Cooling off at the Sprayground

Today we went with friends to Lyon Village Park. The water was turned off at the other sprayground (the one with bathrooms) during the time we wanted to go. The county is saving money by closing each of the three spraygrounds one day a week and shifting the hours. Some days the water is on from 10 to 3 and some days the water is on from 2 to 8. So, we went were the water was on. I had not been to this park since Lydia was a baby. It was fun to go again and Wesley and Lydia and our friends had a great time.

The kids liked the sprinklers.
But, Wesley spent most of his time on this spinning wheel. As the kids walk around it, it spins.
Wesley also liked this spinning seat.

Here is Lydia keeping a close eye on Josiah for me.

Welsey and Lydia also played on the playground.

Lydia might have been pretending to push her baby in the swing.

Josiah mostly hung out in the shade but I did take him over to the sprinklers several times to let him get a little bit of water on his legs. We stood on the outer limits of the water so he didn't get drenched or anything like that. He liked it.

I am sad that summer is ending. I have loved this August - lots of playing with Wesley and Lydia and snuggling with Josiah. Next week, Wesley starts full day kindergarten and our care-free days will be over until next summer.

Wings of Fancy

On Friday I took the kids to Brookside Gardens to see the Wings of Fancy Butterfly exhibit. This place was on my list of summer activities for a couple of years and I was happy to finally get to go. The greenhouse that houses the butterflies is ten degrees warmer than the outside temperature so I knew I didn't want to go on a hot and humid day. Friday's weather was perfect.
First you go into the caterpillar room. This cool little caterpillar looks like he has a saddle on him.

But you don't want to touch him!

This is the same kind of caterpillar but he looks very different. A predator wasp got into the caterpillar room and laid eggs all over this poor little guy.

Strollers are not allowed in the butterfly exhibit so I carried Josiah in the Bjorn. He slept the entire time.

Several of the butterflies were enjoying their lunch.

There was a sign explaining what happens to the butterflies after the exhibt closes on September 19.

On a windowsill were two butterflies that were so beautiful I wondered if they were real. One flew away right before I snapped this picture.

Another beautiful butterfly.

Wesley and Lydia found it necessary to lean back on this butterfly bench. They look like they are on the spinning teacups.

Pretty butterflies and pretty flowers.

It was fun to see so many butterflies.

Wesley desperately wanted a butterfly to land on him and one finally did, briefly. One landed on Lydia and in her excitement she quickly shooed it away.

Inside the exhibit, Lydia asked to go to lunch several times but once we were outside she never mentioned it. The grounds are beautiful with several nice fountains. Wesley and Lydia loved walking on the trails.

Wesley took this picture. Lydia took this one. Not too bad for one of her first times using the camera (if not the first time).

I was relieved to find out that they don't allow picnics. I didn't have to feel guilty about not packing lunch. However, we should have gone after lunch because I was so hungry that I made the kids leave before they were really done walking around on the trails.

I look forward to going again next summer.

Picnic Time

Lydia loves to have picnics. She also likes to have picnics with her dolls and Disney characters. I left Josiah's swaddling blankets in the floor on the playmat and they inspired her to have a picnic.
Welsey likes picnics also but when I took these pictures he was busy writing his numbers. We have tried to keep the learning process going over the summer by working on reading and writing most days.

Kids N Motion

On Wednesday we met some of friends at Kids N Motion for open gym. This is our favorite bounce place and the kids loved it. I remembered to take the coupon from the Entertainment Book so Lydia got in free! It is $9 for kids 4 and over and $6 for kids 3 and under.

They did all the slides over and over again and they jumped in the regular moonbounces.

They also enjoyed the obstacle course with the big slide. Wesley did the obstacle course several times in a row. It is great exercise.

If you want to see more pictures of Kids N Motion here our some from a past trip.

Josiah slept most of the time we were there. At one month of age, he is up to 10 pounds already!

Normally after Kids N Motion we eat at Chik Fil a. I didn't think I could do it on Wednesday with all three of them. Josiah probably would have just slept in his stroller but the restaurant is always crowded. So, I took the easy way out and went through the drive thru!

Play Gym at Novaks

I am not super mom. Most of the time I don't even try to be super mom; I am more of a slacker. I do like to get my kids out of the house and let them burn off some energy. You can see by the videos below that they have a lot of energy! Of course we also spend time at home reading, doing simple craft stuff, and playing with toys.

Last Wednesday I went with a neighbor and a couple of friends to Novaks' Gymnastic Center for play gym. We had not been there is almost two years because the open gym times are usually on the mornings I work.

