Awesome YMCA + Awesome Deal = Awesome Time

Today, we checked out a new YMCA on our side of town. It's only been open about 6 weeks so it's really, really nice! One of the nice parts is that they have an outdoor waterpark complete with anything you would find at a regular waterpark. It was very neat, but there were a couple of things that make it really neat. First, they have toddler time every Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings for an hour and a half. I love this! We don't get to use all of the pools that they have, but there aren't nearly as many people and we don't have to battle the bigger kids not paying attention to the little ones in their midst. Second, they have a great deal for military members so we're definitely taking advantage of that. Today was our first visit, but we will definitely be returning as the schedule allows!

By the way, you may think that the life jackets may be overkill since this was a zero depth pool and the kids spent most of their time in just a couple feet of water. However, it just makes me feel better. Since I have three little ones and only two arms, I'm afraid one of them might get away from me into the deeper water. So, this precaution was just for all of us. They did great, though!

The Gate

When we go to "the base", it is required that we show our military ID before entering. I have had a couple of somewhat interesting things happening at this particular stop over the last few days.

The first one occurred sometime in the last ten days or so and again today. This has never happened before and I'm sure I've entered this checkpoint at least a hundred times. The guards check our IDs, wish us a good day and then send us on our way if we are dependents of a military member. For the military member, they give a salute if the person entering is of a higher rank. So, Chris usually gets saluted as he enters base since he is an officer and those serving as guards are enlisted. Anyway, in the last 10 days, I have been saluted twice! This just makes me laugh and I'm a little unsure as to how to handle it. The first time I waved. Today, I just smiled at the guy. Then, when I get home, I laugh about it with Chris.

I also need to clarify to my daughter, Hannah, what I am doing sometimes. Over the last couple of days, after we've entered the base, she's asked if what I had was money or was I giving the guard money. I was a bit confused the first time she asked and tried to explain to her what I was doing. Today, it dawned on me that my credit card and my military ID are the same size. To her, I was giving him money. So, tonight I showed her my ID (photo included) and explained to her once again that I wasn't giving him money. After she thoroughly looked it over for awhile, she excitedly exclaimed, "my Mommy!!". Ah, what a sweety! We'll see if she's got it figured out by our next visit to the base.

Fun Surprise

Today, we had a fun little surprise. I decided that during the kids' nap that I was going to put away toys they generally don't play with, but get strewn all over anyway and possibly get out some that might hold new interest. When I went to get the containers to put them away, there was a box on top that I knew I had not put there. So, who put the box there? It was Chris's parents - a surprise from Grandpa and Grandma Robey! They had visited two or three weeks ago and while here, I guess she left us the little treat to find at a later date. It was filled with treats and small toys for the trio. What a fun little thing to find and enjoy this afternoon! Thanks, Al and Jan!!

I guess it pays to do odd jobs! Otherwise, that could have set there for many months.

Blooming

It has been quite fun the last few days to watch some of our flowers bloom. A couple of months ago, my parents helped me add some landscaping to the front of our house. So far, it's been worth the wait. Right now, my lilies are blooming. How fun!! I didn't take a full picture of the area because it will be a couple of years before it fills in well, but I will take what I can get for now. Now, if we could just keep the rabbits from eating some of the others plants!

Saying Good-bye

Today I said good-bye to my first baby related item. We got rid of our highchair. We have been deeply blessed to have been given so much. So, when we heard that some friends of ours needed a highchair, we decided to pass it on. It feels a bit odd to be without it, but I'm ok. We had a booster seat for Hannah. So, tonight she got to sit in a big chair and Andrew now gets to sit in the booster seat. I'm just so very thankful that we have been blessed to have been given so much and can now pass that on to someone else.

