Poolin It

 We have made good use of the pools this summer. We got a late start, with our first trip into July, but we made several trips and spent hours each time to make up for it. The boys have had so much fun but it makes the day even better when we meet friends there.

The Holcomb family met us for some swimming and Jax and Aubs were off the whole time in the water.

We also went to the Clive aquatic center with friends this July as well. We invited Jaxson's good friend who came all the way from Ankeny since his mom had the day off. They loved going down the smaller slides and playing in the fountains. Miss Paisley also came that day to keep company with Asher. They floated around in their little vests and giggled. And there were snacks. Of course there were snacks with Asher and Paisley. It is their favorite time of a playdate.

Clive aquatic center is a little pricier to get into than some of the dsm public pools. So as Chan and I were sitting there we wanted to get our $8 worth and decided to give the big slide a go. We walked over and then had to decide who would go first. We both wanted the other. I volunteered eventually since it was my idea afterall.

I followed the rules of hands crossed over chest and lay flat the whole time. I am a rule follower, what can I say? And yes, my top definately came off but luckily I went under far enough I had time to get things situated before surfacing. 

It was Chan's turn next. She is a rule breaker and plugged her nose and let her legs and arms fly as she came out of the tube. We both had the same outcome though so all is well. Except for her top stayed on. :) 

We also hit up the lazy river a few times actually because we missed the exit. It was a fun pool and we would definitely go back! And also, thank you to the Clive aquatic lifeguard and Angie (Jax's friends mom) who saved my child who can't swim. Jaxson followed Reece (a strong swimmer) who jumped into the deepish end only to have to be saved since was drowning. It only lasted about 4 seconds and he was totally fine but the lifeguard did have to jump in and save him and Angie who was in the water right next to him assisted. From now on he has to practice swimming for the first 10 minutes we are in the pool so he can learn. He gets the concept, he just needs practice. He needs to learn asap or at least learn to not jump in the deep end without help. At least that....

Knees

When you stand which way do your knees go? I know this probably doesn't seem like a normal question but I realize there isn't just one answer anymore. Ever since meeting Dave one thing I have always been fascinated by is that when he stands his knees actually go the other direction. It is pretty amazing talent. It is hard to understand that they do it without him trying and that it isn't painful. And no, he never had both knees broke in some mob run in and now they just go the wrong way.  I asked. This is just how his knees are. Pretty incredible huh?

Can you guess which one is Dave?!

And congratulations to Jonalyn and Dan who got married! It was a beautiful wedding!

Call the Doctor

I felt like camping out  at the doctors office this week. Jaxson woke up on Monday with an irritated eye. By the time lunch rolled around he looked like someone punched him in the face. Off to the doctors we went. Pink eye it was. Yay for having to do eyedrops for ten days. ugh.....

Two days later Jaxson woke up crying in the middle of the night. This isn't like him and it means something isn't right. I tried to get him to tell me what hurt but he wouldn't do it. I suspected his ear since eye and ear infections tend to go hand in hand. I gave him some tylenol and some ear drops that numb the pain (that I had left since I had just had an ear infection myself) It seemed to do the trick and he was fast asleep.

Back to the doctors in the morning. On the way there Asher piped up from the backseat and told me, Mama, eye hurts. I turned around to see him looking like someone punched him in the face now. In the matter of a half an hour he looked normal to this.

 Are you kidding me!? At least we were on our way to the doctors right? So we had two kids with pink eye and one with an ear infection. Awesome. Putting eye drops in a two year olds eye. Not so awesome. (he did end up being pretty good at it and doing it without much fuss. I did have to bribe him everytime though. oh well. What's parenting without a good bribe every once in awhile?)

Two days later I hear screams in the middle of the night. I go to find Asher screaming and crying. Is this a nightmare or an ear infection. I gave him tynelol in case it was the ear. Very tired int he morning from having the little guy sleep with me all night we made our way to the doctors again to find Asher now had an ear infection. Great!

Two days after that I almost called the doctor out of habit of calling him every two days and then realized that we didn't actually have any ailments.

Golfin'

 Jaxson has always seemed to enjoy golfing. From mini golfing to just hitting the balls around the yar (or house). Carol, who loves to golf herself, wanted to get Jaxson a set up real clubs for his birthday. The first thing we had to do was figure out if the boy was a leftie or righty since he would change with on every stroke it seemed. Off to Golf Galaxy where he got to hit the ball as hard as possible towards the giant screen. He was reluctant at first since I have drilled it into his head to not hit or throw balls towards a television. He hit several balls once he got the hang of it and they determined that he could really go either way and could be good at it with someone teaching him the correct way to hold and hit the ball. So we opted for a right handed set so he could have an easier time finding clubs and other things in the future if he does enjoy the game.

