July 10, 2012

  Today we met some friends at "Jump and Jive."  This place is basically a big building filled with these bouncy house type things.  Erik spent the whole time imagining he was on Wipeout, trying to make it through the obstacle courses.  As I knew he would.

This blur coming down the slide is Sydney.

I think Ryan liked it.

July 9, 2012

    Every Monday Ryan's chore is to sweep the foyer.  He hates this chore.  You can't tell from the picture, but he whines and cries and insists that he needs help.  I don't get it.  It is the easiest chore of the week.  This foyer is rarely used, so it doesn't get particularly dirty and it's only about 80 square feet.  Silly boy.

July 8, 2012

   Does it get any better than brownie sundaes and watching "Spiderman" on tv?  I think not.

July 7, 2012

   Sydney has decided she wants to be a fashion designer these days. She'll ask me to choose a kind of outfit I want designed and what colors I want it in, then she'll come back a half hour later witht the results.  This pad of paper is really quite clever.  It has very faint outlines of bodies that Syd can design the clothes on and color.  Here is one of her latest creations.

July 6, 2012

   Another great reason to love summer.  If the kids are all outside, soaking wet from playing in the pool, you can toss some pasta salad on a plate and serve an impromtu picnic.  The kids think you're awesome and you get to have a quiet dinner inside with your husband.

July 5, 2012

  This show is a bright spot in the summer tv line up.  Amid the hundreds of cheap, lame reality shows, this is one reason to actually set the DVR.   I usually kind of hate competition shows (ahem, American Idol) but this is full of really talented people. It's never snarky or mean.  It just makes me happy.

July 4, 2012

   For some reason my kids count the Fourth of July as one of their favorite holidays.  We very rarely are visiting family on this day, so our celebration is pretty minimal.  If they knew what the rest of the country was doing today (BBQs, parades, fireworks, parties) they'd probably feel pretty short-changed.
  This year we did manage to set up a kiddie pool on the patio and go to fireworks at night.

I couldn't resist the pigtails.  They lasted about an hour until she remembered they were there and promptly pulled them out.

Because you need goggles in a pool this size.

Light-stick battle while waiting for the fireworks.

Finally dark enough for the fireworks to begin.



Zonked at the end of the night.