Summer Swimming

Shelly, Rick, and Ciearra came to visit us for a weekend.  It is really great to be so close to family that we can just bips over to see each other for a day or two.  Tam and Jude were so excited to see them!  The downside was that it rained, and rained, and rained on Friday and Saturday.  This totally ruined the plan to go the beach or blueberry picking. Luckily the kiddos didn't mind just playing with each other and all the toys and books for chunks of time (with minimal fighting).  We did get out for a while to show the family downtown Vermilion.  It was Christmas in July, so many of the little shops had sales.  I totally let the kids have fun...flavored popcorn at the farmer's market, sugar candy at the candy store, late night watching movies.  It was great. 

On Sunday, we found the local community pool.  Back in Grand Rapids, we visited a few of the huge pool facilities and the splash pads...but now we are in a smaller town.  The weather was warm so we suited everyone up and headed for the water.  The beach was out because of the storms the previous day.   To our delight, the pool was a decent size and not crowded at all...and it was salt water!   The shallow end was only a little over a foot deep, so Jude could touch the bottom.  Everyone went in, but Ciearra threw a fit and sat in a chair for a chunk of the time.  We put arm floaters on Jude, but just let Tam have at it in the shallow end.  I was fully prepared for Jude to throw a fit, especially since he has only recently sort-of enjoyed going into Lake Erie while being held in our arms.  But, that stinker, surprised us and LOVED the water.  By the end of the swim time, he was jumping into our arms from the side and bobbing around on his own.  His grin stretched completely from ear to ear.  Tam loves the water and had no problem swimming around in the water...well, kind-of swimming...he isn't quite coordinating the kicking and the scooping but he tried when we reminded him.  He also jumped in from the side of the pool into deeper water.  He attempted to jump off the dive board, but stalled on the edge.  Maybe next time.  Brian's grin was also huge because he was so proud of his boys and how well they behaved in the water.  I swear his chest was so puffed up with pride :-)  If we can swing it, I would really like to get both boys into swim lessons when possible at the YMCA.

Overall, it was a blast.  One of the nicest things Shelly commented on was how great it was to all be sitting around the table just chattin' and chillin' and laughing.  I agree. It was awesome to just to hang out as a family.

Can't wait for the Reunion coming up in a few weeks.

Someone got a haircut . . .

So a few weeks ago I buzzed down the boys' hair for the summer...

Someone else in the house decided that they needed a haircut too...

One more hint... This person decided to trim as short as it has ever been in a bazillion years...

Yep...
Brian decided it was time for a major hair cut.  For reference, the last time his hair was this short was way back in 1998 (maybe 1999).  He is heading out for job interviews in the upcoming weeks and wanted to trim it up.

I wasn't sure I would like such a drastic change, but we have always said that it is only hair.
I can't believe how much YOUNGER he looks with this haircut, not that he looked old with the long hair.  I love how neat and trim it is and his head feels so fuzzy.  It is a little longer on top so he can have a few options for gel if he wants.  He likes it and has said how much lighter his head feels.

The boys still call him daddy, so I guess it wasn't too much of a drastic change.

Tamlin's Lego Car

Tamlin built a lego duplo car...with a tower of blocks on the back.  There were a few random spaces between the blocks.
He explained that the spaces were cubbies...one cubby for his toys, one cubby for food, and one cubby for "grown-up toys."  Brian asked him what exactly were grown-up toys...
The reply we got was "I don't know...whatever grown-ups like to play with"

Chuckle...

At least he was thoughtful :-)

Blueberry Picking

 We went to a local farm and picked blueberries on Saturday morning.  The day had started dreary and overcast, but warmed quite a bit by noon.  The boys had never been out picking fruit...but they did know that blueberries are good to eat.
I pass this particular farm on the way to work and had just noticed that they had opened for the season.

When we arrived, we went and got a bucket to collect our haul.  I slathered the boys with sunscreen and we all wore our hats.

 Tamlin:  What's this, Mom?

 Me: These are blueberries growing on the bushes.  

Look...the dark blue ones are ripe for picking!

 Tam:  Hmmm... I'll try this...

 

 Jude: What?  What are these?  You want me to do what?  

Where's my binky?

 Tam & Jude: We aren't sure about this...

why are we picking the blueberries again?

Daddy: You pick them so you can eat them!

Yum!

 

 Tamlin:  Yum!  Blueberries are great!

Here have some, Jude.

 Jude: I'm not too sure about this...

 Jude:  Wait...Yum!

I like blueberries!

 

 Daddy: Let's pick some more over here...

Tam: I've got the bucket!

Jude: Blueberries! Blueberries!  Up, Up, Up, Blueberries!

 Blueberries!

 Blueberries!

  

Blueberries by the handful!

