It's the Season of Swimming!

We have been spending the majority of our free time in swimsuits given the extreme heat wave that seems to be unrelenting this year!  So I have a bunch of upcoming posts that involve very little clothing.  LOL  :)

This was the day I took Craig to the shooting range.  My mom watched the kids for us and I came to swim afterward because my siblings and nieces were there too.  And because I was SO HOT from our adventure!

Will's a little motor boat.  We haven't done any formal swim lessons for the kids, though I would love to.  He's working on getting the courage to put his head under water and learning his limits.  He's getting more courage in general (even though he cruised around all over with just a kick board and swimmies last year) and attempting to swim alone with help.

Sophie spent most of her time floating along on a raft with multiple flotation devices at hand.  But then towards the end, she exited the raft and cruised around with the vest and noodle and we couldn't get her out of the pool!

Is this a boy thing or just my kid?  Will has to pee about a MILLION times whenever he's swimming!  He keeps jumping out to go pee on the bushes with absolutely no concern for privacy or dropping trow' in front of everyone.

Mya and Stella are loving summer time too.  They're little fish as well!

And let's not forget about these two little cousins who never see each other anymore.  :) (Brutus probably prefers that.  He's an anti-social compared to Mylo's playfulness. Haha!)

"Hmm. Which flotation device should I choose???"

She went with the noodle. :)

More peeing.  ;) 

Papa said "Will, what have you been drinking to make you pee so much?"  Will very casually responded over his shoulder:  "Arnold Palmer".  Hehe!

Me with the three musketeers.  :)

Lindsay joined us a little later on.  Hi, Lindsay!

Sweet summer time!

What We've Been Reading

It's been awhile since I've posted about the books we've been reading.  Late spring/early summer is always a busy, busy time for us, so our library trips have been a little more infrequent and we've kept books for two and three weeks at a time.  The first bunch is from late April, the second from mid-may and the third from early June.  We've gone again since, but only once.

I'll just keep this mostly to pictures... with just a few blurbs here and there about our favorites for me to remember for gift purposes.

I loved Jamaica's Find, about a little girl who found another child's stuffed toy at a park and, after falling in love with it, made the difficult decision to help it find its owner instead of keeping it for herself.

The Charlie and Lola book (on the left) was one we borrowed and loved just before Sophie coincidentally received a super cool, pop-up version of it from our friends for her birthday.

These two, about the silly reasons animals couldn't/shouldn't wear clothing, are really cute.

Both kids loved the Don't Copy Me! book and laughed every time.  This is a good one for big and little siblings who complain of the same thing.  :)

Leo Lionni books (on the right) never disappoint.

This infamous fable was beautifully illustrated.  Will loved it.

Love these sort of life-lessons-learned-while-teaching-children-about-the-Earth-and-planting-things books.

Sophie adored More More More Said the Baby about how parents and loved ones interact with their children.

A couple of musical story lyrics.  Will love the cookie jar book.

Remember the Down by the Bay song?  I used to love that as a kid!

These next two were definitely popular choices from this bunch.  Hey Little Baby! was one that Sophie loved and would make a perfect gift for a new baby.  And the big boy book was one that Will really enjoyed about all the things that big boys can do.

Sophie picked this one.  Little Einstein books always have good messages.

Will's choices... duh.

We LOVED Pete's A Pizza!!  We actually looked it up and borrowed it after my mom read it to the kids from her own library books for her preschool.  So cute and silly.

The top two favorites for both kids (especially Sophie) were these.  Rhymey and repetitive, respectively.  Very cute.  These could be on the purchase list.

The Family Tree reminded me of a book my mom got us as kids called The Window, I think?  About a tree that is planted and how the world changes around it.

One of my own borrowed choices.  :)  I love to read cookbooks.

Bedtime reading with daddy.

These were some recent, cute choices.  We always want the latest Mo Willems books.  Love them!  And the little cave child book about wanting a pet was hilarious.

Lola at the Library was frequently requested by Sophie.  And I always adore books about farming and farm life for families and children.

We realized after the fact that we'd already borrowed the book on the left (below) and I remember the book on the right from my childhood.

The What Do Parents Do? book is silly and clearly illustrated by the same illustrator as I Love You Stinky Face.  Will loved the Amelia Bedelia book.  I'm going to find him more of those since he appreciates that humor.

Some Father's Day choices!

So I guess I captioned a little more than planned but I try to keep these posts short and sweet.