Summer days and nights

Thus far I have had a fabulous morning. I was able to get my scripture reading done in the peace and quite of the morning before the kids got up.  This morning I finished the horribly depressing book of Jeremiah!!!  I enjoyed reading through it but it was just such a downer. Seriously.  I need to read a happier book next time.  Hummm

After the kids got up and ate breakfast we headed out for a lovely morning stroll and ended up at the park. Paul and Anna are having so much fun playing with each other.  I just love watching them interact with one another. It warms my heart. Paul says that God gave him a little friend.  That little friend being Anna. I told him that I agreed. 

Anna is a WILD CHILD.  She is so unlike paul. She is not the least bit shy and she is more than willing to try any and everything. It is so funny to watch her climd up the little stairs and slide down the slide on her belly all by herself. She is HILARIOUS.  She giggles the whole time we are at the park.  And of course Paul thinks that is just the cutest thing.  I sure hope they grow up to be close.  I dream of having a close nit little family. Roger, me, anna and Paul.  

Tonight is the first night of vacation bible school and I would rather eat rocks than go to it. I HATE all the church drama. What I mean is the church politics. I just absolutely HATE it.  I think I need to wear a sign that says "I am NOT the youth minister.  I just married one."  I HATE getting asked questions about this or that. I HATE being told where to go or what to do.  Heaven for bid.  Leave me alone and let me for once passively enjoy something. And PS if you hired Roger to do the job then step back and let him do the job.  AAAAAHHHHHH  I think it best at this point to go into a nearby closet and CURSE.   I never knew church could be so unloving and demanding at times.

Ok, enough about that.  Let me talk about my wonderful week that I had with my little rascals. 

On tuesday I took Paul and Anna to the public swimming pool.  They had a GREAT time and so did I. A woman from church was also there with her two girls so we sat by/in the pool and talked while the kids entertained themselves.  It was going great and I was thinking about just moving in FOREVER until Paul came hobbling over SCREAMING about his foot.  He had scrapped it and blood was everywhere.  Thank the Lord for Beth and her first aid kit or I have no clue what I would have done.  We bandaged him up and ended up heading back home.  At which point we ALL took a nap.

Later in the week paul and I took a bike ride together. Me on my hybrid Trek and Paul on his little red tricycle. WE rode on the side walk, through the alley way, across the street and into a big parking lot. Once we got to the parking lot we rode in a circle for a good 30 min before heading back home.  On the ride back we discussed how his birthday was coming up and that we needed to get him a bigger bike that would connect to my bike so that we could ride faster.

On Friday after taking Paul and Anna to their reading group at the library we decided to randomly pack up and go hiking at the Gorge.  So, we packed a few things, including the camel pack and headed out into the great outdoors, me, roger and the two kiddos. 

Paul insisted on taking his camping backpack with him so I just had to take a picture of him next to the fence that he claimed he built so that we wouldn't fall off the cliff and die  

When we came upon our first clearing paul screamed out IT's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!  AWWW LOOK AT THAT!!!"  It made me smile.  So, we took another picture.

The crazy wild cat Anna also had a lot of fun. She was talking to herself the whole way. It was as if she was telling us a big long story about something. She also enjoyed eating the dirt and tried desperately to sneak a rock into her mouth.


These of course were everywhere and paul thought they were funny looking. That is until we told him what they meant.  I guess he thought the little man was having fun.
After hiking to Chimney Top we decided to hike to princess arch. This hike was a bit nuts with Anna. We had to take turns climbing down and up and handing off the kids. "You got her?'  "YEAH, toss her to me." But I must admit that it was totally worth it. 

When we got back home it started to rain and a really cool rainbow appeared.  

So we put Paul's rain boots on and let him splash in the puddles.
The next day, Saturday, we got up early and went to the farmers market to by some yummy local produce.  Then we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the park for a picnic.  After paul and Roger played pretend baseball on the REAL baseball field "look mom, the sandlot!" we headed home to rest. On the drive home we decided "Hey, let's go to the drive in tonight."  So, we took naps and baths and around 8:30pm headed out to the drive-in to watch Ice Age. On the drive there we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset.  You know the ones that turn the sky an orange and pink color. "mom, that is the setting sun!!!"   "Yes Paul it sure is!" 
We had a great time watching the kids play under the screen before the movie and cuddling when the big dinosaur seemed like he was coming out of the screen.  Anna thought it was the greatest thing EVER and Paul didn't stop smiling.  

All in all we had a GREAT week.  THis summer has been full of fun little family adventures! 

WE started this week with a visit from Justin and Amanda.  There is nothing quite like sitting on the porch with friends eating breakfast for dinner on a sunday afternoon. They helped to calm our nerves about the upcoming VBS!