It's boating season

We decided to go all out on Saturday and took the boat out to the lake after the swim meet. Frejya brought her friend Charlie and we had so much fun. Those kids loved the tube. We were very glad to find a friend who enjoyed it as much as Frejya does. I think they would have stayed out there tubing all night if we'd let them. Neither of them tried the kneeboard - maybe next time. But they definitely had fun on the tube. Gabe and I got a little time in the water as well, but we let this mostly be a kids trip. Plus I'm not very comfortable pulling someone behind the boat yet, so I don't think it's very fun for Gabe when I pull him. I definitely err on the side of being way too cautious and slow. Maybe someday I'll be more fun.

My apologies

I suck at blogging this week. I just haven't been all that into it. Hopefully next week will be better. It's been a super busy week what with working full time and then Vacation Bible School and swim every evening. Everyone's been up way later than normal and the house is definitely looking neglected. And of course during our busiest week yet, Frejya broke her tooth again. Those front teeth have taken some abuse from her over the years. I'm pretty sure this is the fifth time she's broken them. So we squeezed in a quick trip to the dentist to get her tooth fixed up too. But not before I snapped a picture of it, of course.

Marshmallow war

Somehow roasting marshmallows in the backyard turned into an all-out marshmallow war the other night. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever (ok and so did Gabe and I).

So proud of my girl

Frejya swam great on Saturday! She won her breaststroke and butterfly races and got second in her freestyle. It was so cool to see how excited and proud of herself she was. This smile just says it all:

(Thanks for the pictures Steph!!)

She also had lots of fun playing with her friends all day. That's a big part of why swim meets are so fun.

Gabriel was awesome at the meet too. Poor kid had to get dragged out of bed at 5:30 on a Saturday, but he was a trooper about it. He had fun sitting in Frejya's chair and eating any food he could find. He kept hanging around other people's tents until they fed him. Luckily Lila left him her popcorn. (And for the record, I had plenty of snacks but he really wanted everyone else's food instead).

He did lots of playing too. With Lila and any other kids who would play with him. Even by himself a bit. (Thanks again to Steph for this picture!)

He finally tuckered himself out and fell asleep in my arms. It really made me realize how dang heavy this kid is!

After the meet we stopped for lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. The kids all thought it was fun that they got to throw their peanut shells on the ground.

  Even Gabriel got in on the action.

Now that swim meets have started, summer feels like it has officially begun as well. I love this time of year! (And I especially love that it's not 100 degrees yet for our swim meets - although it's starting to get close)

Territorial Terror

Gabriel's friend Lila came over to play last night and quickly made me realize how much of a brat Gabriel can be if he wants. He only wanted whatever it was Lila had and was totally pushing her around to keep her out of his stuff. I was somewhat horrified. I'm a little appeased by the fact that I've seen them play lots of other places and he's never been quite so bad before, so I'm pretty sure he's only acting like that at home (at least that's what I'm telling myself because it makes me feel better). But it definitely gave Gabe and me a glimpse into what life will be like when Gabriel has a little brother or sister to boss around. And it's not pretty. Almost makes me rethink the idea of having more kids. Almost.

On a side note, I don't have any pictures to go with the story above so I thought I'd share a quick dental hygiene fact with you: flossing is fun!

Super park play date

We had a mega-playdate at the park yesterday with lots of friends. It ended in a huge water fight and a lot of soaking wet kids. They all had tons of fun, though. I (of course) didn't do the best job of taking pictures so I just have a couple from the first few minutes we were there before all the rest of our friends showed up. So these pics of the three C's and my kids are the only ones I have. We doubled the amount of kids within minutes of these pictures (and more moms came, so it was fun for me too!).

I just love the chubby cheeks on Cooper and Gabriel. Those boys just melt my heart. The big kids did their very best job of ignoring the camera. As soon as I asked them to smile for me, they all looked down at their work and refused to even look at me.

What Frejya wore

It's summer vacation time. In Frejya's world that means sleeping in until the very last second and then throwing on the fastest thing she can grab. And hair brushing is apparently optional too (don't worry - she will be brushing her hair at some point today). She insisted the boots were because she was going to Nana's house and might be playing in the mud, but my guess is that she didn't want to take the extra 30 seconds it may have taken her to find a different pair of shoes. These must have been the most easily accessible. And yet somehow she pulls it off. I would look like a crazy person in this outfit.