He has been practicing plenty and went to the driving range with Dave. We had to veto hitting balls in the front yard when he got one really good just a car was driving by. He missed it within inches and we all cringed as we watched. We also got him some soft flight balls to further avoid that issue. And if nothing else, he looks so adorable carrying that bag around. Maybe one day he will be bigger than the bag. 

Yellow One!

Asher loves the color yellow. It has been his favorite for months. He loves to eat bananas, as long as he can get the yellow one. He wants to wear only yellow shirts. (I have looked for more at the consignment shops and even at other stores and haven't found much. Not that I give in to his every whim but it is pretty adorable how excited he gets when we do put him in a yellow shirt.) He wants to play with the yellow ball, the yellow toy cars and trucks, the yellow everything. We were picking out paint colors for our father's day craft and of course he picked out three different yellow colors. (Unscrewing the cap on one and nearly spilling it everywhere before I realized.)

I am not sure where the fascination with yellow came. I know that it was the first color he could recognize and say. But I don't know if it is his favorite because it was his first color he could say. Or if it is his first color he learned because he loves it so much. The chicken or the egg....

I hope his love for yellow sticks because seeing him in yellow will remind me of him as his little self lighting up at the sight of the "yellow one"

Why Won't The Door Close?

Oh, because your son's hand is in it and he is crying so hard there is no sound coming out!! Ugh.... I felt so terrible I almost started crying myself when I looked down to see my babies hand in the door after me slam it because it wouldn't close. There was a red mark all across his sweet little hand and in spot had broke the skin. I felt like the worst mom ever. I wrapped him up with ice and let him watch whatever show he wanted over and over again as he laid there. He stayed for almost an hour like this. I knew it was painful because normally one mommy kiss and he would be back up and the tears would be dry.

Just thought that for all the "I'm a great mommy!" things I put on the blog, I should put a "mommy oops" up here too. This was a serious mommy oops.... :(

But he is all better now and has forgiven and forgotten. But I do check the doors a little more carefully to check for cute little fingers.

Fourth Of July

We have awesome friends. But more awesome than they are is where their house is for the fourth of July. They just live a few miles from the firework show in West Des Moines so instead of fighting the crowds and waiting in lines to use the bathroom, we head over to their house to grill and mosey out to the front yard for the show once it is dusk. It is such a perfect spot. And even better than all that, once it is done we jump in the car and beat the traffic of all those crazies trying to get out of the park. It doesn't get much better than that.

This year was the third annual "cheesy fourth of july shirt" year. Dave had been looking for weeks for the perfect cheesy, or trashy, shirt to wear on one of his favorite holidays. This year he found his selected top at Walmart. Where else would you find cheesy and/or trashy shirts?? The boys also got special fourth of july shirts, but much less cheesy. Almost cute actually! But at least they look festive.

Yah, I missed the memo that you are supposed to wear red, blue, and/or white on the Fourth. Next year I will probably end up in some horrible shirt Dave finds for me on his trashy shirt run. 

 The boys had alot of popsicles. I think I lost count exactly how many but most of the adults had at least two. My boys also love popsicles so you know they took advantage of the opportunity to eat as many as possible. We played toss with the boys and all the other fourth of July festivities until the fireworks started. Asher was pretty impressed with the firework show oohing and ahhing at almost every boom, and Jax was impressed with the finale of the firework show. The Doyles do such a great job hosting stuff, keeping everyone eating and drinking the entire time. The kids always go home fighting fatigue (because we always end up staying later than expected) and a sugar high. I will repay the favor once they decide to have a little one. ;) ;)

Monster Trucks!

 For Jaxson's birthday gift from Grandma Elaine he received four tickets to the Monster Truck show at the fairgrounds. We have been several times to the shows inside at the event center but this was the first time we went outside. We thought they would be using the entire area in front of the grandstand but the track was very long but still skinny. The boys were still impressed as always. They still had their ear gear on but it wasn't as important as it is when we go to see them inside. It was a perfect summer night with no humidity and actually needing a sweatshirt once the sun went down

Jaxson was rooting for the crowd favorite and Asher always thought the "YELLOW ONE" would win every time. It was a perfect gift for him! And it was even better that he got to go to the show after his birthday party. There was no waiting around days or weeks for the show, just a few short hours after opening up the envelope!