Oh what do you do in the summertime?

With the advent of warm, sunny days, it feels like summer is finally upon us. (Not to mention Memorial Day is over, the outdoor pool is open, and schools around the valley are getting out.) In an effort to find fun, cheap things for my kids and I to do, this week we decided to go to a picnic at a local park. I packed lunches, lathered on sunscreen, and we set out. Since the park was a block or so from our house, Andrew opted to walk, and ran ahead of me almost the entire way. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we discovered that I was laboring under a misapprehension: the park in question is adjacent to a school that was still in session, so we weren't allowed to stay. (The school is part of what used to be my old elementary school--but since they'd recently closed the school and torn down most of the middle block, I mistakenly assumed that there was no school currently on the premises. I was wrong.) Andrew, so energetic on the way out, visibly lagged on the way back. We did, however, have lunch in our backyard, with popsicles to finish off our meal, so all was not lost. And we discovered that Evelyn has a definite affinity for the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe car I picked up at a yardsale a couple weeks ago (for $1!). She hasn't figured out how to go forward, but she pushes off with her legs and goes backward with a vengeance. That is, as often as Andrew will let her behind the wheel.

We have been telling Andrew for weeks now that when the outdoor pool opened, we would go--it finally opened, the weather finally was warm enough to swim outside, and I packed up the two kids and went. In retrospect, I consider this a fairly heroic venture on my part--not only did I put on a swimsuit for the first time this year, but I went alone with the kids. However, I hadn't taken into account the fact that Evelyn is starting to assert her independence and is no longer simply content with being held. This meant that I had to try and monitor Andrew as much as possible (despite what he thinks, he isn't big enough to swim unsupervised!), while helping Evelyn walk around the shallower parts of the pool. Next time, I think I'll bring the water wings and an innertube for Evelyn--that will save my hunched over back, and (hopefully), keep Andrew from swallowing quite so much water.

Saturday was our big activity day: Brielle celebrated her second birthday, so we went up to SLC for her birthday party. Since the festivities didn't start until 11, we went to Sarah's house first and hung out for an hour or two, then went to Jared's.

Here's the birthday girl in all her glory. I'm not sure she understood what was going on the whole time, but she certainly understood the concept of opening presents.

The kids all made and decorated party hats: pirate hats for the boys and crowns for the girls. I don't know why I don't have pictures of the girls wearing crowns, but I don't.


Evelyn, of course, pretty much hung out during the whole process. While we were opening presents, Enoch came over and kissed her. It was really cute, so we tried to get him to recreate it, but my camera was too slow. It doesn't look like Evelyn enjoyed the experience too much.

I love this last picture--she has such funny, nose scrunching facial expressions. I apologize for the lack of Andrew pictures--we'll try to post some of him next week.

Tonight was a bit of an adventure (and not in the good sense). Andrew, after initially telling me that he didn't want me to put him to bed, he wanted his daddy to do so, fell apart completely when we made the switch he wanted and started sobbing "Mommy, mommy!" (Napless Sundays are hard: Dan confesses that he dreads the hour from 5:30 until 6:30, when we can put the kids to bed). We didn't want to give in to a tantrum, so Dan started putting him to bed, and I put Evelyn down. Andrew got increasingly hysterical, which made his sister cry, and finally wound himself up to the point at which he puked all over his bedsheets. Lovely. At least he calmed down after that and now both children are slumbering soundly. Meanwhile, laundry (puked on, pooped on, and otherwise dirty) is piling up in anticipation of the arrival of a new washing machine tomorrow. Of course, we'll have to wait in line behind my parents (who are going out of town at the end of the week), but we'll sure be grateful to wash clothes again!