Well the summer is off to a running start. All sorts of summer-like things going on, and so little time to blog. Why is it that the longer summer days seem so much shorter? Think on that.
So far we've been able to squeeze in a little recreation amidst all the rain storms. Here are a few pictures of the action.
The inaugural boat ride! It was a beautiful, beautiful day. The water was warm and still, the lake wasn't very crowded, the big kids all got up on the wakeboard (even Jonas, on his very first try) and I took one of my favorite action pics ever:
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| Flip jump off the back of the boat. Looking at this picture makes me happy. |
Here are a few more nice pictures of the family at Lake Elmo:
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| Ethan. If I blur my eyes a little, it's like I'm looking at Forrest. |
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| A little family dip. The water was nice. |
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| Diving form example #1 |
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| Diving Form Example #2. The boy is fearless, and an excellent flopper. |
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| First try, popped right up, big smile |
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| More big smiles |
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| Wyatt standing up on the knee board. Good Dad being dragged behind it. |
Wyatt and I also spent a day at the Como Zoo (St. Paul's free zoo -- yep, free. Minnesota: the land of civic pride. Or at least Minnesota used to be the land of civic pride. Now it's the land of argumentative, grandstanding politicians who threaten to shut down the government. Sigh.) Anyway. Free zoo! At least until July 1 if the Democratic governor and Republican legislature can't agree on a budget! I went with our new neighbor and pseudo-relative (is that what we should call Wilkeys? Pseudo-relatives?) Kim and her two youngest kids. Wyatt loves Ginnie, who's four just like he is and cute as can be.
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| There's a new sign that asks children not to climb on the giraffes, but I thought 1. it's a tradition to take photos of kids on the Como Zoo giraffes, and who am I to buck tradition? and 2. how in the world could you make kid-sized, climbable giraffes and not expect kids to hop on? So, yeah, the sign was blithely ignored. |
Forrest and I have also been toiling diligently to get the new swingset up in the back yard. I say "Forrest and I," but what I mean is
Forrest and
I. Forrest cut the wood, drilled the holes, leveled the levels, hauled the posts, jimmied the joints (I'm not sure what I mean by joint jimmying, but I like the alliteration), etc. etc., while I contributed by staining the wood (which did take a while), holding posts, and ratcheting. I was an excellent ratcheter, if I do say so. And now, voila! Wyatt and Jonas and a wandering band of neighborhood children have been climbing all over it.
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| I need to do one more coat of stain, and I should have taken another picture that shows the swings to better effect. But you get the idea. And yes, we saved big money at Menards (that slogans for the Minnesotans) on this swingset. A bit more work, but worth it. It's a nice sturdy swing set. Thanks hon. |
And last but not least, pool time. We've taken the kids to our neighborhood pool a few times already and hope they'll get some good use out of it this summer. Minnesota summers are long and Mom can only do so much TV monitoring and begging to turn off the Youtube, you know? But swimming she likes. Especially if she doesn't actually have to get wet. I think Elise has decided she's joining me on the deck chairs as well:
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| Texting. Because that's what you do at the pool when you're 13, I guess. |
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| And this is what you do when you're not 13. |
Ethan just got home from EFY today. He loved it & I'm so glad. I also just said goodbye to my dear friend Sally after she spent a few days with me and Michelle, and it was so great to hang with my girlfriends, stay up all night, watch a Woody Allen movie one day and the Justin Bieber biopic the next. I'll post a bit more on both these events once I have some pics to go with my prose, mainly because I know Dave won't read my prose if there aren't any pics, and this blog is all about Dave and what he needs in order to remain entertained.
Happy Summer So Far!
