go fly a kite

The weather warmed up yesterday but it was REALLY windy. After school Kestrel was begging me to take them to the park to fly a kite. At first I didn't want to because I thought it would be too windy, and we'd break the kite or something, but I agreed. It ended up being really fun. We brought a couple of the neighbor kids with us and one brought his own kite as well. The kids had fun flying their kites. The wind was strong and I almost felt like we were going to get carried away at one point.

watching the kids

belly rubs!

harry the dirty dog

Remember that book about the dog who didn't want to take a bath so he ran off and got dirty all over town? In the book Harry went from being a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots. Our Harry goes from being a black dog with a white spot to, well, a black dog.

Yup, Harrison is in love, and its name is MUD PUDDLE. We've got a spot in our backyard where a mud puddle forms every time it rains. The puddle just keeps getting bigger because Harrison loves to dig in it whenever he discovers it (and we've had so much rain this week we may be needing an ark soon). After he digs a bit he lies down for a nice leisurely bath. If he's still digging and splashing and notices I'm coming to get him, he quickly lies down so as not to miss the bathing part. It's tough to get him out of the puddle without getting covered in mud oneself (the puppy is about 115 lbs these days).

He's had quite a few of these mud baths since winter. A few days ago Paul gave him a full bath after one of them. I'd been trying to be careful since then with Harrison in the yard, but for some reason tonight I thought the puddle was dried up. I was wrong.

He's squinting because I'm shoving a flash in his face. Submitting to a picture is the least he could do.

In this picture you can see some of the mud splattered on the siding. He gave a big dog shake as soon as I got him out of the puddle on up on the deck. He's tethered to the deck railing waiting for me to hose him off, which, by the way, he seems to really enjoy.

YYY

On another topic, Kestrel had an AWESOME time at camp, despite running face first into a tree while playing Marco Polo (yeah, she was "it"). She says she wants to go back next year for a whole week.

because it's my blog and i can post whatever i want

I think you're going to see a lot of posts like this over the next several months.

Kestrel and her friend Amy just love to run around in the backyard with Harrison.

under the swing set

Cooper was complaining that I didn't take any pictures of him, but then when I went out there to take some he said I was "too late" and tried to make it difficult. Still, I managed to get his cute smile.

big, but lovable, dog

Here are a few pictures I snapped of the kids (all 3 of them) in the yard yesterday. Harry is growing up - 6 1/2 months old now!

Don't blame Harrison - Kestrel stuck her hand in his mouth...
When we were looking at the pictures right after I took them, Kestrel, Cooper and I were laughing about how Harrison looks like he's being stangled in most them. He was a good sport!

When Kestrel saw this pictures, she told me to "put it on the blog, and label it 'big, but lovable, dog'". OK!

splashing summer fun

After camp we decided to go play at a park with a sprinkler area. I'm enjoying these lazy summer days of playing all afternoon, deciding spur-of-the-moment what we want to do, and not having to worry about getting homework done or hurrying off to dance or gymnastics class (oh alright, we did have soccer but that wasn't until much later, and I only felt a teeny bit rushed...).

OK, I know its not technically summer yet, but it feels like it. Seems like we've had mid-summer for the past month. It's been so hot. I know, after all my whining this past winter I shouldn't complain.

happy father's day

We decided to have a picnic lunch at Allerton Park today for Father's Day. It's become a tradition for us. We've been the past several years.
Last year, we brought Huxley and while walking in the woods, Huxley decided to jump into the river. Unfortunately, the riverbank was too steep for him to climb out, so Paul had to go in to get him out. The next day Paul discovered he was covered with Poison Ivy. The poor guy was really sick and uncomfortable for over a week!
This year Huxley stayed home, but mostly because it was just way too hot today. Because of the heat, we didn't spend long at the park. We ate lunch by the lake and enjoyed watching the snake, crayfish, turtles and fish that were in the lake. Then we played a little frisbee and headed back to town to see a movie (Nancy Drew).

Daddy and Cooper after the movie

summer soccer

Kestrel and Cooper had soccer this morning, with the Summer Soccer Club in a nearby town. Soccer started last Saturday, and meets twice a week through July. Kestrel participated in this last year and loved it. It was one of the things she was looking forward to this summer. This is Cooper's first time playing soccer. He was a bit nervous last week before he started, and kept saying "but I don't know how to play soccer!" However, once he got out there with his buddy Ethan he loved it, and now is all excited when he finds out it's soccer day.

