Fun at Didi and Pop Pop's

We went to my parents' house yesterday to hang out in the morning before naptime. Wyatt was begging to swim, and he is definitely becoming more and more comfortable in the water. He swims around like a little fish, and he loves to splash. The only thing that bothers him are bugs. If there is a bug anywhere near him he asks that it be removed. He helped Katie make pigs in a blanket for lunch, and then enjoyed an ice cream cone (as did Bella, who followed him around and licked up his drippings).

Reese took a nap and when she woke up she joined us outside. My Dad put up a tent (that he apparently bought for some VMI thing for my brother years ago and had never used since) and Reese sat under it in her exersaucer. I started calling it her "red headed grandchild tent." She had a lot of fun eating, but she really loved watching my sister jump in the pool. She moved herself all around so that she could get a good view of Katie.

The active morning was just what they needed because they came home and napped like angels (they usually do, they just napped longer yesterday)!

Enjoying his ice cream cone and dancing
Reese in her tent

Reese and Bella!

At the Waterpark

The kids and I went to the Waterpark on Wednesday after their naps. I love, love, love going late in the afternoon. The park isn't too crowded and the kiddie section empties out pretty early. There's a lot of space to play and no real lines to wait in. Katie went with us (I can't take care of them both by myself at the Waterpark), which was great because she's pretty tall. Wyatt really enjoys the grape escape, but the water is 5 feet deep...which means that I can't even stand up in the water! At 5'9 Katie can stand and walk, so she took him down the slide. I stood right there telling her to make sure she turned to the left as soon as she hit the pool. I can't tell you how many little kids I had to go in and get over the 5 year period that I worked there just because they couldn't fight the current, but it was a lot! Wyatt had a blast playing on the slides and in the wave pool, and he always gets a good night's sleep after we go there. In fact, he asks me practically every day if we're going. I'm still trying to figure out whether it's a ploy to see Daddy, or whether he really wants to go play!

Wyatt and Katie on the Grape Escape
Dancing in the wave pool

My Blessings!

It's so fun for me to watch my kids get bigger. Wyatt is a hoot everyday with the things he says and does. He has opinions about things -opinions that he sometimes expresses very sweetly, and on a rare occasion he chooses to be a little more, ahem, vocal. He likes to be given little chores, whether the chore involves taking out a diaper to the garbage with Brian, or helping his sister up, he doesn't seem to care. He knows his routine by heart, and he can always tell me what he's doing next. At lunch he talks about his upcoming nap. When he wakes up he asks where his sister is and whether we're going to get her from her crib. Once he has his cup of milk and an episode of Caillou, he knows bedtime is just around the corner. This little boy thrives on his routines.

Reese is strictly routined as well, and I'm really starting sense that she is just as happy with it as her brother is. I'm currently teaching her that no matter how early she wakes up from her afternoon nap, in this house you still stay in your crib and play quietly until the two hour mark. The you get up and come downstairs. Wyatt is always in a much better mood if he relaxes quietly for a bit than he is if I just go get him as soon as he's awake. And that's after a 2 hour nap! Her personality is showing more each day. She's a bit of a troublemaker. She likes to get her brother in trouble. He may just be standing right next to her, but she'll scream just to see him get in trouble. And she laughs and laughs while he sits in time out and then tries to lure him out by picking up one of his toys. She's quite the little girl. For all her attempts to be devious, she is still incredibly sweet and loving. When I pick her up she lays her head down on my shoulder and while I pat her back, she pats mine. Everyday I find that I enjoy being their mom more today than I did the day before...and that really is a blessing!

The Rest of the Weekend

Sunday was pretty nasty, so the kids and I ended up hanging out at home all day. We played, watched Elmo's Potty Time (seriously, Wyatt loves it), and read books. I'm finding that if I pick up a book and start reading (even if it's one of my books - this is what I'm re-reading for the millionth time now!), Wyatt will run to the playroom and come back with 5 books in his hands. He'll sit next to me on the couch and look at his books. He obviously can't read, but he does sing his ABC's and point to letters. He's pretty silly!

That evening Brian and I went and looked at some houses. We haven't completely decided to move, but we did meet with our realtor last week and we're still trying to decide what to do. We've looked at the neighborhood before and we liked what we saw, so we went back. I guess we'll have to see what happens! We also went out to dinner and to a movie. We saw Public Enemies, which I would not suggest to anyone. It was terribly slow and boring. Brian liked the action scenes, but even he thought it moved to slowly! I Vanilla Sky'd it, which means that I hated it and contemplated leaving. Sooooooo awful (and that's coming from someone who loves Christian Bale)!

We woke up on Monday to a cool and cloudy day. It rained for a little bit, but we decided to go to the zoo since it wasn't persistent. Wyatt had a great time visiting his animal friends (he seriously asks about them almost every day), and Reese was really aware of what was going on this time. She really enjoyed looking at the animals too!

The boys entering the zoo
They both really loved the prairie dogs! A baby came right up to them to say hello!

