more aquatic adventures

We discovered this awesome park just a two minute drive from our house. It's this tiny little thing, tucked into a neighborhood, but it is so great. It's just a smallish spray park (you know, where kids can run through giant sprinklers) but it is free and clean and not crowded and superclose to my house.

Back in Maryland, we used to hit the one in Silver Spring, but it was a bit of a trek, parking was a drag, and it was usually packed. So I was thrilled to discover a place where we could easily splash away plenty of summer afternoons.

Some more pictures of the girls in their suits:

My camera ran out of batteries in the first fifteen minutes, so I didn't get the really good shots after they had warmed up. But I just love how it's a gorgeous clear day, warm but breezy without a speck of humidity (sorry, my dear DC friends), and there's greenness and mountains in the background. And the kids are just having fun. I always feel like a good mom on days like this, where we get out of the house and discover something new and have a great time. Makes up for the days where the times are less than great!

swim lessons, take 2

I had more success with the camera on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Eve spends a lot of class flashing me the big thumbs up

They usually do jumps at the end of class and Eve has gotten progressively braver about them.

Most of the time she just screws her eyes shut tight and paddles like there's no tomorrow.

Eleanor's jumps don't get nearly as much air as Eve's, but here's the little splash she makes.

Doing kicks on the fishy kickboard.

Nora's class switched teachers this week and her new one, while very good with the kids, just doesn't have them do nearly as much as the previous teacher. Still fun, but it makes for some boring photo-ops. I'll have to try for some more today and tomorrow.

The super cool thing about their pool is the water slide!

The Starfish class haven't been down since the new teacher, but I have high hopes of getting a picture of Nora shooting out the end today.

Classes actually end on Friday and I have been dreading the inevitable sadnesss. So today I signed the girls up for another two week session in August. I figured July would be action packed with the new baby, two birthdays, Daddy home from work for a while, and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. So just as the end-of-summer doldrums are approaching, they'll have two more weeks of fun in the pool. And I'll be much more comfortable toting a carseat along with me instead of this great big watermelon under my shirt.

swim lessons, take 1

I signed the girls up for swim lessons at our local community center and they started last Monday, right after we got back from our trip. They have been a hit so far. Eleanor is in the "Starfish" class - Jared jokes that it's because they all cling to the wall - and Eve is a "Guppy." It's been really good for Eve, who has always been a bit wary of water stuff, particularly putting her face in the water. And Eleanor has taken to it like a fish...um...to water. No wall clinging there! They go daily and practically count the hours till 4:00 pm.

So yesterday I decided to finally take the camera and get some good action shots of the bubble blowing, back floating, kick boarding, etc. Here's the best pic I got:

Due to a malfunctioning filter, the little ones got to enjoy a 30 minute safety lesson! You can tell the kids are really into it. My favorite part was explaining to two crestfallen little faces why they couldn't get into the pool.

Eleanor consoled herself by playing in the hose when we got home.

I'll take the camera with me again today - hopefully many waterlogged pictures to follow!

In other news, I am now two weeks out from my due date. The temperatures are steadily rising, which means my feet are steadily swelling and I'm kind of running out of steam. And why does my nose swell? Does this happen to anyone else? You think my vanity would be out of the picture by now, but a swelling nose is the last straw! More updates to follow, I'm sure.

Chez MTC

Good luck, Mom and Dad! We only wish we had the same endless supply of Cap'n Crunch that you will soon be enjoying. :) We love you.

Can you spot the Korean flag? It's got to be there somewhere....

Oregon Coast

We got back Saturday evening from our trip to the Oregon coast, sandy and with eight loads of laundry, but very happy. We had a great time with my family - it was so much fun to see all six of the cousins together and to spend some quality time with my siblings and their spouses. And it was especially nice to spend a week with my parents before they leave for Korea next week.

We stayed in a gorgeous three story home right on the beach (if by beach, you will accept rocks and tidepools, which I gladly do.) And despite the unfortunate dip in temperatures, we still had a packed schedule - a visit to the Newport aquarium, a whale watching excursion, a crabbing expedition for the big kids and dads (do I have the "big kids?" Hard to believe!), two different lighthouses, and many trips to the sand and tidepools. Not to mention the usual loud family dinners, lazy afternoons, board games and movies and sunset watching. Good times.

Our first afternoon, Eve and Dylan together again!