Popsicles

We've been enjoying summer. We've made trips to the pool and trips to the splash park and I'm sure we'll go a few more times before the summer is over - especially with the temperatures rising near 100 each day for the next week. Since it is definitely summer, we've pulled out the popsicles. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the traditional popsicle. They are super sweet and make a mess. To compensate for the mess, popsicle eating has been relegated to the outdoors. I much prefer the creamy sweetness of ice cream! Anyway, I have found some push up popsicles that I even think are yummy and I'm assuming might be slightly better for my trio. They are the Del Monte fruit chillers. I think they're pretty good. I also decided to try my hand at making popsicles. I had never made them before (as an adult), but decided that they couldn't be too difficult. The recipe below for strawberry-yogurt swirl pops caught my the attention of my taste buds and I decided to give them a shot. So, today, we tried out the tasty creation and I must admit they were pretty good. For now, I'm going to skip the simple ones and enjoy the yummy creations (in my opinion).

Strawberry-Yogurt Swirl Pops (Woman's Day)

Ingredients
1 lb strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, preferably superfine
2 tsp lemon juice
2 cups vanilla yogurt

You'll also need:
2 large plastic squeeze bottles (I just used a small scoop I had)
10 pop molds (1/2 cup capacity)

Preparation
- Place strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar and lemon juice in blender; puree 3 minutes. Pour into a large plastic squeeze bottle and screw on bottle top
- In a medium bowl, stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar into yogurt until sugar is dissolved. Pour into the second squeeze bottle and screw on bottle top
- Fill each pop mold with strawberry and yogurt mixtures, alternately squeezing or spooning the mixtures into each mold to create a swirled pattern. Place tops on molds, insert wooden sticks. Freeze at least 6 hours until solidly frozen.
- Remove molds from freezer. Soften slightly at room temperature, about 5 minutes (or dip molds in warm water a few seconds). Remove pops from molds. Serve immediately, or wrap pops separately in plastic wrap, then store in freezer bag or container.

Enjoy!

Left Legged

Andrew's left leg gets special treatment. If he is somewhere that he is not sure about, he lifts up his left leg. This is especially true when he has to sit in the grass. This is the best picture that I have of him doing this, but he consistently does this each time we set him in the grass and it is usually lifted a bit higher. He also showed partiality to his left leg the first time we took him swimming in the kid pool. It's almost as if he did the flamingo stance with his left leg lifted as high as he could get it. Most of the time, he crawls like a normal child, but there are times - especially when he is carrying a cherished toy or pushing around a car - where he crawls with his right leg and kind of drags his left leg behind him. It sounds awkward, but he is quite efficient with the move and can go rather quickly. Unfortunately, we are having to watch that leg's development simply because it is turning in right now. Hopefully, his left leg muscles will strengthen correctly and in six months it will be straightened out. So, for now, we continue to watch and hope, but laugh as well at his left legged antics.

Andrew Turns 1!

Our baby turned one today! I can't believe it and honestly, it leaves me a bit bittersweet (he's no longer a baby and there is no baby on the way). However, we have had fun celebrating this special time and I'm excited to see what the future holds for him.

We actually celebrated part of his birthday last weekend when Grandpa and Grandma Robey were in town. We had a yummy meal followed up with a chocolate cupcake (chocolate because our in-house photographer, Chris, says it shows up better in pictures). Later, he got to open up his presents - clothes (thanks!! he's outgrown much of his summer stuff) and a water table. The water table was a hit for all of the kids and cousin, Lily, who was also able to join us for the event. We also had a small celebration tonight that concluded a rather eventful day for us. Andrew got his one year pictures taken first thing before we headed downtown to a local children's museum. No outdoor activities today since temps were nearing 100. They had a great time down there and then we came home for much needed naps. He then got some lasagna and a brownie for dinner along with some outside toys.

Our little guy is such a joy. I love it that he is smiling most of the time and loves to be with people - definitely the most social one at this age. He enjoys pushing his trucks along with his rather awkward crawl, but prefers playing "catch" with whoever is available. We love you Andrew and can't wait to see what God has in store for you and for us!

Game On!

