FUN IN THE SUN...

Happy Children...cooling off in the water....so thankful their mommies brought them all the way to the Gateway Mall for a fun outing--LET ME TELL YOU HOW IT REALLY WENT!!!

Melly and I thought it would be fun to take the kids on an excursion to the Gateway and play in the water fountains. Our kids love the water, and it was the first rain-free day in weeks! Turns out everyone else in the city had the same idea. Immediately Zayla started crying because she stepped on to hot cement with bare feet (poor baby!), Deklin and Zay wouldn't let go of our hands or get wet. Zayla cried if I put her down, Daxon was initially having fun until he had a head-on collision with another kid, got a black eye, and a bloody nose. His sobs did not stop after that. He cried if he got wet (water did get shot up his nose at one point), if he got cold, or hot, or had to pee (Dax and I did have to go on a bathroom hunt - we ended up scooting through Barnes and Noble him dripping and no shirt to make it just in time!) Deklin and Zayla eventually warmed up to the water (kind of) but it was so slippery that Zay could hardly move without falling. She resorted to a very slow bear-crawl it was quite hilarious! Zayla was most happy when sitting in Dek's stroller playing with the buckles. After much whining and a few soggy snacks, (and have I mentioned Melly forgot Deklin's shoes?!) we decided to call it a day.
As we were walking back to our cars, I was trying to decide if the outing was even worth it. And I am here to tell you, it was! I think somewhere between the first bathroom run and the final squirt of water, my kids had fun. And just because its not going to be the "storybook" version of a fun outing, doesn't mean the chaos isn't worth it!





Part elation, mostly hysterics...


Deklin after just getting soaked!


enJOYing life!

Mommy Bloopers

So today I had the back door open because of the beautiful weather. Its nice and cool, a little rainy, with some nice thunder rolling in the distance (much to the chagrin of my poor dog!) Well, the door has been open most of the morning. And over the course of this morning I have noticed Zayla playing near the door, swinging it open, almost closed, open again. I have been on the phone a lot, cleaning things up, the usual. I have fed Zayla lunch, the Hubband stopped in real quick for something and held Zayla for a minute, he left, I then got Zayla down for a nap. With a one track mind I headed downstairs to start to clean up the kitchen (among everything else!) I walked down the short flight of stairs to my family room. At the bottom of the stairs I see three dark lumps on the carpet. Without my glasses on I had to lean closer to see what it was...and the only thing I came up with, was that some time over the course of the morning, Zayla had walked out into the backyard, picked up DOG POOP and lovingly brought it inside!!! Aaaahhh! I started thinking of what she has touched, eaten, stuck in her mouth, and all I could do was laugh! I need more of me around to keep on top of everything!!

Oh, the JOY!!!