Random shots of summer fun

I've been really behind in my blogging lately, so I am going to (mostly) catch up with one long post with some random pictures of some summer fun.

1. The blow up kiddie pool - the best $12 spent this summer. Natalie mostly uses this during the week, but we use it on weekends too. The kids love to run, jump and splash in this pool. This is a shot of Andrew, Chris, Claire, and Elaina cooling off.

2. Father's Day present. Natalie came up with the idea to purchase these small canvases and have the kids finger paint a design. They all loved this idea and couldn't wait for their dad's to open the packages. I didn't get a picture of the final canvases in time before Danny took them to work for display.

3. Foam swords and mouse hats. I'm not sure why these things go together, apparently when you are 6 and 3 it is fun to put on Mickey Mouse hats and have foam sword fights. As you can probably guess, this fun did not last long as there was soon crying involved. The swords have been on and off time out many times this summer. In fact, I believe they are still on time out and I can't remember where they are.

4. Andrew's swim lessons. Andrew took swim lessons again and is doing really well. He has even jumped off the diving board and can swim to the side. This summer he took lessons at the pool I swam at in high school and there were some serious deja-vu moments - especially when I saw and talked to one of my favorite coaches. While we were there during one of the lessons I actually got Claire to pose for a picture - a very rare occurrence.

5. The triple wide stroller. Natalie got a triple stroller off of Craigslist so that she can exercise while watching the kids. Andrew either rides his scooter or his bike on their walks. I seriously don't know how she pushes this thing as the kids are probably over 90 lbs plus the stroller weight. They love going on these walks and they often go to a local park and look at animals.

6. A pregnancy picture. Here it is a recent picture of me pregnant. I realized that I hadn't taken one at all this time around - oops. I got Claire to join me and when I asked her to put her hand on my stomach she put it under my shirt! That wasn't the look I was going for, so luckily we got that all straightened out.

7. The family bike ride - sans mom. Now that Andrew can ride his bike and Claire her tricycle, they want to ride bikes all the time. We either go around the block or to the park around the corner. Claire is so good at riding along and pedaling as fast as she can. I usually walk with Claire - way behind Andrew and Danny. At least I am getting some form of exercise.

8. Fountains and hair. The kids were over at my parents house a few weeks ago and my mom asked them if they wanted to clean out the fountain in the backyard. This fountain is endlessly fascinating to any child. They simply cannot resist the urge to splash or throw things into the water. So, they were more than happy to help clean the rocks and the fountain. My mom is now the official hair stylist for the group. For some reason they let her do their hair, but not their own mothers. Andrew begs her to do a mohawk every time he sees her.

That wraps up the first part of the summer, more fun stuff to follow.