Meet the Siblings

On Wednesday Wesley and Lydia came to the hospital to meet Josiah. They were beyond excited.
Look at those expressions.

Wesley is obsessed with holding his baby brother.

Grandma finally got a turn to hold Josiah.

To say I look tired in this photo is probably the nicest thing to say about my appearance. I didn't sleep well at the hospital. Josiah slept great (I like to keep our babies with us in the room the entire time) but there was a crying baby across the hall and the nurse came in several times.

The first picture of our family of five.
I was very happy to be leaving the hospital at 12:30 pm on Thursday. Here is Josiah ready to go home.

Once home Wesley wanted to hold Josiah a lot but he let Grandma hold the baby while he read to him.

Our Little Baby

On Tuesday morning I went to the hospital to be induced. I was pleasantly surprised that they now allowed the moms-to-be to have more than ice chips. They now allow "clear liquids" which includes jello, Italian ice, cranberry juice, ginger ale, and hot tea. I didn't like the broth but I liked the rest of my "clear liquids" lunch.
Josiah Wilson was born at 6:33 PM. He weighed 8 pounds 2 1/2 ounces. They didn't seem very concerned about getting his lenght measured. I think it is often inaccurate but they measured him at 20 1/2 inches.

Chris looks so happy in these pictures. I think he was relieved that the labor and delivery were over.

I love my doctor (on the right)!

This time, I actually had the same nurse (on the left) from the beginning until a little after delivery. She was in charge of the unit on Tuesday and she was very busy but she was there for me when I needed her. Josiah kept looking around with one eye open and one eye shut, like he wasn't really sure what he thought of everything and everyone.

The next morning he had his hearing test. The hospital started using a more accurate test this year. They now do an auditory brainstem response test or ABR. I enjoyed getting to watch the test.

His little hat wouldn't stay on. He kept turning his head so much that it fell off.

He is so cute and cuddly.

Art and Music Camp

Last week, Wesley attended an arts and music camp at the church where he went to preschool. The camp was $65 for the week and met 9 to 12 Tuesday through Saturday. On Sunday, the children performed during the worship service at the church.

Every day of the camp, the kids got an introduction to different instruments. At the end of the morning, there was a concert. Wesley really enjoyed the camp and he came home every day and told us about the different instruments. On Sunday morning the younger kids played the hand chimes.
An older boy read a story and the kids played the chimes to accent the story.

The kids also played a couple of songs. There was a poster board with letters on it and each child knew which note his or her chime played and when the instructor pointed to the note, the child played the chime.

We are grateful that Wesley had such a wonderful week. This was his first real camp.

Sunset Parade

On Tuesday we went with friends to see the Sunset Parade at the Marine Corps War Memorial. We had a picnic dinner as we watched the parade.

The kids really enjoyed the Drum and Bugle Corps.


The Silent Drill Team is very impressive; however, Lydia quickly lost interest. At least this time she stayed quiet and didn't have to be fed gum like two years ago.

Sometimes kids just won't cooperate for family photos. Exhibit A. Exhibit B. We enjoyed the Sunset Parade and look forward to going again next year. We made it back to the car (parked in the garage at Arlington Cemetery) a few minutes before the rain started.

Great Waves

When David and Amanda were here, we took the kids to Great Waves Water Park. Before going to the water park, we decided to eat lunch at home since you are not supposed to take food into the water park (they will sell you food, of course). I made one of my favorite sandwiches for the adults and we just served the kids the chicken without the buffalo sauce. Sometimes my kids will try a little of the sauce but they will not eat very much of it. They both like the blue cheese mixed with sour cream. Lydia had that as her salad dressing instead of the caesar dressing.

My kids and I had only been to Great Waves once before and that was two years ago.

We spent a lot of time in the toddler pool area. Lydia looked like a speed racer going down this slide.
Lucy really likes swimming on her back.

Lydia didn't need her life vest in this shallow water. When I took it off, she practiced swimming under the spray to center of the umbrella and back out again. She also liked to pretend she was taking a shower. I found it enjoyable to stand under the falling water because it was so hot just standing in the shallow water.

The waterfalls by the rocks looked pretty neat.

David, Amanda, and Claire did the bigger water slides. Claire said she liked the yellow one the best. Wesley wanted to try these bigger slides but you have to be 48" and there is no swim test to allow shorter riders. He was fine with that since he was already have so much fun.
When we left the toddler area to go to the wave pool, Lydia saw the sand area and had to try it.