This is Wyatt with Mikayla. She really liked Wyatt and called him and ran up to him every time they saw each other. I think she's an older woman. This is where they first met...

The boys watching the lion sleep. He was all by himself. The babies that he and his "wife" had last year were sent to Oregon last week. She had new babies a couple of months ago so she's still in hiding with them!

Being a dad to newborn lion cubs is easy work!

Reese and Mommy at the zoo!

Wyatt and Mikayla checking out the lovebirds. Seriously. This is where they said their good byes.

After the zoo we went to Doumar's for some lunch. It was Wyatt's first time actually getting something to eat and he loved it. Especially the limeade! Both kids were fast asleep by the time we got home, and Wyatt took a pretty long nap. Reese has three new teeth coming in right now, and that was the only time she really seemed to be upset. She ended up sleeping for about an hour, but that was it. Fortunately she was still cheerful!

The 4th of July!

On the 4th of July we went to Waterpark. Rather than rambling on about our day, I'll let you see the pictures!

Wyatt was able to go down a big slide with me! They got new tubes with bottoms, and little kids who are life jacketed can ride them!
I'm not sure what was going on here, but he looked too cute! I think he might have been talking about fish kisses.

Piper, Wyatt and Reese

Piper dropped the rings!

The girls chatting

Friday

Even though Friday wasn't actually Independence Day, it was the observed holiday so I had the day off! The kids and I went over to my parents' house for lunch and played the day away. Wyatt had so much fun swimming in the pool. He really enjoys swimming around, and I love his life jacket. It's really giving him the ability to learn to swim using his arms and legs. I'm hoping to start some sort of swimming lessons with him soon (we have a lot of friends who currently coach or have coached), but in the meantime I want him to learn about pool safety. That's why we've set some pretty firm rules:

• Two people always have to be home when the kids are swimming - that's why the kids and I don't use our pool when Brian's not home.
• Wyatt is only allowed to enter the pool from the stairs - that way he doesn't think he can just run out the back door and into the pool.
• His life jacket stays on if he's near the pool.

We love having a pool, but it is one of the main reasons that we're seriously considering moving. It's great, but it's not worth not having a backyard or the worry that is causes when you have little ones! Plus Brian's working so much during the summer and we have the two person rule, so it hardly ever gets used.

My parents watched the kids for me on Friday night while Brian worked and I went to a barbecue at my friend Darcy's house. We went to high school together and she was in our wedding. She is a Red Sox fan, but I can forgive her that minor flaw. Even though she's living in Richmond I hardly ever see her! Several of our friends from high school were there, and it was really great to be able to sit around and catch up. And Darcy's mom makes some delicious food. I don't think I stopped eating the entire night!

He's a little water baby!

My little Puff addict waiting for a fix!

Water Country USA

On Monday we went to Water Country USA. I know, I know, it's not Brian's Waterpark. But we're still allowed to go there! Brian always likes to check out what's going on in the industry, and to be honest, he would have absolutely no fun if he spent the day at work. Instead of having fun he would be distracted by, well, work. No fun! Going to Water Country is actually a perfect mix of our jobs...his job is Waterparks and my job is competitive analysis. Sure, my job is in the insurance industry, but whatever!

Wyatt was able to go on a really big slide for the first time with Brian. He was so excited to ride the big slide with Daddy! He couldn't ride the big rides last summer. We also spent a lot of time in the kids' section. Wyatt stayed on an alligator in the water for awhile. We had the same one at the Waterpark back in the day when I worked there, and it was always very popular with the kids. They liked to stand on it. I liked to yell at them for standing on it. Wyatt preferred to make himself slide off of it and onto his back. He had a ton of fun splashing around. Even Reese had a good time, and she's been skittish in the water recently.

After we ate lunch the boys hung out in the wave pool while I put Reese to sleep in the stroller. Wyatt was so cute paddling around the pool with Brian. He had a lot fun when the waves came on. He and Brian also rode the Hubba Hubba Highway, which is basically like a streaming river. When you put on a life jacket all you really have to do is lay back and the water pushes you around. It's really fun, and I liked watching the boys float by because Wyatt was pretending to swim around!

Both kids fell asleep on the ride home, and Brian went and played a round of golf while I cleaned up a bit. We finished his perfect day off watching John Adams on DVD. We just started Netflix, and so far it seems okay. I didn't watch the first movie (The Wrestler), but I wanted to watch John Adams when it was on HBO and I never had time. We've watched 2 episodes so far and it's pretty interesting, but I am a history buff. I know some things aren't accurate, but it is what it is! Tomorrow is my last day of work this week, so I'm pretty excited. This is the part where my husband rolls his eyes and mutters something about me only working 20 hours a week, but I'm not complaining! I'm just excited to have a four day weekend, and I love the fourth of July (for the aforementioned historical reasons, not because I like fireworks)!

You can really see her three teeth in this!
Walking around in the water

On the alligator

Wave pooling it with Daddy!