Sunday, July 15, 2018

Summaaaaa

The first half of summer vacation has been a whirlwind of adventure. The first two weeks of June, the kids both did a rigorous session of swim lessons every day to solidify their competence in the water and now I can trust them both at a swimming pool without a floaty. The following week we spent in NC with family at a beach house. When we returned, we had our Nephew visit us for a week and the kids got to enjoy two vacation bible school programs- one at a friend's Adventist church and one at the Baptist church where Angela is attending preschool in the fall. We then spent 2 weeks babysitting a friend's cat in exchange for the key to their community pool, which we visited many times. Mixed in all that, we've had the Fourth of July (cookout and sprinkler/slip and slide play with friends, watching/setting off fireworks. Micah nearly lost his hand.), a visit to the Orlando Science Center, a trip to the zoo, free slushie day at 7-11, Cow appreciation day at Chic fil A (our thirst for free food knows no bounds), trips to the beach, doctor and dentist visits, and a whole lot of eating peanut butter sandwiches.

I knew that it was time to finally graduate from the mattresses-on-the-floor setup that our children have endured for their entire lives thus far when Angela came up to our bed one evening, flung her arms around the foot of our cheap, broken Ikea bed frame and dreamily declared "Someday, I want a bed with these". We purchased a set of beds that could be oriented as singles or a bunk bed, intending them to be used side-by-side in the same positions as their current setup. Problems came when the kids, who were "helping" me put the beds together, looked in the instructions and saw the additional steps that could make it a bunk bed. They begged and begged and ultimately were so agreeably persuasive about how Natalie could sleep on top and Angela could sleep on the bottom that I caved and now they have bunk beds floating in the middle of their humongous room. If someone is going to break an arm, hopefully, they will get it out of their systems before the end of the calendar year, since we will be meeting our insurance deductible this year anyway.
 Everybody "helping". Even the dog, who contributed by providing extra motivation not to accidentally drop the top bed onto the bottom one as, with the help of the girls, I lifted and aligned the two beds.

The girls are so thrilled that they have not gone to sleep since the introduction of their new beds.

Cousin time thrills everyone. Except maybe Adam, he doesn't look so happy.


Grandpa educating Angela on the finer processes of modern civilization; namely, ordering McDonalds on a touchscreen


Me and Natalie and Brooklynn gettin' our toes did


Natalie was a little too small to sit back and enjoy the chair massager while putting her toes up on the ledge for the technician, but she still enjoyed it. Just ignore the scowl, they were both thrilled.


Oh, just the usual- Grandma LeAnn captivating crowds of grandchildren by telling stories


Silly ways of wearing headbands at vbs


I want to be able to lounge around in bed in my underware half the morning. No fair!




Brevard Zoo has this fun splash pond where, on Tuesdays, the drop a few giant chunks of ice for the kids to play with

Natalie pressing her head to the ice in an attempt to escape the oppressive heat


Cow decor at the Chicfila we visited on Cow Appreciation Day



Tongues on free slurpee day


North Aquatic Center, where they have diving boards and water slides. Woohoo!
 Natalie jumping:

 Angela's turn:



Natalie had one cavity to fill, but it necessitated a crown. So, now she has a silver tooth and we got to listen to this for about 2 hours after the procedure. She's a bit sensitive. I didn't capture her repeated insistence that she was going to die, but here she claims that it hurts more than a broken bone.