Playtime in the Pool!

With the heatwave from last week, the temps in our pool reached up to 86 degrees. It was heavenly and we spent nearly every afternoon and evening in the pool soaking up the sun. Our $40 12' x 30" pool that we bought at the end of last season proved to be truly a magnificent investment. Kaitlyn was a bit unsure when we made our first dip but by the second and third time she was running around in the water, putting on and taking off her own ring floaties, kneeling to get toys that sunk and even going down our "water slide". One time she even leaned too far forward in her floatie and went under water and after a reassuring hug from mom and a drink to rid the chlorine taste, she wanted to get back in! Woo hoo! Looking forward to some more hot weather so the pool will warm back up and we can swim some more!

Water Playdates!

Last Monday Kaitlyn and I kicked off the sizzling week with a water playdate with our friends Miss Jen, Ella and Baby Dylan. Baby Dylan enjoyed the shade of the garage while the girls had fun in the sprinklers, kiddie pool and the slip 'n slide. We were so happy that they could stay for lunch and play some indoor toys as well. Thanks for a great playdate, friends!

A snack in the shade...

Pushing strollers through the sprinkler.

On Tuesday we met our friends Miss Kelly, Kailyn and Will at the acquatic center for some indoor water fun. Kaitlyn hadn't been there in over a year and she was a bit timid but she had a good time watching her brave friends go down the water slide and swing on the tire swing. Afterwards we went to Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet - delicious. On Wednesday we ventured over to Grandma Jo's to swim in her neighbor's pool with Kaitlyn's niece and nephew. The water was warm and all of the kids had fun jumping off the ladder into an awaiting adult's arms. After swimming for a while we had a picnic lunch in Grandma Jo's garage, played in the sun until we were too warm and then headed over for another dip in the pool before calling it a day. That was truly summer weather at its finest!

Sharing snacks on the "school bus". Can you guess who the "driver" was on that 90 degree day???? - Lucky Me!

Cooling off with a huge Flavor Ice!

Father's Day!

We had an enjoyable Father's Day that included a delicious brunch, some family fun in the sun and then dinner at my parents. Kaitlyn had fun going on a golf cart ride with Daddy; they even picked me some "flowers" - how sweet! Kaitlyn and I are so blessed to have the two best Daddy's ever!

Kaitlyn also came up with a creative way to tow her Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Believe it or not, those dolls and that little carriage thing were mine. We found dates of 1983 on them!

Daddy's Helper

Kaitlyn is definitely a Mommy's girl, but when it comes to getting a chance to help Daddy with a project, she is all about it. She has had fun helping Daddy with the garden and also helping him put up the pool and patch the grass in the front yard. As long as the task doesn't involve getting dirty hands or feet, she is eager to help!

She didn't want to touch the grass patch mixture so she is just helping Daddy by putting her hand on his shoulder. So cute!

Stylish!

On a recent visit, Kaitlyn had fun putting barrettes and clips in Grandma and Grandpa's hair. The funniest part was when Grandpa forgot what was in his hair and started swatting at his head because he thought he had a bug in it! The things grandparents will let tolerate ... amazing! :)

Just Too Hot ...

... for clothes?

One afternoon last week, after coming in from playing in the water toys, Kaitlyn refused to get dressed into anything more than her undies! She is such a skinny minny and has the longest legs that it just cracked me up to see her streaking around the house in her princess panties. She finally got cold and agreed to put some clothes on. Silly ... but oh so adorable ... girl!

Watching from the doorway as I pick up the outdoor toys.

Putting "lipstick" on. Do you think she has enough flavors???

Father's Day Fun

Last week we pulled out an activity from last summer - "Shaving Daddy". I laminated a picture of a man's face and Kaitlyn loves to smother it with shaving cream and then use a blade-less razon to shave his face. We turned it into an outdoor project this year and the cleanup was much quicker!

