Swimming

We met the Lewis' and McAfee's at the Clarksville Aquatic Center Wednesday afternoon. I had been blogging a little on Tuesday and forgot to put my camera back in my purse, so I stole these pictures from Alicia's blog.

Here is the full gang of kiddos:  Mac, Jake, Darbi, Grace, Gabriel, Sam, Jackson, and Mazden.  What a crew!

Boys will be boys!

Play Date Continuation

 After our play date and picnic in Lapping Park, Gabriel and Grace wanted to continue playing with Jackson and Darbi.  The boys did typical boy things: pick on the girls, shoot guns, play video games, play basketball, pick on the girls some more.  The girls did typical girls things:  played with Barbies, played with babies, did their hair, changed clothes a hundred times.

After a little play time in the house,the kids claimed to be hungry, so we went outside for popsicles.  I wished that I could have heard what the girls were talking about in this picture.  They spent several minutes just standing in the yard talking while they ate.

I'm pretty sure that the girls tried on every dress in Grace's closet and every set of dress-up clothes in the basement.  After about a hundred changes of clothes, they came out in these dresses.  Grace said, "Mommy, take our picture while we're all matchy-matchy."  Holy cow!  I have to honor that request!  Then she added, "Don't we look cute?"  Oh my!  Of course they do!

Lapping Park Play Date

 Tuesday morning we had a play date with the Lewis' at Lapping Park.  It was an absolutely perfect morning.  The weather was cool.  Humidity was low, and the sun was shining.

 I LOVE this picture of the kids!  Seriously, we did NOT tell them to pose.  They did this on their own, and it turned out so cute!

 Mazden was a sliding fool!  She went down the slides with all of the bigger kids so many times.  The girls made a little sliding train with her.

I love this picture of my pretty girl too. I just want to kiss those sweet little cheeks!

Gabriel loves Maz.  Honestly, after camping with the Lewis' at Patoka, Gabriel asked when he would get to play with Mazzi again.  He was so happy to get a chance to take Mazden down the slide.

Bowling

 Carly invited Gabriel and Grace to go bowling with Robbie and Riley Monday afternoon.  Gabriel has been bowling with Papaw a few times, and he has his own "unique" form.  Robbie was a decent little bowler too, and threw a heavier ball than the other kids for part of the game.

 Grace's ball barely made it to the end of the lane.

 But she cheered for herself every time.

 Riley was so encouraging to Grace as they bowled.

Look at these fun boys!  The kids had so much fun.  I was sorry that we didn't have more time to bowl a second game with them.

Kickball

 Monday Gabriel wanted to play baseball in the field next to our driveway.  We scoured the house, but could NOT find our baseball bat anywhere.  So frustrating!  As a compromise, we decided to play kickball.

 Grace decided to wear her helmet anyhow.  She was very unhappy because it was hot outside.

 Oh, that pouty face!

 Finally, she sat down on first base and pouted until we went inside.

 I was the roller, and Gabriel was the kicker.

He kicked and ran bases.  Then he got too hot as well, and we went inside.

This would have been a nice little afternoon activity, except I got chiggers.  Boo!  No more playing in the field for a while.

Pretty in Pink

 We had family pictures taken Sunday afternoon.  For some pictures of Grace by herself, she wore the tutu Alicia gave her for her birthday.

 She was so thrilled to be wearing her fancy tutu.

We even let her wear it to get ice cream, go to h.h. gregg, and the grocery store. 

Drop Top

 Sunday was hot, but still clear and beautiful.  We rode in the Mustang and enjoyed the sunshine.

 I know the backseat of the 'Stang gets hot, but it's so fun to ride with the top down on a beautiful day.

A Look Back

I was feeling a little reminiscent Friday when Alicia and I took the kids to the pool. I thought it was so funny when Alicia posted a picture of Sam and Gabriel in 2008 on her blog. Apparently, great minds think alike.

This picture is Sam and Gabriel at the Clarksville Aquatic Center in 2007. Gabriel wasn't even walking yet,and I was four months pregnant with Grace.

This picture is Gabriel and Sam at the Clarksville Aquatic Center in 2008.

Here is our gang in 2009.  You can see the gang has grown in both number and size.  Sam and Gabriel were 3, and Grace was not two yet.

2010 was the summer of the broken arms.  Both Gabriel and Grace were in casts.  I know that we went to the Aquatic Center once, but the plastic bag covers did not work very well.  I don't think our part of the trip lasted too long, and I was much too busy monitoring cast coverage to take pictures.

I could not find any pictures of us at the Aquatic Center from last summer (2011).  It was a busy summer because we had just moved in May, and I was working at Ivy Tech two days a week.  I did find this picture of our gang when we had a play date at the McAfee's house.  Grace was 3, almost 4.  Jake was 2, nearly 3.   Gabe and Sam were 5.

I love our fun summers.  We are so laid back.  We enjoy so much play time and so many fun activities.  It's a shame that summer can't last longer.

Visiting with Miss Evie

 Eddie, Stacey, and Evie came down from Indy today to surprise Papaw.  Papaw had knee replacement surgery Thursday morning and has been in the hospital.  I couldn't stand it that Evie was asleep when they got to our house.  When I was given permission to pick her up, even though she was sleeping, I was not going to say, "No."  Unfortunately, waking up from her nap did not make her happy.

 Dan has a magic touch with babies sometimes.  He was able to calm the sweet girl right down.

 Look at those beautiful little eyes.

 Uncle Ed, Aunt Stacey, Gabriel and Grace played an abbreviated version of Monopoly Junior.

 Monopoly Junior is Gabriel's favorite game right now.

 While they played, I held my beautiful little niece.

 Gabriel also showed off his reading skills to Aunt Stacey.

 Grace couldn't get enough of Evie.  These girls are so pretty!

Uncle Ed is always up for a little Wii action.

We can't wait to have a time when we can hang out with them again.

Gabe the Guitar Man

 This morning Gabriel and I went to Uptown Art for a kids class.

 This morning's kids class was a guitar painting on a red background.  I knew Gabriel would love this painting.

 He did  a really nice job painting the background and the guitar.  I helped him touch-up the edges of his guitar before he painted the outline.

 After painting the outline, we did  highlights and shading with white and gold.

 Using the blow dryer to dry the paint was one of his favorite parts.

 Here is Gabriel's painting just before he added music notes and the gold highlights.

 After painting, all of the kids were treated to pizza and soft drinks.  I let Gabriel choose Coke for the first time, instead of Sprite.  In the car on the way home, he said, "Mom, I think I'm a man now."  "Oh really," I answered, "Why is that?"  "I drank two cups of Coke today."  "Well, Gabe, I think it takes more than a couple cups of Coke to make you a man.  You have to be older to be a man."  "What??  Like I have to be 28 or something?"  Ha!  From the mouths of babes!

Here is Gabriel with his masterpiece!  It was so much fun doing this project with my budding artist.

Clarksville Aquatic Center

 Friday afternoon, Alicia and I ventured to the Clarksville Aquatic Center with the kiddos.

 They had a ball playing the water.

 Even Miss Nora had fun until it was well past her nap time.  She konked out and took a good long nap in her stroller.

 Grace met up with a friend from daycare at the pool  She had a ball having another little girl to play with.

 Snack time is always a highlight of a trip to the pool.

I think the kids had a fun afternoon.