I love how Lucy wore her goggles and life vest in the sand.

The wave pool was a lot of fun. The waves are on for 10 minutes and off for 10 minutes. Wesley liked riding in an inner tube in the waves. While Lydia was playing in the sand with Lucy and Uncle David, I also enjoyed riding in an inner tube. When Lydia joined us in the wave pool, I put on her life vest. During the waves, she was practically body surfing. At times she seemed to really like it but I think it made her very tired. After at least one hour in the wave pool, we got out and gave the kids some snacks.

We went back to the toddler area and also enjoyed the sprayers for a little while. At one point, Lucy told her parents, "Someone did something very inappropriate. Someone put poop in the pool." David and Amanda took a look and then alerted one of the lifeguards. They closed the pool and turned off the sprayers. Guess what the unlucky guard in the pool is doing?

At this point it was 5:00 and we had been there for four hours. My kids were so tired. We came home and quickly took showers (I was a little grossed out by the poop incident) and Wesley had another snack before going to gymnastics. Chris stayed home and grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, and corn. Wesley was exhausted when we got back.

Super Kids

Chris got these Superman outfits from Woot.
Lucy actually liked it a lot better than Wesley and Lydia did. Our kids would probably like it better if we let them re-enact this video.

Out on the playground they showed off some of their super strength.

Wesley is getting better at the monkey bars.

A Neighbor's Party

On Saturday night we went to a neighbor's house for dinner-chicken barbeque sandwiches served picnic style. The weather wasn't too hot and we enjoyed being outside. The kids had fun playing in the water table. The bottom part of Lydia's dress got soaked but she didn't care.
The birthday boy enjoyed my kids pushing (and pulling) him on his tricycle.

Wesley compared missing teeth with his new friend.

After dinner the kids had more water play fun.

Lydia helped the birthday boy with the tricycle again before cake time.

When we got home, Wesley asked me if we ate dinner yet. Did he think it was just one big snack? After the kids had a bath and brushed their teeth, Lydia asked if she could have something to eat. We told her she could wait until breakfast (and she did). Maybe they played so hard and ran around so much that they burned off all their dinner.

Water Mine

On Friday we met two neighborhood families at Water Mine. We got there about 10:30 and had to wait in line to pay. I was happy to get use an Entertainment Book coupon to get one free admission. It was $13.50 for me and $11.25 for one of the kids with the second kid getting in free. Last week after we went to Pirate's Cove Chris told me there was a coupon for one free admission in the Entertainment Book. I really have to check the book every time we go some place. There are a lot of great coupons in there.
Water Mine has a lot more water structures than Pirate's Cove.

There are several little kid slides like this barrel, frog, and wagon. My kids thought they were fun.

The kids also liked this little slide. There are a lot of sprayers that the kids enjoyed playing in.
There is also Little Pete and Big Pete. If the kids are under 48 inches they have to be accompanied by an adult. I went down Little Pete several times and then realized that I probably looked very funny sliding down with my huge belly (37 weeks). After that I stood about five from the bottom and the lifeguard just checked to make sure I was there.

Wesley and I waited in line for a few minutes to ride Big Pete. As we were standing in the water at the top getting ready to slide down, the water suddenly turned off and then the whistles blew announcing a 20 minute pool break. It was noon and time to eat lunch. I was a little disappointed that we were so close and didn't get to go but we were planning on staying another three hours so I thought we had plenty of time.

We enjoyed our picnic lunch during the break. When we got back in the water, we decided to try the lazy river. I liked floating in the tube more than the kids did. They wanted to swim around (Lydia with a life jacket on) and go down the water slides again. While we were in the lazy river, all the whistles blew again. My first thought was "Do they take another break at 1:00?" but it wasn't a scheduled break. Someone had thrown up and the pool had to be closed for 90 minutes.

So, that is why there is no one in the water in any of my pictures. We took some pictures and then packed up to leave. We couldn't wait that long in the heat with the kids. What would they do for that long?

There were signs up at the cashier windows that said something like, "No refunds given. If you have your receipt, see an attendant." I had my receipt so I showed it to an attendant and she gave me three passes to come back another day for free. I was pleased with that.

Before heading home we rode the carousel.

So, the kids are looking forward to going back to Water Mine. Chris will probably be the one taking them. My pool time for this summer is getting short.

I think Chris will plan to get there a little before it opens at 10:00 so he will be able to get a couple of seats in the shade and have two hours to enjoy the pool before lunch time.