I am having a hard time getting Kaitlyn to sit down and do crafts this summer, but she did agree to help me make Daddy's father's day card. These are supposed to look like men's dress shirts, complete with a bit of tissue peeking out of the front pocket. I interviewed Kaitlyn and here is what she told me about her Daddy:

My Daddy and I love to eat: marshmallows

My Daddy and I love to go to: Chuck E. Cheese

My Daddy and I love to play: Diegos

My favorite thing to do with Daddy is to: "Tigger Too" and swing upside down

Pictures, Picnic and the Park

Last Thursday, Kaitlyn and I met our friends Ms. Meredith, Josie and Aiden at the park for a playdate. Meredith wanted to get some pictures of her kids and she ever-so-generously offered to take some pictures of Kaitlyn too. After a few photos, the kids headed off to play at the park. Later we had a picnic lunch and tried our hand at keeping hungry ducks and geese away from our lunch. It was a great morning.

Since we were so close, Kaitlyn and I headed to the mall for a while after our playdate. I had something to return and I promised Kaitlyn that she could ride the carousel. Well when we got there, the carousel people must've just gone on lunch because it was closed for 75 minutes! Ugh. So we got a pretzel, cookie and a slush, then played around in the Disney store and then built a bear that Kaitlyn named Ellysa at Build a Bear. Finally the carousel reopened and we took our one ride before heading home. What a busy but very fun day! Kaitlyn is at such a fun age right now and I think we both enjoy the days when we take fun and long excursions away from home. I'm sure we'll take many more this year before the baby comes!

Wake Up, Horsey!

Last week Kaitlyn and I burned off some energy by racing around on "horses". She used the real hobby horse and I pretended with a broom stick. At one point, she told me her horse was tired and then disappeared into the toy room. I didn't think anything of it and we soon moved on to play something different.

Later in the day when I was picking up, this is how I discovered Kaitlyn's horse. I guess he was tired out! :)

Not TOO close!

Worms ... yuck! She got closer than I cared too, thats for sure. Kaitlyn looking through her magnifying glass to get a close up view of the huge worm in our garage.

Farmer's Market - Trip 1

Last Wednesday, after I thought the rain had stopped, Kaitlyn and I packed up and headed to the GVSU farmer's market to shop for some yummy produce and then to visit Grandma at the library. I knew it wasn't a good sign when I had to turn the wipers on on the way there. But luckily I had an umbrella and a stroller cover so we stayed dry for the most part. We made a quick sweep through the market and then we sped off to Kirkoff to get some lunch to bring to Grandma's to eat. Kaitlyn had fun picking out lunch from the cafeteria - a HUGE piece of pizza and orange pop. Grandma took us down to the break room where we ate a quick lunch and then headed on our soggy way back to the car. We'll have to hit the market again this year on a much nicer day!

Attacking the Fire ...

A couple years ago I found this cool fire hydrant sprinkler at GoodWill. It sprays water our of the side, sprays water out the top in a circle and also sprays water out of a mini fire hose. I thought of a fun game for us to play with the fire hose setting. I drew a whole bunch of "flames" all over the driveway with sidewalk chalk and then Kaitlyn grabbed the hose and had a great time attacking the "fire" and putting it out. We ended up doing it until the whole driveway was wet and there was no more spots for me to draw flames.

A Stone's Throw Away

We are blessed to live directly across the street from four man-made lakes. The lakes are designed for water skiing and wake-boarding but the owners have graciously given us permission to play in the sand and water when there are no boats. So last weekend Jeff took Kaitlyn across to play in the water. I think he had fooled himself into thinking that Kaitlyn might actually like the sand and water at these lakes because they were close to home or something. Ummmmm .... no. She barely got down from his arms and when she did, she was whining to be picked up because her feet were dirty! Silly, silly girl! Nice try, Daddy! Kaitlyn does LOVE to throw stones into the lake so that has become a very fun Daddy/Daughter activity this Spring/Summer!