The harbor seal at the Aquarium who couldn't get enough of the kids. They named him Spot.

Exploring tidepools

Jared flying Nora's Cinderalla kite. He is very confident in his masculinity.

Heceta Head lighthouse. The weather really didn't cooperate the day we visited, so this is a picture I took last year. Is that cheating?

Eve and Grandma looking for shells and hermit crabs

facts of life

An elderly gentleman hollered this after me in a parking lot today:

"Hey! You must have swallowed a watermelon seed!"

Hmmmm, so that's how it happened!

vacations are so relaxing

This is not so much me right now. It won't be me next week, either. Picture more sweatshirts.

We leave on Saturday morning for a week long stay at a beach house on the Oregon coast with all my family. But why is it that the preparations for such a lovely getaway make me want to tear my hair out? A few things I need to do:

• do all the laundry and pack
• prepare my Laurels lesson for the following Sunday - we get back Saturday, so I'm thinking I won't have a lot of time to do it then. Little does Elder Holland know, he is teaching it for me, courtesy of my MP3 player.
• make my visual aid for said lesson
• my parents are stopping over with us the day before we leave, so I need to clean out the guest room which has been a dumping ground for all the baby stuff while we painted the baby's room. And make sure we have clean sheets and towels. This is the only chance my folks have to see our house before their mission, so I'd like it to look at least half way decent.
• do my trip shopping, plus buy the communal groceries for the trip. I'm a little nervous about picking out a week's worth of groceries for my family! They're a nice bunch - they'll forgive me if I forget something. :)
• return our library books
• go to Eve's last-day-of-school BBQ tomorrow
• paint the baby's room - oh wait! We did that last night! Phew.
• take the girls out for their sticker chart reward tonight. They've been working on going to bed better and, of course, they finally filled it out this morning. So off to the mall tonight to ride the 50 cent toys!
• make cupcakes for mutual tomorrow

In the mean time, my progress has been hampered a bit by my friend calling this morning and asking me to watch her little boy. She just had a baby a few days ago and is also in the process of moving, so I am more than happy to do it.... it's just that Eleanor bursts into tears whenever this kid comes near her. Must be some nursery history there! It's been okay so far, but he's been here four hours so far and I'm not sure if the end is in sight.

So wish me luck! In the words of Bob, "I'm on vacation! On vacation from my PROBLEMS!"

why I love Jared

This is what Jared spent his Saturday afternoon doing...


...priming over the hot pink accent wall in the baby's room. (I think there will be fewer Backstreet Boys posters in that room now, and many many more poopy diapers.) And he did it unasked, too - he just knew it was something I was really hoping to get done. I got off the phone, walked down the hall, and he had prepped the room and was already halfway through priming it. He even spent his evening doing a second coat of primer (it was a very determined pink) and cleaning everything up. Thanks, babe! You're the best!

He even went to Lowe's last night and picked up a gallon of the paint I had chosen, just so I wouldn't have to drag the girls there today - Eve hates Lowe's with a passion, having had to spend a lot of time there recently. AND, even more helpful, he went back today on his lunch break to make them fix the paint - they had given us semigloss, by mistake.

I feel like I've been a total slave driver since we moved in, motivated in part by the terrible colors the previous owners had painted the walls and also by July 6 ever drawing nearer, after which I won't do a whole lot for a long time. Let's paint this! We need to fix this! These curtains must be hung this weekend, Jared, and YOU'RE the man to help me with it! And he has not complained once.

Just a few of the things that Jared has done since we moved in a few months ago:

• painted 3 rooms - soon to be 4
• hung 3 curtain rods - soon to be 5!
• installed 2 sets of blinds
• replaced our bathroom faucet after the original one fell apart
• rehung our interior garage door after it spontaneously fell off it's hinges one day. And that one took some creativity, let me tell you! I have words for the previous residents who took it off to get their fridge out (because they were too lazy to take it out the back door) and then put it back on wrong.
• took care of getting the sump pump in our back yard fixed and the myriad other complications that followed.
• installed a new dryer vent on the outside of the house
• moved furniture back and forth hundreds of times, from room to room, while I decided where exactly I liked it best

And those are just the high lights, not including all the little things. Thanks, Jared! I love you!

I have the baby's room all taped and ready for you, by the way. Are you ready for room number four? After this, I promise you can take a good long break. I won't make you paint the living room... well, not for a while yet. :)