pictures from the pool and the beach:

All of the cousins together -except for Andy who didn't want to take a picture :

Blake right after he got a Hole in One!

 

On our way home!!!  Think we have a few inches of space to spare?

 

I Want to Go with You

There is a refrain I hear constantly these days - "I want to go with you" - from my four year old.  It doesn't matter where I am going - the grocery store, post office, someone's house, bible study, etc.  He wants to go.  He does this to his daddy too.  Last week on vacation, he wanted to go with Greg when he went to pick up my brother-in-law from the airport.  He wanted to go to the grocery when Greg was running out to get a few things for our beach house.  He wanted to go with Greg before we left to take our dog to my in-laws (who were graciously keeping her for us). 

He just wants to be along for the ride.  He doesn't necessarily participate in anything. 

Sometimes he is even silent in the car on the way to and from our destination.

But he wants to spend time with us.

I don't know if it has anything to do with the baby, being four, having his older brothers home for the summer and needing more one on one attention, or a myriad of other things.  I do know that he wants to be with us and I am going to SOAK IT UP while it lasts!

Here is my little man with his shades on - riding in the back seat. 
He obviously hasn't put his seat belt on yet :)

For some reason - it makes me think of this song by Chris Tomlin-(you can listen here:)

I Will Follow You -
Chris Tomlin - I will Follow You

Where You go, I'll go
Where You stay, I'll stay
When You move, I'll move
I will follow...

All Your ways are good
All Your ways are sure
I will trust in You alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in You alone

Where You go, I'll go
Where You stay, I'll stay
When You move, I'll move
I will follow You
Who You love, I'll love
How You serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow You
I will follow You

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for You alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in You alone, in You alone

Where You go, I'll go
Where You stay, I'll stay
When You move, I'll move
I will follow You
Who You love, I'll love
How You serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow You
I will follow You

In You there's life everlasting
In You there's freedom for my soul
In You there joy, unending joy
and I will follow

Where You go, I'll go
Where You stay, I'll stay
When You move, I'll move
I will follow You
Who You love, I'll love
How You serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow You
I will follow

Round Four

This little LeapFrog Table has made it through our three oldest boys (as well as nieces, a nephew and friends).  It has now come out for Round Four!

I saw a commercial when I first found out I was pregnant with Blake for this little table.  It looked so cute and played music and rhythms.  I said something casually about how we'd have to get one for our baby.

A few weeks later, on Christmas morning, I opened a present from Greg and he had bought the table for "me' and our baby.  How sweet!!!

So it has been a favorite, especially for our babies when they were learning to pull up, stand and walk cautiously around objects.  I think I know all the songs and sounds by heart.  I cannot believe it is now out for its last hurrah!

A Little Light Reading

I took Blake and Noah to the public library yesterday.  I said we could only go in for thirty minutes.  I should have known better!  I let them go to the youth section while I looked for some books for ME to read!
I made it upstairs about 20 minutes later.  These are the books I found for myself:

I discovered Kristin Hannah books a year or two ago and enjoy them.  I don't always agree with Jodi Picoult's take on various social issues, but I enjoy reading her books and thinking about the topics she pursues.  Mary Kay Andrews (and Dorothea Benton Frank) are southern humor set in some of my favorite places!  Her books are a  definite pool/beach read! I LOVE biographies and have since I was young.  I checked out Ronald Reagan's autobiography.  Then I stumbled on this book about Henry Clay by one of my FAVORITE college professors, Dr. Lindsey Apple!  I took a few extra history courses in college just to be in his classes!

I also have five or six books waiting for me on my Kindle - three are by Francis Chan (Crazy Love) and one is by Dr. Kevin Leman (Smart Women Know How to Say No).  I hope to tackle some of those in the coming weeks, too!

Here is the stack of books Blake checked out (Artificial Intelligence, Robots, Spy Technologies, Lego Building plus some chapter books).  As of tonight, he has already read through two of them!

Here is Noah's stack of books.  He has a tendency to lean towards checking out DVDs at the library.  I told him he couldn't look at the movies until he had at least five books.  When I made it upstairs, he already had 6 books and was on the computer looking for more.  I let him check out two DVDs.  He is halfway through one book already!

I picked up 6 or 7 books for Andy by authors we have never read.  I wanted to push outside of our normal Curious George, Clifford, Franklin and Sweet Pickles books.  I also picked up two DVDs for him!  He was thrilled with what I got and we've already read all but one of his books (a couple have been read multiple times).










Look at Jake - we've already turned him onto books, too!









Don't forget summer reading programs start soon at the local public libraries.  We usually participate in some fashion each summer!

Summer Reading

I told my boys last night that today started our "SUMMER READING".  Each day, each boy has to read at least 30 minutes.  They can pick what they read and I don't care if it is comic books, chapter books or whatever they choose as long as they are reading.  I even said they could count reading books to their little brother.  Reading aloud is good for them and he LOVES when anyone reads to him!

This morning, I thought Blake was still asleep.  I went downstairs to check and he was up, reading in his bed.  I had given him (and the other boys) a new book to start off the summer last night.  Blake finished it this morning!  He is SO my child.  That is all I did all summer - stay up late every night reading a book.  I devoured them.  I hated when a good book ended.  I felt like I always wanted to know more about the characters, what they did next, where they went, etc.

Noah had already read a few chapters of his book as well.

That tells me one thing - we need a trip to our library ASAP!  I love books and I don't mind to buy them, but if Blake is going to go through one every other day, we will have to check some out from our library!

Another thing I started for the summer is both boys spending 30 minutes a day doing math facts, geography, reading comprehension or other educational activities on the computer.  They both love to be on it and we really limit their time.  This way, they get to use the computer (which they love) and do educational activities (which Mommy loves).  It is a win-win situation!

If you are looking for some good sites for your child this summer, here are a few we've used:

www.funbrain.com
www.starfall.org
www.ixl.com
www.wordlywise3000.com
www.multiplication.com
www.ilike2learn.com

As we find more sites, I'll be sure to share them.

Of course we will be doing fun things too!  We will be swimming, going to the beach, heading to Kings Island and maybe Holiday World as well as small trips to see the grandparents.  What are your summer plans?

Enjoy your summer with your kids!