Chris and I got to go on a date this week. We had some Italian food followed up with ice cream - of course! Afterwards, we headed out to play some mini golf. We had a great time! You must understand, though, that I married a highly competitive man. He likes to win and this night was just not his night. He was a good sport, though, and he did agree to play against me again. Just for the record, it was tied at the half way point and I won by one stroke. I must record this moment because it will probably be a very long time before I can write a similar post - especially after what happened today. I won a game of bowling against him and his Dad (I came in dead last the first game, though. Luke even beat me!). This is unheard of - the winning, definitely not the losing!! So, I'm going to take this moment and just enjoy it. I'm sure the outcome will be much different the next time around :)

Strike!

This afternoon, Chris & I took Luke, along with Grandpa Robey, to the bowling alley (Tornado Alley - funny if you know where we live!) Anyway, Luke was excited to go bowling with us despite the fact that he had absolutely no idea what we were going to do. He had fun, though. His very first time up, he rolled a strike! OK, so he had a little help with the ramp, but I still thought that was pretty good. He could even carry his ball to the ramp. Chris showed how to put his fingers in the holes. A few times, he didn't have them lined up quite right, but he had fingers in holes. He would then just pick up the ball and head to his little ramp. At the half way point of the first game, he was in the lead and ended up beating his mother the very first game we played.

Progress

We decided to head to the pool this afternoon with Grandpa and Grandm Robey. Andrew still was NOT fond of the water initially. However, he did warm up to the idea a bit more quickly and even enjoyed being floated around the pool by Luke and Hannah.

These splash balls were his "security" item while he floated around. One of them was in his mouth most of the time.

Luke and Hannah did a great job as big brother & big sister. They were really good with him.

Poor Little Guy

This is NOT fun!

Much better!!

You may have noticed that Andrew was left out of the previous post. I thought he could get a special page all by himself. Let's just say, he was not overly fond of the pool or the splash park. I think the pictures explain what happened at the pool. He loves taking a bath and the water wasn't much deeper than that. The only thing that I can think that he didn't like was the water temperature. I would have rated it - cold! The water at the splash park may have been a bit unpredictable.

I have to give Andrew credit, though. He eventually did sit in the kid pool for probably about 30 seconds without crying and trying to crawl out. That was after sitting on Chris's lap for a good 15 minutes or so and slowly putting in one foot, then the other, then a little deeper and so on until he was sitting on the bottom. We will definitely be going back so I think he'll eventually "warm" up to the idea.

A Taste of Summer

We have recently been enjoying the summer temps. (Not so much today). It is so nice not to have to live within the restraints and comforts of a building. We love our home, but it is so nice to enjoy all of God's creation!!

Our outside time is mostly spent in the backyard just letting the kids play. However, we've made more trips to the zoo than I can count and taken more pictures there than you probably would like to see. Each one, though, has been great in that we get to be outside seeing some of the different animals God created as well as just getting some exercise as we walk. A few times, we've even had the privilege of getting to share that time with friends.

We've also recently checked out the base pool and a local splash park (at least, that's what I would call it). Luke and Hannah each had some fun one-on-one time with Daddy in the big pool before splashing around in the kid pool. We will definitely be taking more trips there. Then, the last warm/hot day we had, I found a local splash park. The kids, Luke especially, loved it!! He ran around like crazy. It took awhile for Hannah to warm up to the idea, but I think after a few more visits she may also be joining in on more of the fun.

We are definitely looking forward to some more summer fun activities!!

Happy Birthday!

A day late. Yes, Chris's birthday was yesterday and I'm now just getting to wish him his cyber birthday. We didn't do tons since it was a work day for him, but we did try to do some special things for him. Plus, the kids were very excited that it was Daddy's birthday. The best part for them was the balloons we got for Daddy. Oh, I mean the kids :) They played hard with those for quite awhile. Most of it involved chasing each other around in circles with the balloons in the rear. They also thought it was nice that Daddy would share his special treats from the day.

All in all, it was a fun day and I'm thankful that we could be together as a family for his special day. Happy (belated) birthday, My Dear Husband!!