There are a lot of pictures for July. I'm kind of putting most everything in here to try and get all the pictures on. So, here are some of the bit of July.
Waterpark days. Love those. They are splendid. We have one that has this giant apple (what we've named it) that really douses you in water. On this particular day, the kids said they were going to go under it. They had second thoughts, so just before we were going to leave I decided that I would do it. After going under it solo, the kids got really excited when I suggested that Jason go under with me while I went for a second time. Oh man. I don't think the kids have laughed so much as Jason and I stood there waiting for the giant apple to fill up and pour all of that water on us. It was worth it. We may have been soaking wet, but it was 100% worth it for all that laughter. Shame that we didn't have any towels. We tried to keep our seats in the car dry by using the picnic blanket from our dinner. We were soaked!
We went berry picking. It was splendid. We missed strawberry season as I thought we had a bit more time, but there were still plenty of raspberries. And they were so delicious. We made some raspberry jam. I thought we would have enough raspberries to make a few batches of jam, but we made pretty short order of those raspberries. We had pancakes with whipped cream and fresh raspberries for dinner that night. And we had perfect weather.
The picture of the tile is kinda gross. But I want to include it just to remember all the hard work Jason did to get our toilet up and running again. So glad to have a working toilet!
Lots of green smoothies, picnic dinners, and waterpark days. Love the green smoothie moustaches.
Phinny is loving the mobile side of life. And is always getting into some odd places. While we are still trying to clean up the loose ends from the previous owners, we really need to stay close to him. It had been a long time since the previous owners had had kids so a lot of wires and things were put in very grabbable reach.
We've been loving playing at the playground. Not sure what it is, but there are rarely any other children at the playgrounds here. It's so bizarre seeing that there are plenty of kids in the neighbourhood. Maybe there are a lot of playgrounds in backyards? We do see lots of children at the library. In any case, the kids don't seem to mind having the playground pretty much to themselves.
We made a trip to the science centre. Love that place. And so do the kids. We followed it up with a picnic lunch in the sunshine.
And then there were even more bike rides, water park days, picnics and lots and lots of watermelon.
I know that shopping with three kids can sometimes be a little chaotic, but I mostly love it. They are so excited to help with the shopping and I adore those smiling faces. Not to mention those adorable cuddles that Milayla and Phineas give while sitting in the cart together - Milayla insists on sitting in the cart just to be with him! Heart melting sweetness.
Phineas has learned the magic of reading time ----> it gets you extra cuddle time with Mommy. His smiles are so contagious. And he has been signing with us now. It's awesome and so adorable. He signs 'all done', 'more', 'please' and 'eat' then understands a ton more. The extra form of communication seems to make a big difference for him. Atticus and Milayla are really getting into it as well.
That stripey wall? It's wood panelling and a pinterest fail. Apparently you can fill in the wood panelling cracks and then paint it and it will look like a drywalled wall. Since the patio doors need to be replaced (hoping within the next couple years) we didn't want to bother redoing the wall now. Well, the 'filling' doesn't stay in. Now that the wall is painted it does a little bit better, but I'm a little concerned it is going to start coming out as soon as we start screwing curtains into the wall. Oh well. There are worse things in life.
The kids take turns being my running buddies. Phinny goes in the stroller and points out everything! His rate of exploration and discovery has really grown exponentially in the last month. When the big kids come with me, they bike and with how strong and fast they are getting on their bikes, it sure gives me some great sprinting intervals.
I finally conceded and cut Jason's hair. It was getting pretty long. Check out those hair cut pictures! The fantastic 'do' with the hair swirled on top (Jimmy Neutron esque) was how long all his hair was. I quite liked it. He gets these super cute whispies out the back of his ears, but the long hair while biking to work in the summer heat just isn't great fun. So off it went. Considering I don't entirely know what I am doing when I cut everyone's hair in the family, I think I manage to do reasonably well. Passable, at least. And Jason likes his new cut - so that's a success.
Total nostalgia at the library when the kids discovered a box of ZACS. They were hooked. Such a fun building toy. I certainly remember making plenty of robots out of those things.
Phineas is determined to eat just like his big brother and sister. It's been a pretty big learning curve. And when the spoon and fingers don't seem to be getting the job done fast enough, he just lifts up the whole bowl. It's messy but oh so cute. And the giggles are so worth it. He is one determined baby.
About a month ago, Milayla said she was going to ride her bike without training wheels. So I took them off. Then she left the bike in the garage and kept riding the laufrad. I didn't push her to try it because I thought the initiation needed to be on her own accord so that the motivation to make it through some tumbles would be strong enough. Well, it happened. And she learned so quick. On the first day she road her bike to the park! Now she rides to the library with us, rides along side me on my runs and is trying to build up her strength to bike to church. After a week of being on the bike, her confidence and skill were pretty solidified. So proud of her and all her hard work to get there.
I had just the boys one morning (while Milayla was at an appointment that Jason had taken her to) and so we went to the playground in our old neighbourhood. One thing that I think we all miss is the great playgrounds that were in that neighbourhood. Depending on the time of day, they could be pretty busy, but there was always plenty to choose from. Atticus enjoyed coaching Phineas to try out all the things at the playground seeing how Phineas hadn't really entered the playground phase before we moved. It was a fun little trip.
Along with the playground phase, Phineas has also entered a fierce climbing phase. He needs to be watched very closely.
There have been some nights that we have let the kids stay up late so that we can go check out a summer event around the area. Long summer days are lovely. The one show that we saw was perfect for the kids. It was a musical performance with two "scientists" playing a cello and a violin and three other people making music with a variety of other objects. It was quite brilliant, actually. Milayla was clapping a lot. Phinny went back and forth between complete mesmerization and dancing and Atticus thought it was quite a riot. It also happened to happen right on the lake and getting to see the sun set over the water before we headed home was really beautiful.
And to finish things off. I just have to take a second to say how super proud I am that these kids are such great helpers. I'll be honest, there are a million other things I would rather be doing with the kids than cleaning (like reading or building or playing). But I am very grateful that they are such big helpers when things need to get done. And it is rather enjoyable to do it all together. It's lovely to make it into a game and just chat as we get it all done. Phineas is beginning to catch on as well. He will dump out the car box just to get to put them all in again! I feel pretty fortunate to have these little ones and that we all love to spend time together. Kind of awesome.
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