It's Summer

I love the summer. Now that Lance has started the whole going to school thing, I appreciate it even more.

It has been extremely hot lately, so we spend a lot of our days inside. We have tried to find ways to enjoy the heat, though.

Remember last summer when we set up a homemade slip-n-slide? This year we did the same thing, only we got a second tarp and made it 50 feet long. Can you say awesome?

Jude was never able to grasp the concept of "turns" and would scurry up to the top and slide right back down, regardless of who was waiting to go next. Stinker.

Bennett!

My boys LOVE the water. They love it so much, I decided to let Cole go down feet first on his tummy about half-way down, just to see what he would do. He wasn't a huge fan. Oh well. Maybe in a few months.

The moms got to be the official "pushers".

Even with it doubled in size from last year, we still developed a muddy puddle at the end. Lance and Jude liked to play in it. Lance even purposely dumped the mud all over himself. He is 100% boy.

Cole liked going on my lap better than by himself, but he couldn't decide if it was fun or not--tolerable, but not worth smiling about.

All three of my boys!

A kiddo train! We were there with the Vedomskes, Elmers and Smiths.

Love the goggles, Lance.

The tarps are held in place by 8-inch metal stakes at the top, so it's not going anywhere. We keep it rolled up and break it out every few days when we need a water-fix. There is even talk about getting a third tarp to extend it even farther. Of course, that idea came about when the husbands were trying it out one evening and kept flying off the end. I guess we'll see.


Now that it's summer, our bathtub sports a nice brown ring, even after I scrub it down. As soon as the boys hop out of the once-clean bathtub, there it is again. A ring. Oh well.

Lance, I think it's time for a hair-cut.

Punk Lance.

Jude wanted his hair spiked, too. This was our best attempt.

Brothers. When they're not getting on each others' last nerve, they really do love each other. (Can you see how brown that water is? Gross.)


Aric (our neighbor) rides to and from the hospital on this scooter that he parks behind their apartment. Jude has claimed it as his own and knows how to open the seat to find the helmet. I walked out of our back door one day and found Jude, helmet in place, riding the scooter, scooter noises and all.

Don't you just want to squeeze him?


Lance has been after me since the beginning of the school year last year to make homemade play dough. We've been trying to cut back our TV time, so in an attempt to get the kids away from the screen, I made a batch.

It was a hit! I think the kids played with it for at least an hour.

Jude was thrilled Mommy let him use a butter knife to cut the dough. He could have cut those pieces for hours if I let him.

Killian made a sun with his orange dough.

Kendall made a fish.

There's Jude with his pieces again.

And Lance made a snake...

...and a scorpion! Great job, Lance!

That's some yummy looking ice cream, Kendall.

Lance and Killian wanted their picture taken with their "ice cream", too.

Yum!


And you know it's summer because by the end of the day, we all feel like this:

He fell asleep like that. He was playing on minute and zonked the next.

I love summer!