jumping off the board

off the diving board goes Heather

We made it through the week doing pretty relaxed stuff as Heather had a random fever for a day and Charlie just seemed cranky. One of the kids favorite projects was making a banner for our neighbor who just graduated from pilot training here. The kids painted in teh letters and loved hanging it at their house. It was well received :-). Then Friday Jeff took the day off and went to graduation which was neat. It reminds you of what the base's mission is and why people need to do what the air force does. After naps the kids got to go swimming, to pizza hut for dinner with friends and to see Wall-E (not highly recommended although the 4 4/5 year olds that went seemed to really enjoy it).

Saturday I got to go to the farmer's market with a friend and then to Old Navy to check out the $1 flip flops. Of course every other size 10 foot had entered the store in teh 15 minutes prior to our arrival and I had to settle for size 11's (remember your feet get bigger when you're pregnant!!) but did get a matching pair for Heather and Charlie which the kids really liked. We then went to Lowe's to do a kids craft project but found that it wasn't to start until 2 (did I mention it was 10). With our friends we decided to do the park, a kids activity at the mall, and lunch before returning to do the project. It was fun to spend time with friends and the kids enjoyed the aprons, goggles, patches, and even the project!!

After naps we headed back to the pool where Heather WENT OFF THE DIVING BOARD--with a life jacket and Jeff to catch at first then insisting that she didn't need help just jumped off (with life jacket) and paddled herself to the side. Charlie made some attempts but never made it off the end of the board...She was so pround and excited and insists that she will be doing it by herself from now on. Charlie is also fearless although the diving board is too high. He wandered right over to the 5 foot area (with a life jacket) and jumped right in before I could even get in the water!

THEN (yes there's more!!) we had the same friends we spent the morning with over for dinner and a game which was extended by assistance with our computer (poor Scott probably thinks we only have them over just to have him look at stuff) to around midnight. The kids hung in there and none were sleeping before they left!! Heather tried to rise and shine with the sun at 6:30 and charlie around 7 but with team work we convinced them to lay back down with us and sleep until 8 and 8:30 repectively. WHEW and there's still one more day of the weekend...

shots, strep, swimming

Monday we spent a good part of the day in the clinic, heather getting 3 shots so she's ready for kindergarten and charlie getting a strep test as he had red spots in teh back of his throat. The initial test was negative but we'll get the other results in a few days. meanwhile both are feeling fine and charlie is on antibiotics so we went swimming this afternoon (again!). On another note or garden is growing out of control. We have lots of raspberries, green beans are progressing, and there are 4 little watermelon on the ever growing plants. the kids have fun looking to see if the tomatoes are turning red or the watermelon has grown. The soil and free water are making thing huge which makes for a lot of fun!

relaxing yet productive weekend

We had a "cleaning" morning and fun afternoon weekend thus far. On friday when we settled in to play games/watch a movie Heather and I promptly fell asleep (jeff claims it was 6:30) and Charlie followed an hour later. Saturday we got up and cleaned, Jeff mopped, and the kids got to play in a tent that Jeff made after picking up a bit. Then after lunch Jeff took the kids to a movie while I kept the cleaning momentum going. After naps we went to a neighbor's for a nice relaxing dinner. This morning more cleaning when Heather announced spiders in her room. The kids played really nicely together all morning (making messes...). After lunch we headed to the pool so Heather could show Jeff how she could "swim" underwater. We took some toys that sink to the bottom of the pool so Heather could get them and some balls that Charlie could paddle after in his life jacket. Heather couldn't figure out how to get herself down but with help of a parent thrusting her partway down she did it. She even touched her hand to the bottom in the 4 1/2 foot section which she was very proud of. Charlie at times jumps fearlessly off the side and swims back (life jacket on!)

much cooler :-)

Today we ran some errands (boring) and the highlight of the trip was picking up swim goggles for the kids. We then of course had to try them out at the pool despite it only being like 83 degrees outside (a great summer day in MS!!). The kids are starting to feel more comfortable in the water and Heather is trying to "swim" a bit more. She's willing to jump in where she can touch and go under then try to come up and doggie paddle her way to where I am a few yards away. We will probably try swim lessons pretty soon if I get it together. Then on the way home from the pool a friend called and we detoured to the park on the way home. Now we're all tired and are getting ready to put ina movie and take it easy :-)

so much for taking it easy!