Novaks is a great price for 45 minutes of gymnastics fun. It is free your visit and $5 per child after that.

Dentist, Library, and Burke Lake

This morning Lydia had a dentist appointment and thankfully all her teeth looked great. We were in and out in 15 minutes! We then made a quick stop at the library. Last time it took me a long time to discover the right section. This time I knew exactly where to find all the beginning reader books. Wesley really wanted to sit in the floor and look at books while I picked out the books to take home but instead he had to push Josiah's stroller back and forth since Josiah was not content to relax in a non-moving stroller.

After the library we headed to Burke Lake to meet our neighbors. Today was a perfect weather day to play outside. It was only about 80 degrees with low humidity. The kids loved the train. Even Josiah seemed to be enthralled with it. He was very alert and looked around a lot. I think he liked the slight breeze created by the moving train. Here are Elena and Wesley on the carousel. Lydia didn't get to ride because she wasn't a good listener at the playground and chose to not come to me when I asked her. After a picnic lunch we took the kids to a larger playground and let them play for over an hour. Lydia was thrilled to run into her favorite friend from preschool. As soon as we got home Wesley and Lydia took showers. They were so dirty from playing. We had a great day!

Eleventh Anniversary

This anniversary was very different from our tenth anniversary but it was still great. I love being married to Chris. He is everything I could ever want in husband. I am truly blessed.

We decided to hire a babysitter (the same sitter who watched the kids this summer while I worked). Josiah did great with her and all three kids were asleep when we got home from dinner.

We went to Ruth's Chris. I made the reservation on-line and I marked the box saying we would be celebrating our anniversary. When we checked in with the hostess she told us happy anniversary as did our servers when they greeted us. The table was also decorated in metallic confetti.

We started the meal with salads and onion rings. The rings came with a delicious Thai dipping sauce. Chris had the ribeye and I had the filet. We also had garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms.

They gave us a free dessert for our anniversary. I was very full since I ate almost the entire 11 ounce filet but I still managed to it half of the cake. You can see some of the table decorations in this photo.
It was a great anniversary dinner!

Who Needs A Yard?

When you can do water play in the driveway?

Of course it would be nice to have a yard but then we would have to maintain it.

I ordered a sprinkler for the kids to use in our driveway. In the morning our driveway is shaded which is great for playing but not so great for photos.
Wesley wanted to blow bubbles into the water.

He also rode his scooter through the sprinkler. (Yes, we need to get him a Razor. ) He moved the sprinkler so it would also water the plants.
We had an impromptu playdate when two sets of neighbors joined us.

After being out in the driveway for at least two hours I made the kids go inside so I could eat lunch.

What was Josiah doing during all this water play? Watching his big brother and sister play (or just staring at the open garage door) makes him very sleepy.
So cute!

We are not sure what color his eyes will be. I gave the kids a quick genetics lesson about how Daddy has blue eyes - two little b's and I have brown eyes which means I have one big B but since they have blue eyes I must have a little b also. I told them they got one b from me and one from Daddy. They both have two little b's but we don't know yet if Josiah got two little b's or one little b and one big B. Surprisingly, they seemed to somewhat get this and they have talked about how he might have two little b's or one big B.

(Btw, I found time to blog this morning and clean the bathrooms because one of my wonderful neighbors took Wesley and Lydia to the playground and then she fed them lunch.)

Sport Bounce

On Monday I took the kids out to Sport Bounce so Wesley and Lydia could get some exercise. I packed lunches and fed them in the car. I forgot my coupon from the Entertainment Book that would have gotten one of them in for free. It is $10 for the first kid and $8 for the second. I think we will go back soon and use the coupon.

This was our second trip to Sport Bounce. We last went in January 2009 so Wesley and Lydia didn't remember going there. This slide is new and I love the look of it.
Wesley and Lydia really liked it because it was so fast.
I nursed Josiah while sitting on a bench near the entrance. Wesley and Lydia came over to check in a few times. There is also a tv, showing cartoons, at the check-in counter that Wesley was very interested in watching even though he couldn't hear it. I really don't understand why the people at the desk feel it is necessary to keep on the tv.

There is a second big slide in the corner.

This is about as high as Wesley got on the rock climbing wall but he wanted me to take his picture.

Josiah fell asleep again after nursing.

I liked this basketball game but neither Wesley nor Lydia were interested in it. I think they just didn't want to stand still to play.

This moonbounce had a small maze and a slide. There was another one with a larger obstacle course. There was also just a regular moonbounce for jumping.

It was good to get out of the house and get some exercise especially since it was too hot to play outside.