Water-Logged

For Father's Day, we all were invited to Tony's brother's house for a family pool party.  Caleb knew exactly what he was getting into and couldn't wait.  For the twins, however, this was their first time to dip their toes into the water of a swimming pool.  All of their reactions were priceless and as unique as they are.

You never would have guessed that it had been a year since Caleb has last been swimming.  He put on his swim vest and jumped right in...errr...was thrown in...

 There was no fear or hesitation whatsoever, and he could have spent hours on end swimming and jumping from the diving board.

 Wren, on the other hand, was a little (ok...a lot) apprehensive about this giant mass of water that everyone was splashing around in.  She could tell that everyone else was having fun, but she refused to even come close to the edge at first.

Mommy and Daddy couldn't do it, but Uncle Brent had the magic touch and was able to coax her to the edge of the pool to dip her feet in...

He apparently was reasoning with her and was able to convince her to get on his shoulders...

And eventually all the way in where she splashed and played and had a marvelous time like all the rest.

Judson was the real star of the show.  He hopped right in and never wanted out.

When he got to the point that he was shivering from being in the water too long, we would make him get out to warm up a bit.

But then he was right back in the water!

Everyone was having so much fun, I worried that there would be some serious tears when it was time to leave, but they were so worn out from all the activity that they didn't put up much of a fight as we dried them off and loaded them up into the van (where they proceeded to all fall asleep on the ride home).
We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again (only so long as there are lots of people to help us keep all the kids afloat)!

Dr. Giggles

Caleb recently had his annual check-up at the doctor.  He thought it was hilarious that he had to put on the hospital gown.  I thought it was pretty funny too. 

 He did great as they weighed him and checked his hearing and vision.  When the doctor came in to check him over and had him lay back on the table to feel his abdomen, he could not stop laughing.  He kept saying, "Don't tickle me!"  We were all cracking up by the time it was over (and the doctor did manage to check everything despite all the wiggling and giggling). 
I had prepared Caleb that he would also be getting a shot at this visit.  The deal was that if he was brave, we would go get ice cream afterwards.  Like the true brave boy that he is, when the nurses came in with the shots (two!), he looked at me and said, "It'll not hurt" while shaking his head.  He courageously laid back and held me hand while they gave him his shots.  Afterwards, he did have a few giant crocodile tears.  But it wasn't anything that a hug from Mama and some ice cream couldn't handle. 

Summer Sunshine

 Summertime, and the living is...not quite easy...but definitely fun. 

Since Caleb is not in school over the summer, we've been able to enjoy a little bit lazier mornings. 
These two are loving reading books these days.

 And we all love some couch snuggle time.

We've been joking lately that our garage has turned into a used car lot because we have so many motorized and non-motorized vehicles (not for us, but for the kids).  But that's fine with us because the kids sure do love them!  They could spend all afternoon riding around on Mater, the police car, tricycles, and scooters in the summer sunshine!

Caleb enjoyed a special treat a few weeks ago:  spending a few nights with Peepaw and Briena!  

Summer would not be complete without our annual trip to Fort Mountain for the Parks Family Reunion.  I think I've gone to this reunion almost every year of my life.  It's always fun to visit with family, eat delicious food, enjoy the lake, and look through photos from past years.  Now it's especially fun to see my own kids taking part in this annual tradition.

Although Summer hasn't officially started, we've already jumped into the fun, and we're looking forward to what the rest of it holds!