Swimming (or Not)

The weather was sunny and warm today, so the kids put on their new swimsuits . . . 

. . . and headed out to the pool!

Todd hasn't had any swim lessons yet, so he spends all of his time sitting or standing on the steps.  He's OK with that (I think he takes after me--I like cooling my feet in the water, but that's about it).  I'll probably enroll him in swim lessons at some point because that's a good skill to have, but neither he nor I feel driven to rush that process.

On the other hand, Anna wants to play in the water with the big kids, but swimming makes her very nervous.  She took swimming lessons last summer, and had JUST BARELY overcome her fear and learned to (awkwardly) swim when summer ended and we quit going to the pool.  She has forgotten most of what she learned, but Joy is trying to help her revive her latent skills.  They made a little progress, but agreed that we should probably buy a pool noodle from the dollar store so Anna can swim (and practice kicking) more easily.

Good idea, Joy!

The Squishmallow Meeting

As Daddy and I debated whether to buy more squishmallows yesterday, I wondered if adding three more would A) triple the fun, or B) just make Luna less of a novelty.  So far, the answer seems to be Choice A.

I woke up this morning to find the kids holding a meeting about what their squishmallows' special powers should be.  For example, they decided that Globey the Elephant can glide (her big ears probably help with that), and Lilli the Cat is really good at climbing.

Joy, as president of the meeting, officially bestowed these special powers.  (Daniel asked me to be sure and tell you that he was the vice president.  He had no official duties, but the title sounded cool.)

Now everyone is ready to demonstrate their talents!

When Luna Met Salleeey

The swimming pool in our apartment complex is open again for the summer, so we took a family trip to Target to buy new swimsuits for the kids (since they've grown out of their old ones). 

On the way out of the store, we spotted a spiffy pink scooter, and the girls asked me to take their picture with it.  Anna struck a sassy pose, and Joy . . . waved an empty hanger.  I don't know why.

Our next stop was a store called Five Below, in search of . . . 

. . . squishmallows!  Luna has been a source fun but also a fair amount of contention, since she is one delightfully squishy toy among four kids. We decided that if three additional squishmallows would create more harmony in our home, that would be $15 well spent.  Luna was joined today by Lilli the Kitten, Salleeey the Unisus (Or is it Pegacorn? What do you call a horse with both a horn and wings???), and Globey the Elephant.

The kids are really happy to each have their own cuddly squishmallow . . .

. . . and they've been having lots of fun with them. :)

Joy assembled this photo to demonstrate that the new squishmallows have been accepted into our toy tribe.

On a different note: We've heard that Kimball Farm in a neighboring town makes phenomenal ice cream.  Phillip and I went on a date tonight to verify that rumor, and we can confirm that their ice cream is quite good indeed.  It's also very rich, so next time we'll just get one cup and share it!

Joy's Mini MINI

A package arrived for Joy today.  She used her own money to buy . . .

. . . a remote control MINI Cooper.  Our kids have a fondness for MINI Coopers because Daddy used to drive that unique-looking car.  They're still kind of bummed that he bought a boring sedan when his old MINI died last year.

At first, we thought Joy's new little MINI didn't work either, but then we realized she had put the batteries in backwards.

Once her batteries were properly aligned, Joy took her car for a test drive down the hall . . .

. . . and then outside to drive on the street with the other cars (until her mom told her to drive it on the sidewalk instead).  And yes, her shoelace is untied.  And no, she doesn't trip, even though she's usually got one or both laces trailing freely behind her.  I don't know how she manages not to step on them--I'm sure I would do it all the time.

In the Rose Bush Fort

Remember Joy's fort in the bushes near our building?  Now that the prickly branches are putting out leaves, I figured out that they're wild roses.  No wonder the fort's walls are so thorny!  I guess that's one way to make sure no one tries to break in.

Joy and Anna decided to spend some time down in the fort today.

Joy decorated it with her medals and a random (yet beautiful) Christmas ornament . . .

