Splash Pad Season

The fountains are on! These kids love water. They have all decided that the only thing they want to do all summer long is swim, but while I try to figure out if there is a feasible swimming option close to us, splash pads will have to do. (Catherine and Mary are missing from these photos because they were working at the market for our friends who own the backyard chicken booth. Yes, "working," as in for money. Because they're old enough to do that sort of thing. Because they're *old* and by the end of the summer they'll probably realize they're smart enough to run off to college and leave forever. Clearly I'm handling it all just fine.)

But back to little ones splashing in water.

Any time we're at the market we have to stop by and say hello to Moonshine, the resident Clydesdale.

Catherine's Swing Dismount

Perhaps Edie Bug gets her swinging prowess from her eldest sister. Catherine loves to take leaping dismounts mid-swing, as most every kid does, but it wasn't until I looked at the pictures that I realized how gracefully she accomplishes this typical playground feat.

She even stuck the landing.

When Edie saw me taking pictures of Catherine, she insisted that she could do it also and that I needed to take a picture. Here it is! Not bad at all for a two-year-old.

A Whole Post of Edie Wearing Sunglasses

Odds N Ends

I guess technically the majority of our days' activities can be qualified as "odds n ends", so this post could really just be titled "life". 

Edie loves to run off with Mary's fashion glasses, and that smile with her tongue half sticking out is a favorite of hers right now.

Edie is strong and active and independent, but she still asks to ride on my back usually at least once a day, particularly if I am busy in the kitchen and she wants to snuggle. That's her "pleased as punch" face.

Dema showed the kids several card games while we were waiting on the rainy days on their visit, and left them with several packs of cards and brand new card holders. They often play card games while they eat breakfast now, and Mary is slightly addicted to solitaire.

Catherine loves to get a super short summer haircut as soon as it gets warm. It took some convincing, but she finally got the stylist to go as short as she had planned.

Mary spent an entire morning sewing a bunch of new clothes for her Barbie dolls, finishing off with this meh dai so mama Barbie could carry her baby.

At some point in the last month or so, Edie got tired of waiting around for someone to come push her on the swing. Swinging is her favorite, and she can enjoy swinging a lot longer than any person can enjoy pushing her on the swing. So she figured out how to pump herself. That face? She's not upset. She's just pulling those swing chains and leaning into the pump with all her might.

This video is seriously worth watching. She's a beast. I don't remember exactly when the rest of the kids were able to do this on a swing, but it definitely wasn't at two, and probably more like four.

We stopped by the zoo last week for a free class on Monarch butterflies, and the kids insisted on stopping for a group picture in front of the elephant statue. They've never done this before. I think this is testament to how much they enjoy Mrs. Rife's blog.

Speaking of the zoo, during a visit on one of the unseasonably hot February days this year, we saw the big cats licking on giant frozen blocks, which they decided were "meat-cicles". Not too long after that, I started noticing full cups of water being left to freeze solid in the freezer. And then I saw Gussie, as "Edie's lion," crouched on the floor. All I can say is I'm glad they didn't think to make an authentic meatcicle.

And of course Edie couldn't let her lion have all the fun.

Gussie is creeping up on 50 pounds, so usually when he starts hanging on me and asking if he can ride on my back, I suggest we snuggle on the couch together and read a book instead, and sometimes I just have to let him deal with the fact that I'm busy. But once in a while his pleading face overrules my back muscles and I wrap him up for a short ride and he happily snuggles in. He usually brags to Edie about this for hours afterwards. But really it's a wonder I ever manage to say no to those freckles and eyes.

Powder Valley with Dema and Grampy T

The kids really wanted to hike the ridge trail at Castlewood with Dema and Grampy T while they were here, but heavy rain flooded the area and the park was closed for the duration of their visit. But once the rain stopped we made do with Powder Valley, with is a close second for favorite hiking spot near us.

The trails here are paved, but two of the trails wind in and out of a fairly deep valley with a creek at the bottom, so the hills make it a bit difficult even though the trail is smooth. Uncle Brian and the cousins also joined us while Kristin finished up her last classes of the year.

Our typical hiking situation is me solo + five kids, so the big kids are used to the job of Edie Leader even when there are extra adults around.

This is the look Sophia give me every time she sees me. I think she knows I'm somehow responsible for the circus of chaotic activity that surrounds her every time she sees me, and she's not impressed.

If you look *really* closely, all eight kids are in this photo. The strip of red next to Edie in the front is Gussie's shirt.

These trails are all loops, so it's not a big deal if the big kids get out ahead a little bit, even when the adults are accompanying the straggling toddlers.

The creek was full and COLD, but the kids didn't care. Dema and Grampy T tried to stay out of the creek, but were close enough for a quick rescue if it became necessary.

Too many kids in creek pictures? Sorry. It's their habitat.

Sophia had no interest at all in me carrying her, but was happy when Catherine offered to put her on her back.

At the end of the first trail, Michael saw a tree with a thick vine hanging right next to it, and knew immediately what had to be done.

Why am I always a sucker for pictures of Edie running over bridges?

The kids weren't tired at all after the first 1 1/4 mile trail, but they were a little tired of us telling them not to get *too* far ahead of the adults, so we parked one adult at the head of the 1/3 mile trail and sent the kids running. Catherine ran 6 laps, Michael Jr and Mary ran at least 5, and Christopher stopped by me at one point and said, "This is the most exercise I've ever had in my whole life."

Gussie kept his eye out for more vines that didn't go just straight up the tree, because he wasn't quite strong enough for climbing that first one. Just call him "Mowgli in training."

Oh, look - Sophia let Dema carry her also.

Then we found a vine that was attached on both ends and made a very convenient swing.

After the lap running, the kids still weren't tired and they really wanted to show Dema and Grampy T all three trails, so I told them we could walk the 2/3 mile trail to cool down. I forgot the fact that the 2/3 mile trail has the biggest hill in the park, and by that time Edie was mostly done and I carried her the whole way up that hill, so it wasn't much of a cool down but it was fun to hike every trail in the park in one day. And Catherine was very proud of her 4+ mile total for one day.