Outside fun

Torii never thought the water in the pool was high enough so he kept filling it up.

Fred created a mud spot in the backyard which was a big hit with the boys. Cordelia had to get in on the action as well. She didn't like it at first, but then she seemed to enjoy the mud. That is until she slipped and parked her butt in the mud.

She was smelling the flowers, but stopped as soon as the camera came out. I wanted to get some pictures of my minnow buckets repurposed as flowerpots anyway and the picture turned out cute. I need a couple more minnow buckets and then every step will be filled.

Cordelia hanging out with her too cool sunglasses.
Ok, not an outside picture, but still had to post a picture of my video game addicted boys. I can't believe how good Rion is at the Lego games. He can get through levels by himself. And he's helped me figure out things that I couldn't figure out myself. I was going to help him with the Batman game, but he's kind of taken that over by himself and is well on his way to completing it. Rion really likes to figure out how things work and likes to find the solution to problems and puzzles. He has very good problem solving skills. I guess that's why he likes the Lego games so much.

Our weekend

Yesterday the kids spent the morning with Grandpa while Grandma, Fred and I went to Lincoln for their annual rummage sales. I found some good things including clothes for the kids, a Halloween costume for Rion for next weekend, an old baseball glove, the game Sorry, and a few other little things. My best find of the day was a Leapster for $1.00. It was the old style, but after some cleanup it works just fine. I only bought it so Cordelia could have one of her own. The boys always leave theirs laying around and then she gets them. Then the boys get mad because she has their Leapster and many of the times Cordelia ends up tossing it across the room. Now she can do whatever she wants with this Leapster, I really don't care if she breaks it. It might have been the best dollar I ever spent. When we got back, Cordelia was sleeping so we played Sorry and the Operation game that Grandma picked up for the boys.

After supper last night we filled up the pool and Cordelia and Torii had a good time playing in it. Rion sat inside in his swim trunks playing his Lego Batman video game. I told him a few times that he should come outside before he missed his chance, but he kept playing his game. We were outside at least two hours and as soon as we came in, Rion was mad that he didn't get to play in the water. We are going outside again this afternoon as soon as Cordelia wakes up from her nap and Rion is going outside no matter what.

This morning I was doing some chores around the house when Torii wanted some lemonade. I poured him a glass and he went into the living room and sat down by Rion. Torii asked Rion if he would like a taste of his lemonade and Rion said "no thanks." It was so nice of Torii that I gave him a good behavior award. The award was for ice cream whenever he wanted it. He held onto the award for about an hour, which was an hour longer than I thought he would last. He turned in his award right after lunch which I thought was nice of him. And he even ate good for lunch. Here's the link for the awards that I used and where I got the idea: http://familyfun.go.com/printables/games/feature/activity-tickets/activity-tickets.html
Torii was pretty proud of his award so hopefully it helps inspire more nice acts in the future.

A couple more haikus

Summer Vacation

Day one. Boys driving me nuts

Hurry up August

A day at the zoo

Tigers, otters, monkeys, bears

Kids like the playground

Outdoor fun

These pictures are from before school let out for the summer. We spent some time at Rion's school because he got a good behavior award at home and I let him pick the playground we went to that day.I tried to get a picture of Cordelia coming down the slide, but she kept coming down feet first, belly down. I could only get her feet or the top of her head coming down. That girl has no fear.

I liked the picture of the boys' shadows on top of the play structure. I actually took a bunch of pictures of the shadows. I was fascinated by the pattern and shadows on the ground. I guess that's a hangover from a photography class I took in college.

Meeting the new cousin

Cordelia loved baby Heidi as long as I wasn't holding her. She threw a big tantrum the first time I got to hold Heidi.
I was getting some time with Heidi while Cordelia napped, but when Cordelia got up I figured my time was up. She actually wasn't as bad as she was before. Maybe she was used to Heidi being around by then. I put Heidi in Cordelia's lap so she could hold baby. When I took her away Cordelia reached out and pulled Heidi back to her. She really like holding the baby and she probably thought she was such a big girl.

Cordelia got in lots of hugs and kisses while she was holding Heidi.

Over the weekend we went to the zoo and Cordelia helped push Heidi around. We had a fun time at the zoo. The tigers came right up the window and stared at the kids. We also took a train ride.

It was nice to see Kelly, Brian and Heidi. Heidi was baptized on Sunday. Cordelia was a major pain throughout the service. Heidi didn't even peep. I took Cordelia with me when we had to stand up with Heidi, thinking Cordelia would be ok as long as I didn't leave her with someone else. Wrong, she cried and wiggled in my arms throughout. After the baptism we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house. The campfire was going and there was two picnic tables full of food. Everything was so good and the day turned out perfect. The kids had a good time and Torii even took a nap that day. He was playing really hard.

School activities

Rion is headed into his last week of kindergarten. He said he is excited because he wants to be a first grader. Last week all the kindergartners put on a program. They sang six songs and then got a kindergarten certificate. I asked Rion why he hasn't been singing any of those songs at home, but Fred said he has been singing them everyday after school. There were some really goofy songs and Fred had no idea what he was singing about. He said he finally put it altogether at the program. The lyrics to one song was just names of fast food restaurants and the kids had actions to go with each restaurant. I would have been concerned if I heard Rion singing about all the fast food restaurants. In context it was a cute song.

The week before last they had a school dance. They have been learning dancing in gym so this was a way to show off their new moves. I can't remember learning to dance in grade school. I thought that torture was reserved for junior high. At this dance only the older kids danced while the younger kids ran around the gym. The funniest moment involved Cordelia. There was a break in between songs so the students could get organized for the next song. Cordelia was getting brave and walking around the gym on her own more. During the break she was walking up front by the speakers. Just as she turned to walk back to me the DJ turned on "Cotton Eyed Joe". She jumped and picked up her pace and ran back to me.

This week they have lots of fun activities planned. They are going to the zoo one day and the last day is an awards day and activities outside. I can't believe Rion will be a first grader and Torii will be starting school in the fall as well. These kids are growing up too fast.

Walk this way

We are finally enjoying some hints at summer. After being cooped up all winter we are getting outside as much as possible. Usually we just hang out in the backyard. Torii likes to play baseball. I found some whiffle balls at the dollar store the other day and he likes hitting those around. He also likes to play soccer and he's practicing for the upcoming season. He likes to be the goalie so he can use his hands. A few nights after supper we have taken walks. Tonight we took a walk to GG's house. Cordelia hasn't been doing a good job of listening to me and she walks all over people's lawns and towards anything that interests her. Finally I got her to take Torii's hand and they walked hand in hand all the way to GG's. She will not take my hand, but anytime Torii lets go, she yells for him and holds out her hand. Next time we go for a walk I will have to bring the camera because it is too darn cute. She loves her big brother so much.