We ended up with nearly 2pounds worth in our bucket and a score or so in our bellies.

Tamlin already wants to go back again.

Jude was wiped out and fell asleep on the 15minute drive homeward.

Haircuts

It is July.
It is hot.
It is muggy.
The boys' hair is getting long.
And their heads are getting sweaty, especially under hats.

Time for summer haircuts!



Here are the boy's before photos from mid-June...
I had already trimmed Tam's hair in May but it grows like weeds.  Jude's hair is so fine and fair that I don't notice as that he needs a trim quite as quickly.

 I have found that a sucker is still a great bribe to get the boys to sit still while I buzz their heads with the clippers.  I am not a hairdresser, so I just set the clippers and shave it down all over.  I think they look so much older when their hair is so short...especially little Jude!  He looks like a real little man and not a baby any more!  And Tam looks like a little Rascal! 

I love my boys :-)

Fourth of July

 Happy Fourth of July, 2013!

It was a great holiday to spend together and with our local cousins. 

We woke up and headed to the beach to enjoy the peaceful morning.  We knew the cousins were meeting us there a little later.  This beach is off the main road in town and is usually quite popular...but not at 9:30am in the morning.  We nearly had the entire place to ourselves.

The sky was grey and overcast, and we hoped not to get rained on. 

Tamlin immediately shed his shoes and ran down to the water.  He splashed right in and tried to scare the geese resting on the rocks.

Jude was more cautious.  He went near the water, but changed his mind about getting wet.

Brian brought the beach chairs for us.  He relaxed into one and read a book.  I watched the boys and soaked up the peace of being on the beach with my family.

 Within minutes, Tamlin was fairly soaked with water...I knew I should have put him in his swim trunks!  I did, however, bring dry clothes for the ride home.  Tamlin amused himself with playing with his airplane and chatting up another boy who was playing on the beach.

Tam has no fear of the water, and remembers some of his swim lessons.  He loved splashing around and throwing rocks.

 Jude had fun pushing a big truck through the sand, and then digging and filling the buckets.  He eventually got his feet a little wet with the water, but mostly kept up the beach on the sand.  A little later, another family arrived with a three year old boy.  The two tykes hit it off and had a blast building (and destroying) sand castles.

 Eventually the rest of the family arrived.  These were my cousins, Ed and Dori, ...two of their daughters (my second cousins) Becky and Sarah...and their husbands and kids (my third cousins).  I couldn't quite figure out how my boys are related to the other little ones...so we just settled on calling everyone cousin.  They brought sweetrolls to share while the kids all ran into the water.  Us adults all sat around catching up and getting to know everyone.

Even though there was a pack of boys, Tamlin hit it off with Katie, who I think just turned four. These two played very well with each other the entire time.

Here's a shot of some of the other boys...From the back, I'm not 100% who is who...I know there is Roman, Jess, Ben, (and the short one is Jude)...

Watching all the kids play on the beach and in the lake totally brought back memories of my childhood.  We all played in Lake Erie too at Lake Shore Park when we were small :-)

After brunch at the beach, we headed home to change to dry clothes and gather up food for a late lunch at Ed and Dori's house.  They live down the road about 20minutes from us.  Ed grilled chicken and everyone pitched in with sides and deserts.  We brought down applesauce cake...made from the Reinhart recipe and applesauce canned by our neighbors.  We also brought chocolate mint cookies 'cause Silvieus' love cookies.  And then we brought a pasta salad too to balance all the sweets (this was made by Brian). 

I remember visiting their home when I was little and it seemed as if very few things had changed.  There is still a beautiful garden; the house still looks down a slope to a river; and they still have their pool.  However, now there is a swingset or two and a frog pond.

We arrived after the rest had already settled in, with many of the kids in the pool or off running around.  Tamlin saw Katie in the pool and wanted to swim too.  Now, I don't trust Tam to swim completely without an aid yet...so he had arm floats or a tube or both all the time.  Jude was only a little interested in the pool so I decided to suit up and take him in for a bit.  Well, Jude cycled between crying and laughing for the 15minutes he was in my arms in the water.  Yep, we'll have to get him some swim lessons when we can. 


Tamlin, however, loved the water and playing with the cousins.  With only a little persuasion, Tamlin jumped off the deck into the water.  He was in and out of the pool the rest of the day!

 Katie and him even swam in the rain!

Between pool time and getting rained on, the kids explore the frog pond outside the front door and the neighbors larger pond.  Legos and board games were also hits.  Jude made friends too.  Some of the older boys took liking to him and included him in their games for a while.  It was very cute.

Dinner was great...left-overs were great...deserts were great...conversations were great...even the little bursts of rain didn't damper the party too much.
It was a great day and I absolutely loved spending it with family.