. . . and she added a platform so their toys could join them without getting dirty.

Time for a selfie with Luna!

The End.

Math Madness and a Turkey

This morning, I dropped Joy off at a nearby school . . .

. . . to participate in a regional Math Madness tournament with some of her classmates.

Here she is with her team, getting ready for the competition.  When I came back to pick her up a few hours later, Joy wasn't with her team anymore.  I looked around the auditorium . . .

. . . and saw her in front doing a tiebreaker problem for third place out of dozens of students.  The other student solved the problem first . . .

. . . so Joy ended up getting a medal instead of one of the three top overall trophies . . .

. . . but judging from her smile, I'd say she's OK with that. :)

In other news, we went to an open house today, and saw a wild turkey strolling through the neighbor's front yard.  That's Massachusetts for you.

Herb Garden and a New Tennis Class

I'm more sentimental about some things than others.  I like making Christmas magical, and I enjoy the Mother's Day brunch our ward hosts during the last hour of church, but when it comes to presents, I often prefer to pick out my own.  I rarely splurge on things for myself, so when Christmas or my birthday comes along, I'd rather just ask for something I really want than be surprised by something I may not need or use.

Consequently, Phillip wasn't surprised at all when I texted him to say that I'd found some herb plants for sale at Trader Joe's, and I'd like to buy a nice pot for my Mother's Day present.  His reply: "Go for it."  That's one of the many reasons I love him.

When I went out on our balcony to take some pictures of my Mother's Day pot and my new little green friends, Daniel asked if he could be in the picture too.

His little brother soon followed suit.  Oh, that second pot?  I found it on sale at Aldi, and decided to see if I could finally keep a cilantro plant alive in this cooler climate.  Seventh time's a charm, right?

In other news, Joy's tennis coach switched her to a different class for beginners.  She was worried she'd be training with kindergartners, but the other students are all about her age.

The door of the tennis court fence bears this interesting sign.  I'm sure philosophy students could have a lively debate about what the sign actually means.

Our First Ward Talent Show in MA

This evening, we attended our first ward talent show in our new ward.  I love ward talent shows--you never know what you're going to see or hear, and you learn that members of your church family have talents you might never have guessed.

This particular ward talent show was emceed by "Billy Bob" and "Billy Joe," the two "Nascar announcers" who supervised our Cub Scout pinewood derby a few weeks ago.  I guess someone thought the announcers with their mullet wigs were so much fun that they ought to give an encore performance tonight.

The talent show acts included a few musical performances like this ukulele band (with some electric guitar thrown in at the end) . . .

. . . and a girl named Joy playing the piano upside down.

There was also an Irish dancer (shown standing still, because once she started hopping and skipping around the stage I could only get blurry photos of her).  Other unique acts included a magician doing card tricks, a man's time-lapse video of the time he renovated his brother-in-law's fireplace . . .

. . . and this guy's awesome rap song about using the new shorter church schedule to do more service instead of taking a nap all afternoon.  His lyrics included a lot of fun references to people in our ward, including a certain family named the Hendricksons.  I guess we've officially been accepted into the tribe if we made it into a ward talent show rap song. :)

Mr. Dirtbrain

Someone at church gave Anna some soil and wheat seeds last week . . .

. . . with instructions to decorate a plastic cup, fill it with soil . . .

. . . add the wheat seeds and a little more soil . . .

. . . then water it and put it by a sunny window.  The idea is that the seeds will sprout and grow green "hair" after a few days.  Since this little guy was hairless at the outset, Anna named him Bishop Gold, after the friendly, charismatic, and utterly bald leader of our congregation.

Four days later, those seeds have grown much faster than I would have expected.  Since Anna's little friend is no longer bald, she changed his name to "Mr. Dirtbrain," which her siblings agree is an excellent choice (sorry, Bishop Gold).

Anna also borrowed my camera to show posterity that Luna is also a big fan of Mr. Dirtbrain.  Who wouldn't be?