Waiting For Dady

A very sneaky GGirl waited very patiently for Daddy tonight

So she could launch her first squirt gun attack!

Afternoon Icecream With Daddy

The View From Here

This was my view around 7 am this morning as I hiked back towards our cabin from the laundry room.  MMan was awake and ready for yhe day, tagging along in the backpack.   I had deposited a pukey sleeping bag in the washer .  Last night was the second night in as many weeks that a good portion of the night was spent comforting ill children.  At least HandyMan was around to help with this one.  

Now my view includes a large iced coffee and a 4 year old who feels well enough to want to do everything, but Mama knows otherwise.  Sick kids at camp are no fun.

Camp Mondays

After morning chapel and class time, Monday was a picture perfect day on the lake.  I discovered that our baby moniter would reach right down to the edge of the beach.  I kept an eye in GGirl and an ear on MMan while he napped and enjoyed the beautiful day.

GGirl has always enjoyed water, but gas not been a fan of water in her face or going under water.  All that changed the first day with inflatable water wings.  She was all over the shallow end of the beach, getting her face in the water, going under.  It was awesome to watch her confidence build.  She even went out in the deeper water with me, swimming in her own.

HandyMan made it to camp late on Monday afternoon and jumped right in alongside our activities.  It is so good to have him back!  Last night he did T-shirt painting with GGirl.  It was taken by the staff to dry.  I can't wait to see their finished creation. 

I'm enjoying little snippets of reading time, life-building conversations, and the peaceful setting for our week. 

Watching Tractors

We are spending a week away.  We are at Pilgrim Pines: a wonderful retreat center in Southern New Hampshire.  While I sit on the porch of our cabin, GGirl has conned Mr. B into supervising her adventures across the road.  He has shadowed her to the swings, basketball courts and kicked the soccer ball around.  Then the tractor came to the beach and that instantly caught GGirl's attention.  She sat on the bench with Mr. B watching for 10 minutes as the tractor raked the beach.  Then it was back to the playground.

You can take the girl out of the country ...

Bubbles!

Last weekend, on a whim in the grocery store, I picked up the Dora the Explorer buble bucket.  GGirl loves Dora and all things pink and purple.  MMan has recently discovered bubbles.  So, my diacolical mommy brain saw a perfect combination.  Plus, its a non-spill contraption that actually works and does not result in bubble soap getting spilled by little hands with developing coordination skills.  So we had a nice bit of family time in theback yard to try it out!

Swim Lessons

The county YMCA offers swim lessons at a park near us in the summer.  GGirl has just finished up her first sesson of lessons.  She did great and made progress with getting her face in the water.  This is one of the things that she dislikes the most, which makes things like showers and hair washing a constant battle.  She ended up with one-on-one lessons and had a great time.  Almost as much fun as she had playing in the sand before and after lessons.

Sprinkler Fun

Yesterday was a great summery day: hot, humid and great for playing in the water.  I started with MMan in the playpen with some water in a bin to play with.  I said play in the water, he heard play in the water!  I'm re-thinking my position on another kiddie pool for the summer. After a bit it was sprinklers for everyone.

Strawberries!

I distinctly being on a mission, last June, to get my strawberries picked and frozen and jam made before MMan made his arrival.  Little did I know that I would have plenty of time!  This year June completely got away from me and while I thought about berries a couple times, it wasn't until HandyMan pinned it on the calendar that we went for our annual haul of strawberries.  Sittster and GGirl had some fun with the flowers and it was much easier picking with MMan in the stroller, not a full term pregnancy!

Celebrating Summer: Parks & Carousels

The end of this week has finally brought some summer-like weather and it has been beautiful!  On Thursday we gathered up Sittster and headed out for an outting.  Caked in sun-block, we hit the park.  The playground is much more fun (for me) with a one-to-one ratio for tracking the kids.  So Sittster chased GGirl around while I tracked MMan.   45 minutes of running, climbing, swinging and chasing wore just about everyone out.  After a couple errands we went to one of the local carousels for a ride before heading home.  It was MMan's first ride and he was too tired to be impressed.  Quite the fun afternoon!

The Back Porch Office

This is my favorite day of the spring/summer: the day my office moves to the back porch and I work while GGirl plays in the yard and MMan naps upstairs. Sun shining. Birds singing. Hours worked. Once again such a blessing to be able to work from home!