Beach Day #2

Last Monday we met some friends at Millenium Park for a fun summer day in the sun. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn wasn't too keen on walking in the sand or the lake for that matter. Usually if I put her water socks on her, she doesn't mind because her feet stay clean. She was actually super content to sit in her beach chair, snack on frozen grapes and play Polly Pockets. And she loved to watch her friend Joshua play in the water and dig in the sand. The four of us did have fun splashing around in the spray park, although that water was REALLY cold! Around 1pm we packed up our stuff and headed to the car. But we kept our tradition and stopped at the snack shop for a pretzel and slushie before leaving. That was by far Kaitlyn's FAVORITE part. She drank the whole slush herself! This week I think we'll search for a pool to play in and skip the beach!

My sweet little no-so-fond-of-the-beach girl!

A Reason to Celebrate!

Last night we got dressed up and headed to the wedding celebration of Jeff's cousin Justine and her fiance' Josh. The wedding was at the Hope College chapel - what a beautiful place. Kaitlyn loved seeing her cousin Sydnee walk down the aisle as the flower girl and then the princess (Justine) walk down. It was a gorgeous ceremony. Afterwards, Kaitlyn had the most fun popping bubbles while we waited for the bride and groom to leave the church. The reception was outdoors ... brrrrr! I actually got the blanket from the car and had it on my lap. Luckily Kaitlyn had lots of extra layers on and Jeff entertained her and the other kids by playing a game of tag/spin/something that looked very tiring. We left the reception at 10pm - we were all pooped. Congrats again Josh and Justine!

Kaitlyn decided that "Lamby" needed to come along. The two of them are posing before we left. Kaitlyn told me that she wanted me to do her hair like "Gabriella" from Syd the Science kid. So this was my attempt at "poofy piggy tails" as Kaitlyn calls them.

Making her own bubbles.

Waiting so patiently for more bubbles.

Hooray ... bubbles ... finallly!

Too high! Look at that determination!

Pool Time!

Hooray for the warm weather. I finally got to blow up Kaitlyn's pool. She had a blast swimming in it for almost 90 minutes yesterday. We had boat races down the water slide, squirted (pretend) ketchup and mustard bottles all over the pool and she had fun floating in her swim rings like "Mommy does in the big pool."

Kaitlyn the Teacher

We continue to have fun playing school this summer. This week we played indoors. Kaitlyn decided that the students were all cooperative so they earned stickers! We even found a backpack to fit Dirdsie!

A Style of Her Own!

Last Wednesday Jeff forgot to take the trash to the road before work so he asked me to do it for him. Thanks to him, I discovered what an absolutely GORGEOUS morning it was. Kaitlyn and I packed up our breakfast and dined outdoors. This is what my peanut chose to wore. Good thing we don't have many neighbors!!! Yes ... those are winter boots!

Block Center

A few weeks ago I moved all of our blocks out of the "block cupboard" and downstairs and setup a block center complete with doll house people, a box of cars, animals and all different styles of blocks. It seems that our basement is always FREEZING so we always end up playing upstairs. So .... I decided to move the block center into the dining room. And Kaitlyn had a blast playing blocks last week. She built towers and a roads, a post office and a zoo. That was the result I was hoping for. Now if I can just get past the clutter it has brought to the main floor...

A Party for a Princess

Last Monday Kaitlyn got all dressed up in her Snow White princess dress and we headed to Ella's "castle" to attend her third birthday party. And what a party it was, complete with princesses on the walls, a castle birthday cake and some adorable games. Kaitlyn got some adorable party gifts and most of all had a fun morning hanging out with the rest of the princesses! Happy Birthday, Ella! You certainly are sweet as a princess!

Loving Summer!

Although June hasn't been a super warm month, Kaitlyn has had some fun in the sprinkler on a few of the warm days. Last Saturday she had fun in two different sprinklers and two different swimsuits. She even had fun pouring water on her own head - crazy girl! Oh how we love the sunshine!