I know it's too small to see, but that is Ethan kicking a ball behind Cooper.

dinner at the farm

Yesterday the kids wanted to go to Prairie Farm, now that it is open. First visit this year! Kestrel had a dress rehearsal last night, and I needed to get them dinner early. So, we decided to pack a light picnic and eat at the farm. Kestrel was excited to see the horses, but got a little upset later when she thought one of the horses tried to bite her. I asked Cooper to pick out an animal he wanted a picture with, and he chose the peacock! They enjoyed the petting zoo, although the deer were at it again this year trying to eat our clothes. Anyway, we are glad the farm is open again for the season.

lounging by the pool

When we got back from our trip out of town to the hot zoo, we went to pick up Cooper at a friend's house and we, friends and all, headed over to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Here is Cooper taking a break lounging in a chaise!

rolling home

Friday Cooper and I decided to walk/bike when we went to pick Kestrel up from school, as it was such a nice day and we weren't in a hurry for once. Cooper wanted to ride his new bike he got a few weeks ago. He fell in love with this specific bike at the store, which he calls a racing bike. Kestrel got a new bike too, but since I can't ride her bike and certainly didn't want to carry it, I brought her scooter along instead.

gone fishing

Kestrel finally got to go fishing! Paul took her fishing in the afternoon while Cooper and I were at a birthday party. They didn't bring any fish home, but Kestrel will tell you about the big one that got away.

dinner by the lake

Right before dinner time Kestrel was begging me to take her fishing. Well, I wasn't about to do that, especially without Paul, but I agreed we could have a dinner picnic by the lake instead. SO, we quickly packed up some turkey sandwiches, hummus, bread and sugar snap peas and went over to the "fishing lake". We sat on the dock eating, and had a nice surprise when Paul stopped by unexpectedly. The kids were excited about the baby goslings, and Kestrel was having fun feeding the goslings her bread. After we ate they were trying to feed all the geese (there were a lot there), but then they started getting scared when the geese got aggressive, running at them honking and hissing for more bread. That's when we went home. It was a nice little impromptu dinner, though.

I've got to admit, I'm thankful for my camera phone. Even though it doesn't take the greatest pictures, it's always there for me for these spur-of-the-moment times.

park play

Yesterday the kids and I went to Noodles & Co. for dinner ( a Mothers & More fundraiser) and after dinner stopped at a park to play with some friends. This was taken on my camera phone again, as usual. A little blurry, but otherwise a cute shot.

Clockwise from left: Kestrel, Olivia, Oliver, Ethan and Cooper

sprinkler play

Cooper can't stay away from the faucet. Turns it down, turns it up, turns it down again (mostly down). Drives his sister crazy!

Yesterday we had the first sprinkler play of 2007! OK, it really wasn't that hot, but it was warm enough. The kids have new bathing suits they wanted to try on. Once the suits were on, well, I just couldn't say no to the sprinkler. Remember, we're really dreaming of summer here! We had music playing and they were dancing and playing in the sprinkler and relaxing on their towels. Felt like a real summer party! Kestrel was dancing the Macarena, which she learned in PD (gym) class, and has tried to teach it to Cooper. I was thinking about how I danced the Macarena at our wedding. My niece Emily, who was about 8 at the time (and now about to graduate high school), had requested it. Now my own daughter is into it! How time flies...

rollerskating!

Kestrel and Cooper got new rollerskates this week, and this afternoon we took them skating on a nearby bike path.

i'm starting to like this town again

The nice weather continues! It got better, actually. It was up in the 70's today. Kestrel had the day off of school, so while Cooper was in school we had a nice time at Meadowbrook Park. This park has a preserved prairie (though not much is growing on it yet, as you can see) with a path for walking/biking, etc. that circles around it for a about a mile, with various sculptures along the way. We brought Kestrel's scooter and she rode the path while I walked. Kestrel was excited at seeing a pheasant along the way, and kept talking about how much she loves nature. These pictures were taken on my phone which is why they're a little fuzzy. Kestrel took the prairie picture.

After we picked up Cooper we met our playgroup at another park and spent a couple of hours there, until we came home and the kids spent the next few hours outside. I could really get used to this! Unfortunately I think we only have one more day of this before the temperature drops again. But now we know what we are looking forward to!

spring is in the air, finally

The past few days have been wonderful. We've finally had some nice weather, and the kids have been able to play outside after being cooped up for most of the winter. They've been playing a lot outside at parks and outside of our house. I took this picture today, with Kestrel on her scooter and Cooper on his roller skates. I was able to get out rollerblading a couple of times this weekend, which makes me pretty happy.

I don't have too much else to report. We hosted Kestrel's Brownie meeting here last week, and the girls decorated wooden eggs with paint, sequins and ribbons. Cooper got to make one, too. We also distributed all the cookies to the girls so they can deliver them (did I mention I am Cookie Mom?) Unfortunately, Huxley go into a few of the boxes (what a surprise) so I had to pay for a few extra. So now all the extra troop cookies are up high on top of the bookshelf.

Paul and I have been furiously watching Lost episodes over the past month. We had never watched Lost, and started by renting Season One, moved on to Season Two, and then got caught up on the current season. We are now all caught up so all you Lost fans out there feel free to discuss the show!

Here's hoping the nice weather continues!