I thought we'd take it easy this week and get back into the swing of friends and fun next week. After a friend filled day on Monday on Tuesday we had an easier day but with no naps the kids were really tired that night. Yesterday we made our second trip to the "sprayground" after a quick trip to the rocket ship park on base. Last night we had our neighbors over for dinner and Heather and Charlie subjected them to a few kids games and a game of corhnole...Today we went to the playground near the sprayground, as well as the sprayground, then to lunch with Jeff and some co-workers and finally to the pool before dinner!!

on a garden note ours is growing out of control. We have raspberries that are huges and delicious, a gourd that volunteered to grow and the plant has taken over the front bed, and some beans that were hiding in the plant. More is to come this summer and the kids are loving it!!

hot, hot, hot

We made it back in good time from OH and the kids were happy to see Jeff and find some friends. We took it easy on Fathers Day, taking the dog we were watching for a walk and hitting the pool in the afternoon. Heather and Charlie are both doing pretty well with swimming. Heather will jump off the wall (where she can touch) and go under and come back up and Charlie has no inhibition about going under although he likes to have someone's hands. I think after a summer at the pool they will be doing just fine with the water. Today we checked on one of our neighbors and quickly had some park time as well as friends over. For lunch we did a picnic at the "spray ground" and played in the sun. Both kids got too much sun--I guess the spray sunscreen has finally failed me :-(. This afternoon we rode bikes to watch Heather's friends play baseball which was quite a ride for her.

last day in OH

We've had a busy last few days in Athens. We headed out to a strawberry patch and picked TONS of strawberries (it felt like TONS!!). Then the kids came home and made strawberry rhubarb pie and strawberry jam with Grandma. Charlie has enjoyed playing soccer with grandpa and cheers excitedly when he "scores!!". Wednesday we headed to the lake for a swim and some time in the sun and yesterday we headed to the park to meet up with a little girl who was born a month after heather. Whew we've been busy?! Did I mention that dad and I played 9 holes of golf--probably the best drives I've ever hit which isn't saying much...our cart ran out of gas on the 9th hole so we had to hoof it the last hole. The kids are happy to be going home but very sad taht today is the last day with Grandma and Grandpa. While we've been gone Jeff claims to have been missing us but he's been pretty busy golfing, having dinner at friends (apparently he was starting to waste away), entertaining ROTC cadets and even flying a T-38--well he got to hold the steering wheel and managed not to toss his cookies. He did decide that he was in the correct career field!

busy weekend

We decided spur of the moment to drive to a state park in West virginia and meet up with my sister and her very kind new husband (who got up with her at 5:30 sat morning the day after his birthday to be assaulted by the kids!!). Mom and I drove over friday night and spent the night in the "suite" that we rentied. The kids got to go swimming in the indoor pool and Heather did some treading of water after pushing off the side. She's a bit more of an adventerous swimmer than she has been which was nice. Hopefully we can find someone to help with swim lessons as I don't think she'll do it with a class (Martha are you reading this?!). Charlie had fun going under but kept forgetting to close his mouth before he went under and would do it in the process...Saturday Kelly and Bryan got up at 5:30 and trekked over to join us. They checked out wedding pictures and then we went for a swim in the outdoor pool. After a picnic lunch we went for a hike followed by one more dip in the pool before heading to pizza dinner and back to Ohio. It was a really fun trip--Heather woke up this morning asking when we could go back to see Kelly...

more Ohio time

Whew I missed almost a week of blogging!! the end of our Cleveland time involved another dinner at a friends house then a trip to a kiddie park with a merry go round, roller coaster, and fun rides for little kids. The kids had a great time with their new friend Savannah and the last day with grandma. Sunday we headed to meet up with Jeffs brother's family at the zoo and the kids spent a few hours with their cousins. They are great ages together and get along well--it's too bad we couldn't work out more time for them to be together on their trip. Heather was sad that she wasn't going to see Makenna again for a long time...We sent Jeff back home and headed to my parent's for a post-wedding visit. So far we've taken it pretty easy, ran a few errands and played around my mom's house and had a cookout on Monday, ran a few errands and played at teh park on Tuesday--finishing up with a few hours of quality time waiting out a tornado warning (charlie liked time with grandma in teh basement at 11 PM). Then today we went to a bead and basket exhibit at an art museum in athens and the kids actually really enjoyed it. The weather has been kind of rainy but the kids were ready for some down time.