This Is How We Roll

First week of summer done...and this is how we roll.

These two have discovered chess.  Chris and I have learned to play as well and it has created quite the competitions!

An unexpected trip to the Exploreum after our plans to go to the pool got canceled due to rain three days in a row!!  The boys always love playing there and with our membership it is free!!

The three big guys got summer workbooks.  It always amazes me how much they enjoy these!  They spend their quiet time in the afternoons working in these or reading.  Keeping those minds sharp!

Playdates with the Davidson crew.  Always fun.  Always wild.

We've spent a little time putting out fires...

Impromptu naps are always nice...especially from this guy that never naps!

My favorite part is all the reading we are able to do and the time that I am able to give each child.  While Philip and Daniel are long past needing to practice their reading to me, they still love for me to read to the them.  I'm currently reading the Hardy Boys to Philip, the fifth Harry Potter to Daniel, and Charlotte's Web to William.  William is truly in the sensitive period for learning to read.  He begs me to sit and work with him on his reading.  He's come so far in just the two weeks he has been out.

And perhaps the funniest is how all three bigger boys gather whenever I read books they used to love to John.  I laughed to myself the other day when all three climbed on the couch to join John and me while we read some Thomas the Tank Engine stories!  The school year is so busy and while we still read every night it is rushed.  Summer allows us to settle in, get comfy, and truly enjoy a good book!

One week in and we are having fun.  I imagine that by August, I'll be quite ready to send them off but until then we'll enjoy this relaxed living.

Fun on the Water

When Chris came home on Friday and announced that he was home for the whole three day weekend, I was thrilled.  My only request was a family adventure....something fun for the six of us.

So today, we got moving early and attended 8:00 church.  Then exchanged church clothes for bathing suits, picked up PopPop's boat, and headed to the water.

We had a great time...riding, tubing, swimming, and lunch at the River Shack.

Just what I wanted!!  And now we still have a day to enjoy Dad at home!

This...

And more of it.

I sat in my rocking chair and just watched them.  I didn't read.  I didn't surf the net.  I didn't talk on the phone.  I didn't think about how dinner needed to be prepared.  I didn't think about the piles of dog hair needing vacuuming.

I sat and listened to their laughs.  Listened to the competitions that they made up.  Listened to them be friends.  And my heart was full.

I am so ready to watch those bonds of brotherhood strengthen during our summer together.  Let the games begin.

Summer!!!

Proud of these two...

Philip had his last chance to sing on the red steps until his Baccalaureate his Senior year.

Not surprisingly, Mama cried as she listened to him sing..."Dreams.  We all have dreams.  What can we be.  What can we do.  Lord with all we are we pray that our dreams will lead us to You."  Amen.

How did the Lower School years go by that fast??

Upper School campus, here he comes!  After the reception for the 2nd graders, Philip and I checked in on Daniel and his 1st grade carnival.

While he looks less than thrilled in these pictures, he was having a blast and didn't really seem to notice that I was a late arrival due to Philip's reception!

Finally, all events over and we headed home to kick start summer!!!  Yea!!

A Belated Party

William's birthday fell at a busy time...Easter, Springbreak, and then right on into end of the year madness.  I never got a party organized for him and his friends from school.  The truth is I was hoping he would forget, but he did not!  So, once his school year ended we got organized.

We invited his class over for pool time, slip and slide, water gun fights, and lunch.  It was a good time!

Campbell's First Juice Box!!

Somewhere along the way, John got confused and wondered why he wasn't having a party.  His birthday had just passed, right?  I tried to explain that we don't invite friends for parties until we turn 4, but he wasn't so sure about that rule.  So I told him the party was for him too.  When he asked which of his friends were coming, I said, "Mrs. Lynn."  He couldn't have been more thrilled.  Except when she actually brought him a gift...the Frozen DVD!

A fun party celebrating with a cute group that will be going off to many different schools next year!  Happy Belated Birthday, William!