Diving board

Brady still loves going off the diving board this summer. He also still loves playing with James and me at the pool, but it's also been really cool watching him hang out with his buddies. This is the first summer that he's done that. I'm not sure if it's because they're finally at the right age, or if there are more boys to play with this summer, or if he's more confident in the water.

There is a family in the neighborhood that moved away for a few years and is now back. Brady and Rudy have really hit it off with their three boys (their three boys sandwich around our two in ages). Between those kids and a few other families in the neighborhood, there is a pretty solid group of similar-aged boys. It's so fun that the kids now have a "pack of boys" to run with.

Anyway...the diving board:

I'm not exactly sure what this game is. We started it at the pool two nights ago and continued last night. I think it's trying to stand still on the daddy's hands for as long as possible?

Swimmer!

Rudy has approached swimming like he has every other milestone since birth - he will do it when he is good and ready (and no sooner)! He refused to swim last summer and the beginning of this summer. Then, last week, he jumped in and started swimming. Really - it was just that quick and easy!

Part of his motivation was seeing Lila (his 9 month old cousin) get in and go under water. Everyone made such a big deal of that, that he decided he could do it too. Now he tells people that his cousin taught him to swim :)

Cowboy Pool Party, part 1

Our weekends have been so crazy around here that we decided to have Brady's birthday party for his friends on a weeknight. (We're celebrating with family this weekend.) He wanted another pool party, this time with a cowboy theme (a request made after visiting Rawhide over Easter break). So, we invited some friends to our "waterin' hole" for the evening.

While we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids decorated cowboy vests (made from paper bags) and cowboy hats.

Not sure what this face was...

We had dinner after the craft and then played two games: Gold Rush, where I threw 50 pennies into the pool and the kids collected (and kept) them, and Cowboys and Cows, in lieu of Marco Polo!

Then it was time for presents:

Brady wanted a cowboy hat cake. My vision is never really fully realized in the final product, but at least it does mostly resemble a hat...

When we got home last night, Brady said it was a fun party and even better than last year's party, when he cried a lot. I had completely forgotten about that part, until I went back and read the blog after the party. Yeah, last year was bad....this year was a lot of fun!

Backyard cooking

This was our first full weekend home as a family since school let out. We crammed as much fun as possible in, too! Friday night, we made a campfire and cooked hot dogs, smores, and eclairs. Once the fire died down, we camped out in the tent in the front yard.

Drive In

As part of our jam-packed weekend, we took the kids to the drive in movies. Brady really wanted to know what we were doing, but we were trying to keep it a surprise. We just kept telling him that we were driving to a big parking lot and he was going to have to sit in the car all evening. He was getting pretty upset with us :)

Ready to go?!?

Rudy, ready to go to the pool. Two different shoes, both on the wrong feet...

Missing!

The kids and I drove down to my parents' house for a quick visit so I could work with Grandma on our picture project. My dad and I went running early Friday morning. While we were gone, Brady came downstairs and asked my mom, "Where's Rudy?"

He should have been in the bed beside Brady, but he wasn't there. After a frantic search, Mom hopped in the car to come pick up my dad and me. My first question after hearing what was going on was whether they'd checked to pool. Once I heard that they had, I figured that Rudy thought he was being funny and playing hide-n-seek or something.

When we got home, I ran upstairs to check the master bathroom (the one place my mom said she hadn't checked). I was yelling the whole way up, still assuming he was playing. He wasn't there, so I checked a logical hiding spot - under the bed. I found him there, SOUND asleep, with a pillow, blanket, and his blankie. He'd completely missed all the commotion.

He woke up a bit when I took his picture, but still went back to sleep for another half hour. When he finally woke up, we asked him why he was under there. "Because I liked it under there."

Confused

Rudy: I want to finish this [drawing] today.
Kelly: OK.
Rudy: When is today?
Kelly: Right now. It's today right now.
Rudy: It's today?
Kelly: Yes, all day it's today.
Rudy: Oh. I don't want to do it today. Can I finish it yesterday?
Kelly: No, yesterday is all over.
Rudy: Oh. I want to finish it tomorrow.
Kelly: OK. Put it on the table.
Rudy: When is it tomorrow?
Kelly: Tomorrow it will be tomorrow. After today, it's tomorrow.
Rudy: OK. I will finish it tomorrow. What day is tomorrow?
Kelly: Tomorrow will be Wednesday.
Rudy: But it's tomorrow?!?
Kelly: Yes, tomorrow is Wednesday. The day after is Thursday.
Rudy: OK. I will finish it onnn....Sunday!

Father's Day

The boys had their dad and both grandfathers here for Fathers' Day! We had a big family breakfast this morning before everyone had to get on the road. The boys painted pictures for each father. James got a picture of Brady and him taking a walk and one of our alien family from Rudy (!).

Slip slidin' away...

One of the new presents yesterday was a slip-n-slide. It was a big hit for our 90 degree day yesterday! The boys had a blast launching themselves through the water!

Even Lila got in on the action...

After the water fun, we played a little baseball and then had a family basketball game.

And, yes, that is my almost-90-year-old grandmother playing ball:

A little quiet time watching Life with Popsie:

Cake, round 2. (Cooper is eating grapes!)

Birthday party - presents!

Rudy was very lucky to get so many nice presents. The word of the day was awesoommmee. I think every gift got at least one awesome! I think he'd have a hard time picking a favorite, and we've been very busy trying to play with all the fun stuff!

Birthday Party, part 2

After the races, we headed in to cool off. While James was cooking the burgers, the kids raced cars through paint and across the table...

Group shot:

Happy kid!! He was such a happy little man and so polite the entire day...

Chocolate frosting + black food coloring = funny faces

Sugar high: