At the beach...

We went to a beach about an hour from my SILs house when we dogsat that week. It was a beach on a bay so the water was not deep and extended a long long time before finally getting deeper. It was perfect for my kiddos who aren't comfortable in the water. At first, my hubby took them in the water. They looked like this for about five minutes...shirtless.



But, of course, we have light skin and burn easily so I dressed them back up. Yes, we were the only ones with a toddler in long pants and long shirts, lol! But, as long as he didn't burn, I was ok with that!



My preschooler really enjoyed himself too in the water.



My hubby and I looked like this practically the whole time...laying on our stomachs in the water on kid level watching them play and blow bubbles in the saltwater. The water was nice and warm...perfect! I didn't realize until later that even though I was lathered in sunscreen, I had forgotten the back of my calves (which were exposed unfortunately while I was doing all of my soldier crawling.) But they were ok after a day or so. I had been to that beach before a few years earlier and had forgotten how much fun it had been...I'd can't wait to go again next summer.

Trying to clean...

I've been trying to clean up my kid's room. They have way too many toys from their siblings, nephew, birthdays, garage sales, rewards...the list goes on and on. These toys seem to accumulate and I think they reproduce each night because every day, there seems to be more and more toys. I have been trying to organize their room and make it more accessible to play (and I'll take and hide some toys in the attic until later to make more room as well.) Each time I go in there to clean, miraculously, they each need to follow me and see what I've uncovewred even though they were completely happy doing something else in another room. So, consequently, the room has not been cleaned even though it's been a work in progress for many days, lol! Last night, I saw that my toddler was interested in what I was doing, so I quietly left and let him play (instead of cleaning in there.) I came back in there 30 minutes later (he was just too quiet for such a long time) and saw this cute scene. The picture doesn't actually show all the cars he had arranged. I was impressed that all his vehicles were in lines and all faced forward! It's a new day...and I'm starting over...we'll see if the room gets done today.

Aquarium trip

I had been wanting to go back to the aquarium since I saw Julie's post. Since we had been so far away from home, we thought we'd go see a different one for a little while. We got there and one of the first things we saw was the huge area of those large fish and mammals swimming around. I was in heaven watching them swim around and could have watched for hours.



Lovely stingrays. But unfortunately, some nice lady told my preschooler that downstairs was an area where he could touch the stingrays...so we hurried through some great areas to find the elevator to go down to see them....sigh.



I feel like I skipped so much and wasn't getting enough out of the high rate of admittance in there by having to hurry through to find the stingray pool but after we got there, and patiently waited for it to swim close enough around to tough it finally, it was worth it (because my preschooler was on cloud nine!)



DH loved the dolphin area as did I.







We had a lovely time, albeit short, but I think it'd be great to return in a couple more years as well (to see the stuff BEFORE the stingray pool, lol!)

Back from Dogsitting!

My SIL at the bay went out of town and requested that we dogsit for her. She has four dogs who need lots of attention and specific needs. We were happy to help out because of so much she and her hubby have done for us as well as being able to enjoy their house/yard while there. We were there for a week and had a great time.

This is a pic of my hubby pointing out a bird on the pier for the dogs (they love to run toward them and have never caught one.) This pic shows three out of four dogs. Luckily, SIL didn't leave her foster dogs for us to watch as well (she volunteers for the local dog shelter and often has foster dogs that live with her.)


The kiddos loved playing in the whale pool!




And my preschooler learned to lay down in the water without getting water in his nose (something he hates.) He kept getting in this position!


The wildflowers down the road were gorgeous (I don't think the pics show how pretty they looked as you drove by.) This pic has some cows in the background that my preschooler insisted I have in the pic.

Hubby's Birthday

My hubby's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. He was at work offshore when it occurred so we celebrated it when he came home. On the morning we were to celebrate it, he woke up to a surprise birthday cake made by our daughter during the night (strawberry with strawberry icing.) I had planned on making a cake he really liked that day but decided against it after seeing she had made him one. At some point during the day, I mentioned to him about not making the other planned cake and he remarked that strawberry was his favorite. I was surprised to hear that and asked him about it. He then said that his favorite cake is one that his children made for him. And then he said that it wasn't about the gift, it was about the giving. I smiled really big...that's why I love him.

This is him just before we celebrated his birthday.


Here is most of us who were there. The daughter who made the cake refused to be in the picture...she's still a teenager, lol! My other daughter's boyfriend (on the left) cooked all the chicken for us. My brother and his kiddo is on the right. Of course, my boys are in my hubby's lap.


Here is a pic just before he blew out the candles (it's not really on fire...it has four and then nine candles for his 49th birthday.) I sneaked a pic of our other daughter sitting on the counter behind him (the cake maker.)

Bike riding

Yesterday was the first day that my preschooler and I went bikeriding together on our own bikes (without training wheels.) My toddler was in the front bike seat watching everything as well. Last year, he started riding his bike without training wheels (he had been riding with only one wheel after the other one broke for a long time.) He seemed interested in riding so I got my bike out, pumped more air in the tires, and off we went! He was really good at listening and staying on the right side of the road. His little bike is small but perfect for beginners and he feels confident enough now to even try a few tricks. He was so cute standing up as he pedaled when he was going fast. It's hard to imagine he's five years old already. It was so enjoyable and there was little traffic so I asked if he wanted to go further (to a nearby park where there was a little trail) and he was excited. By the time we got there, we were sweaty and took advantage of the mushroom looking thing that sprays water down as we rode our bikes through the water making us a little less hot. We had a great time and he is going to want to even more often now (I just wish it weren't SO humid because it makes the hot weather seem so much hotter...but that's summer here.) Today, we went and bought bike helmets (we couldn't fine his yesterday) and now all three of us have them.