Strolling Through Life & Loving It: Fri+Sat+Sun=FUN!!!!!

Friday
Ever since Dave started work after graduating, we have made a big deal about "Happy Friday". We take turns wishing it to one another all during the morning/work day on Friday b/c we're both excited that it's almost the weekend. Now that the kids are getting older, we've included them in our little tradition and they know as soon as you say "Happy Friday", that it means that after Daddy comes home from work, that he gets to stay home for two days. This past Friday, we decided to make mega Sundays and declared them "Happy Friday Sundays". The kids had a great time adding about 10 toppings to their mountains of ice cream and just as much fun devouring them. :)

Saturday
We spent all day Saturday (we didn't get home until after 4:00!!!) at Brown County and had the best time!! We packed a picnic and ate next to a playground (a great motivator to get kids to eat). After lunch the kids explored the (new to them) playground. Anna liked the little playhouse....

Benjamin is really into fire poles these days....

Then it was time for a little hike. Anna was excited to climb the steps up to the trail...

My little hikers!

My boys!!! I was so excited to get these pictures. It's so hard these days to get more than one of our kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Btw, fewer things make Benjamin more happy these days than having a matching outfit to Collin. :)

Into the woods we go!

Benjamin tickled me b/c he turned around and asked me, "Is this hiking?" After understanding what hiking was, he declared it a fun activity!

At one of the water overlooks on the trail.

The reflection of the clouds on the water was so pretty!

It's a lot of fun hiking when this cutie keeps turning back and flashing me a smile!

I tried to get them to do a matching pose on the steps back down, but they weren't too interested in cooperating.

As we were walking down, I kept trying to get Anna to hold my hand as she is rather accident prone (just check out her skinned knees and bruised legs on any given day). She wanted to be a big girl and wasn't interested in my requests and kept sadly responding, "That hurt my feelings!" This is a new response that she gives us frequently. One evening at dinner she told her Daddy this. Dave asked her where her feelings were and she pointed to her neck. So there you go, that's were your feelings are located....in case you were curious.

The boys were in the bathroom before our hike and Anna and I found a butterfly that was flying around. Anna and Benjamin were really tickled when we were heading back to the car and the same butterfly was there. (It's down on the rock they are looking at)

After our hike it was time for the main event.....SWIMMING!!!! We've never been to the pool at Brown Co and we were so pleasantly surprised. It is awesome! The pools are really nice and seemed cleaner than any public pool Dave or I had ever been to. For a Saturday, there weren't too many people there and everyone was relatively considerate. In short, we had a grand time! The kids really enjoyed the kiddie pool. It was really big (for a kiddie pool) and they had a lot of fun!

Collin getting lotion-ed up so he can join his big siblings in the pool...

(FYI, the shirt he's wearing is one that his big brother wore when Benjamin was a year old and running through sprinklers. Collin is soooo long!)

Isn't this the life?

Collin did really well and enjoyed his pool time. We didn't have the camera b/c all five us were in, but he really liked being in the big pool. He splashed and smiled and had a great time!

Benjamin is smiling b/c he's so proud of himself. He was sticking his face in the water and feeling super brave!

Anna had so much fun! She is such an adventurous little girl! We got them these new floaties that go on the arms and attach across their chest and then snap in the back. They are fantastic!!!! We've tried many different float type devices for Benjamin through the years and these are 100 times better than anything else we've tried!

She was really proud that she was floating on her belly and I was impressed too! Until this year, Benjamin has always been so timid around the water, so it's fun to watch our little fearless cupcake! :)

Benjamin surprised us and was able to go up and down the ladder all by himself....

"I did it!"

Anna loved to have me spin her around.....

and especially to get lifted in the air! (This was always followed by excited shrills and "I want to do it again!")

The big pool was actually shallow enough for Benjamin to touch the ground. Between that and having floaties that worked so well, Benjamin had no interest in being held or getting pulled around like I did with Anna. He was just so happy to have so much independence in the pool for the first time!

We all had such a fun time!

Back to being wild in the kiddie pool!

One of the nicest features there, were these large tents they had set up so you could get some shade. Dave and Collin had a nice snuggle there! :)

Sunday
After church on Sunday, I had a lunch meeting with a new group I'm coordinating. We had thought this meant we wouldn't be able to attend Dave's brother's wedding shower that was happening that afternoon. One of the many things I love about Dave, is how adventurous he can be about plans. He will decide at the last minute that we should do something and this spontaneity usually results in fun for our family! That morning he told me he would go get the kids lunch and keep them occupied while I had my lunch meeting, then we would drive to his parents' house and hope that Anna would nap in the car a little bit, and then we'd surprise everyone. Anna only slept about 20 minutes, but it ended up working great and I'm so glad we did it. Benjamin and Anna were so brave and slowly walked into their grandparents' full living room (even though the only ones they recognized were Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy) and sweetly declared, "Surprise!" Everyone was super happy to see them and they had such a great time! Here they are helping Grandma feed her fish....

Benjamin and Anna happily with the Groom and Bride-to-be.

Benjamin and Anna have been having fun dancing together lately and are very excited to dance at the wedding. They had fun showing Mike and Kathy how they are supposed to dance. (Benjamin always instructs Anna to put her hands on his shoulders and that he puts his on her waist)