Day at the Lake

Yesterday was a warm and windy day, but we went out to the "lake" anyway. (It's really more of a large dam.) B loves anything that has to do with swimming or water activities. D also got to have some fun tubing and skiing. I, however, decided to stay on the shore. Next year I will be able to participate in the fun.

B started out by just hanging out in the tube by the boat ramp. There isn't a dock or a beach so she couldn't really stand or swim in the water. She was disappointed, but still enjoyed the tube.

As the day went on and she saw Daddy and our friends riding in the tube, she decided she wanted to be pulled in the tube as well. Someone rode with her in the tube, but it was really hard for the adult to hang on with B in there.

B then decided she wanted to try riding in the tube by herself. She was wearing a life jacket and they were only going 3-5 mph. She absolutely loved it and had to do it several more times. She probably could have spent the rest of the day riding in the tube. We thought it was fun to see her pigtails flying back in the wind. B and Daddy also rode on the jet ski together a couple of times.

We were all a little sunburned (despite the sunscreen) and tired when we got home. It was good to get out and do something out of the ordinary.

Swimming

Today B and I decided to try out the swimming pool. We have been meaning to get there all summer, but either the weather or our schedule didn't cooperate. It is always windy here so even though there was some wind today we went anyway. B didn't last as long as I thought she would, the wind made it too cold for her. She still had fun, and it was nice to do something different during the day.

The kiddie pool is free and B was the only one in there while we were there. That leaves a lot of room for her to play.

The pool had balls and other toys for the kids to play with. B liked splashing me by throwing the ball in the water.

4th of July Fun

We have been traveling a lot lately, as is usual for summer, so we did the same for the 4th of July. This year we spent the long weekend with D's sister in northern MN. B had lots of fun with her cousins. We had not been to D's sister's during the summer, so we had some great new experiences. Every day was filled with lots of activity.

We walked through a bog at the local state park and saw lots of interesting vegetation. The floor of the bog is sand that is not packed firm, so the kids poked a stick into it to see how deep the sand was. They didn't find anything solid underneath.

Back at the house all the kids climbed into the hammock. B was getting tickled by her 2 older cousins (the younger one had already bailed).

Walking through the park before the fireworks all the kids held hands with aunt S even though the adult to kid ratio was one to one. The kids all had to be doing the same thing.

Cousin T and B playing in the sand. We watched the fireworks from across a huge lake. We forgot to bring any sand toys, however, so the kids had to be creative. At one point their shoes became shovels.

As it was getting later, and the kids had played in the sand for several hours, uncle C came up with some stories to entertain them.

Snack time before the fireworks started. It was going to be a late night so we tried to get some of the regular bedtime things done before the fireworks and before we headed home.

The next day we went to the parade in town. We brought our lunch after church and ate it while we waited for the parade to start.

B on Daddy's shoulders watching all the fire trucks come through. There wasn't much candy yet, so she didn't need to get down. All the kids got way more candy than they needed. Thankfully, B wasn't all that interested in picking it up, especially if she was already eating some.

Before we left on Monday morning, the kids had to take a quick run through the sprinkler. B was a bit hesitant at first, but was good and wet by the time they were done. I'm not sure why she still had her shoes on. Daddy was supervising this activity.

We had a lot of time in the car, but it was all worth it for the fun we had.