Splash Park

We've been doing everything we can to beat the heat around here this summer.  Lots of swimming and splash parks/fountains.  It is a lot of fun this year because the kids actually like all of these things:)  Last week, we met some friends at a splash park in Valley Center.  The kids had a blast.  Parker, who is usually the one to run right now in, was pretty timid at first and stayed by my side for quite a while.  I think it was just because there were quite a few other people there that he didn't know.  Once he got in the fountains, he was having a blast:)

 Bff''s Eli and Grey running through the water.  I should add that these two haven't seen each other in a little while (well, probably only a week, but in their world, that was a very long time:)) and they were both going crazy.  One of those times I was thankful we were outside!

 My other friend's two little boys manning the gun.  Malachi was hilarious.  He is all boy and loves guns, and also just loves shooting water at people (can't blame him....it's fun if you aren't the one being sprayed!), so he was camped out here the whole time with his little brother in an all out water fight with another girl.  She was older than him, but I'm pretty sure he had her beat:)

 These pictures are two new favorites of mine of Parker.  He isn't totally in focus in both of them and I didn't even capture his whole face, but it just totally captures this handsome little boy.  He can be so sweet and serious at times....

 But he is also ornery-er than all get out.  And this picture just gives you a glimpse of his sweet little dimple.  Oh I love that smile:)  This one is gonna be trouble folks....mark my words:)

 Oh. My. Word.  This face.  This smile.  Those eyes.  I love this little man.  He's still too little to get to enjoy all the fun, but something tells me I'm going to have a very hard time holding him back.  He's going to grow up far faster than I am ready for him too!

 I love watching these two together.  Parker adores his big brother.  And they are already two little peas in a pod.  It is hysterical to watch them wrestle and play together.  Kamdyn is just as strong and can put up a very good fight with her brothers, but there is something very special about the bond of brothers:)

Swim Lessons

The kids completed their second year of swim lessons a couple of weeks ago.  Last year was pretty rough, so I had no idea how this year would go.  They got much more comfortable with the water by the end of swim season last year, but it had been so long since we had been in the pool, I had no way of knowing how lessons would go.  I gotta say, this year was the complete opposite of last year.  Last year, I struggled to get the kids to willingly go in the pool, and their individual 30 minute lessons were often long and we were stretching to get them to try new things.  This year, Kamdyn jumped at the opportunity to go first and wasn't afraid of dunking herself under water.  Complete 360 from last year.  It was so fun to watch them this year because they had so much fun swimming.  And they improved so much this year too.  Eli was jumping off the side like an old pro, and even started jumping off the diving board.  Kamdyn is a little fish and you had to slow her down:)  

Can't wait to see what next year holds for them all.  And then we will have the exciting adventure of putting Parker in too....that could be very interesting....that kid is a wild card:)

Beating the heat

I realize that any attempts to keep this blog updated have failed.  Life with four littles keeps me busy and I often reach the end of the day wondering where it went.  This is not always a bad thing, because while I love our kids, there are just some days I'd like to forget:) So in an attempt to keep you all up to date on what are kids are doing/actually look like now, I'm just going to forge ahead with our current events.  Maybe someday I will fill in the gaps:)

Two things about this post:  1. Eli was at VBS. That's why he isn't in any pictures.

2.  I realize a lot of these are of Parker....he was just staying in one place more than his sister.

It's been warming up around here, so we've been finding ways to cool off and fill our morning.  We met some friends at the fountains in New Market square a couple of weeks ago.  I wondered how they would like them.  We haven't been since last year, and Eli and Kamdyn were pretty timid and unsure of them.  Parker on the other hand crawled right in:)  This year was totally different.  Eli wasn't there, but Kamdyn and Parker wasted no time in going right in.  Parker was cracking me up with how much he would get into the fountain.  One of our friends brought some cups, and he was just having a blast trying to fill it up and dump it on the grass.  Over.  And over. And over.  Something tells me we will be visiting the fountains a lot more frequently this summer.  If mommy can handle the heat, that is.  Otherwise I just might have to play in the fountains too:)