How much fun can you have with a hose?

The answer is a lot when you are 6 and 8 years old.  Juliana and Tyler can just turn on the hose and play for an hour with it.  Tyler likes to make the entire patio wet, almost like he's painting it.  Juliana like to water all my plants (okay they are really weeds, but don't tell anyone).  I am always so happy when they find joy in the simple things in life.  It helps them use their imaginations so much more than toys that tell you exactly what you are supposed to do with them.

A boy and his Dad.

As I have said many times before and I'm sure I'll say many more times in the future, Tyler is all BOY!  He loves to run, jump, climb, and can wrestle just about anything or anyone.  His most favorite thing to do with his Dad is wrestle.  I personally cringe every time they do because almost every time someone gets hurt.  It's 50/50 on which one ends with a tear in their eye, yet they do it over and over again.  I guess thats what being a boy is all about, although I may never understand it.  The other day I was playing with my new camera and took a few shots of Tyler and Stephen (this was before they started wrestling, I headed for the hills once that started).

Cousins and the slide...

We have one of those giant inflatable water slides, or should I say we had one, it's about to be sent away with the trash man, it's got too many holes after three other summers of use, but we are hoping to be able to duct tape it together long enough to last the summer.  After a huge unexpected rain and thunder storm the other day we blew it up for the kids.  My sister, brother, and father came over and all the cousins got to spend some quality time together.  It was a fun day.

B is for...

If you pour a cup of water on Juliana...

If you pour a cup of ice water on Juliana, then your asking for it!  The other night we were all out in the backyard playing mini-darts when Juliana and Tyler jumped into the little pool.  Juliana got out and tried to hug her Dad and get him wet, he retaliated by pouring a cup of ice water on her and in Juliana's words, "Oh, it's on"!  The kids had the best time in a water fight with Daddy.  I amazingly stayed dry and ran in to grab my camera.

Should I just give up?

My kids are messy, messy kids!  They leave things everywhere and I often say I feel like I am chasing my tail trying to keep up with the mess.  I took my camera into the playroom and their rooms the other day to just be able to document and show them when they are older what I have been dealing with.  I actually just sent them upstairs to clean their rooms a few minutes ago, they may not emerge for many, many hours.

It's the simple things....

To me summer is all about the simple things.  Going to the beach, cooking out in the back yard, watching the kids ride their bikes or color the driveway with chalk....  the list goes on and on.  I am always amazed at how much fun my kids have with a $30 inflatable pool.  Splashing and cooling off are fun to do, but Juliana and Tyler LOVE to jump!

Beautiful Girl...

I have a girl and her name is Juliana and she is beautiful.  I know every parent thinks their kids are beautiful, and I am no exception.  Juliana is 8 years old and turning into a beautiful young lady.  It's hard to believe how big she is getting.  It seems like just yesterday she was my little girl:

Now she's so grown up:

Changes are happening...

It's been so long since I have updated.  The end of the school year is always so busy, and this year was no exception.  Tyler had an Author's Tea, he read a story he wrote on his own.  It was about Lizzie the Lizard, she was struck by a big wave.  He was so adorable wearing his "fancy" clothes standing in front of an audience using the microphone.  And Juliana had a third grade concert.  They sang, they danced, and they played the recorder.  The dance was my favorite part.  They were all matched up with a partner and then switched several times through out the song, it was fabulous!

They also had field day.  They both always say it's the best day of school.  I think that's because there is zero learning they do that day.

They are now in the 4th and 2nd grade!  They are both excited about summer vacation, but looking forward to school starting again in the fall.

My silly boy.

I have a boy and his name is Tyler but we call him "meatball".  Why meatball you ask, well he's just silly and meatball is a silly name.  Actually his dad calls him that most, but Juliana and I have definitely caught on to the trend.  He makes me laugh all the time and he loves that.  He can just make a silly face or say something that doesn't make sense and I can't help but giggle.  Sometimes when he says things that are not appropriate, it's hard for me to tell him to stop or punish him, because I can't stop laughing about it.  When we were in California he made up a song, "Boobies for breakfast", he's six and that's just wrong, but boy oh boy, I couldn't stop laughing!  Whenever there is a camera around he is always ready to be silly, these are a couple of examples from this past week.

Maybe, just maybe he gets a little of that from me!

                   

Life's too short to take seriously all the time.  I think there is a little bit of "Meatball" in all of us!