Swimming, Sweets, & Cycling

This morning Autumn didn’t give me any respite and woke up at 7:00 am, which stunk since I didn’t go to bed until 2:00 am. We just watched cartoons on the Disney Channel and then had some everything bagels w/ cream cheese for breakfast. Lex & I talked and sat next to each other at the kitchen table working on our blogs on our laptops. Then Liz came over and brought Autumn this cute little pink tutu swimsuit that she found. Liz said she would have bought one for herself if she could have found it in her size, but since she couldn’t, she got it for Autumn instead. Autumn loved it and wanted to go swimming right away.
Thank you, Liz!

I was working w/ Autumn on the things Ms. Cis is teaching her like making sure she puts her head in the water when she swims. Autumn got tired of me telling her that, and said she wanted a turn. So, she said, “Look at the bottom, Mama,” and then pushed my head down. We also practiced our monkey walk around the inside edge of the pool and had our own little water circus (where they pick an animal to be and then we push them under the water through a hula hoop and to the side).

I asked Lex to get a picture of Liz & Autumn & I swimming (b/c I am hardly in any pictures). As she went to take the picture, Andrew threw a football in the air at us, which is why I’m making this funny face and Liz & Autumn’s eyes are closed! LOL!

After us adults had had enough of swimming and it started to sprinkle, we got out of the pool and watched the kids play from under the protection of the patio. They had these little rubber diving sticks that they were pretending were horns that they played as they walked around the hot tub. Right after we got out, Liberty came over (he had been working) and just sat and talked with us.

It really started to pour (as you can tell from all the droplets on the surface of the pool). I LOVE Texas rainstorms. They are definitely near the top of my list of things that make me happy, especially on a hot summer day.

Lexie decided to make the most of it and go play in the rain w/ the kids. She was marching around and singing and the kids had a blast marching around behind her. They were laughing and having a grand old time.

Liz said she was getting hungry and wanted a cheap treat to tide her over until her date tonight w/ Liberty at Olive Garden. I had seen this sign at Wendy’s the other day and wanted one, so we went to Wendy’s. For just $1, you get this little frosty keychain and anytime you purchase something at Wendy’s from now until the end of the year, you just show your little keychain thing and get a free Jr. frosty! I thought that was a good deal.

Liz was laughing about how small the Jr. frosty that you get for free reallyn is. But, after eating some of it, we all decided that it was just the right size, b/c it fulfills any cravings for something sweet but it’s not too much that you feel guilty after eating it.

Lexie wasn’t hungry and just wanted a frosty, but we got a large one for her, b/c we knew this would happen…the kids would both want a taste of it. I think they were having a contest to see who could get the biggest scoop and eat the biggest bite.

After we ate, we went back to Mom & Dad’s so Liberty could get his work truck and I told Nick to come over and brought him a few $1 burgers from Wendy’s and used my free frosty keychain! Right after we got there, Dad got back from his cycling race w/ Uncle Robert & Aunt Sandy. He was talking to Liberty about his bike and let Liberty try it out by riding around the neighborhood. I noticed these GORGEOUS orange flowers in the front yard and loved the magnifying rain drops on the petals. The sun decided to come out, so I was looking for a rainbow b/c we had sun and rain, but I never did see one. Oh, well. The flowers were pretty enough.

The kids needed to burn off some of the sugar from the frosty, so they had races running up and down the driveway. They are both fast little runners.

Autumn insisted on being barefoot and had a blast just being outside and getting to run around and be crazy and wild and free.

Dad got all unpacked from his cycling trip and said he had surprises for the kids. They both got a cap (Autumn insisted on putting hers on backwards) and a t-shirt. He rode 60 miles in the Peach Pedal in 4 hours! I am glad he was able to go do that and enjoyed himself. We are glad to have him back home!

I put How The Grinch Stole Christmas on for the kids (that’s the movie Andrew picked to watch) while Lexie & Dad went out on a Daddy Daughter Date. I blogged for about 10 minutes and noticed the kids weren’t making any noise or talking during the movie (which they always do). This is how I found them! They were completely zonked out after having such a fun day of playing and swimming. They slept for 3 hours and I even took a little 1 hour cat nap.

Dad & Lexie got home at 8:30 and the kids woke up. Dad put this pant hanger on the back of the kids clothes and told them to run around the living room.

They were laughing so hard and were having so much fun! They did that for a good ten minutes and started running faster and faster and laughing harder and harder. I’ve noticed that most of the time it’s the cheap and fun things that kids love and enjoy the most, not the latest, greatest, expensive toys that we as parents think they want.

I finally took Autumn home at 10:00 so we could go to bed and be ready for church tomorrow. I’m so glad Lexie & Dad were able to go on their date and talk about some things that have been on Lexie’s mind. It was a great day.