Jefferson Park again!

We decided to head to Jefferson Park again on Friday. We packed a lunch in the morning and headed there hoping that the clouds would burn off and it would warm up some, but not to 100 degrees. We got there and the kids played on the swings until they were warm enough to head for the water. Brayden got hit by one of the kids in a swing and as hard as it is to watch I know that every kid has to learn by getting hit. We are constantly telling him to watch out but he doesn't listen and plows forward. He went down face first and got a mouth full of dirt and was pretty upset. Once we got him calmed down his little face looked pretty beat up, but then again he is a busy little boy. The kids enjoyed themselves in the water and it wasn't too busy yet so they had plenty of room to play. Then we had lunch and played a little longer and everyone was ready to head home. It was a really great way to spend our Friday!

Sleepover with Rachel

Yesterday was our friends son's 16th birthday and they were taking him to a concert so we took their younger daughter Rachel for the day and she stayed the night. Hunter was so excited that Rachel was going to sleep over at our house, he just kept looking at me and saying in complete amazement, "Mom, Rachel is going to sleep at our house tonight". The kids played nicely in the family room while Brayden took his nap and then we all went out when it had cooled down some and there was a nice breeze. We played in the swimming pool and on the swings and the kids had a blast splashing each other and Hunter liked pretending he was a monster. When everyone was done and "starving" we had a nice salad for dinner and then we had root-beer floats for dessert. Then the kids changed into jammies to watch a movie and Brayden went down for the night.

We also got a wonderful call from Sean letting us know that he will be leaving Wyoming and driving home on Tuesday which will probably put him home late Wednesday. The state denied the design for the next phase of the job so Sean doesn't think it will come together anytime this year so he will probably be going back next summer to complete the job. We don't have any idea as to where he is going next but I am hoping he will be staying close in either Seattle somewhere or Portland.

Kids playing together

What a hot week this has been! Hitting record highs and figuring out how to stay cool and keep everyone happy has been the goal of our week. We have eaten our share of popsicles and ice cream, not much for cooking anything so it has been bbq and salads along with lots of water. Brayden is getting quite good at eating popsicles and Hunter has been sweet enough to show him how to eat it when he gets down to the stick. Lotus has been playing very well with her brothers and they love it when she gets down on their level and plays cars with them.

Jefferson Park Sprayground

Yesterday was hot and the kids and I wanted to go do something. I searched online for playgrounds around us that have spraygrounds. I found 4 in Tacoma and 1 was just on the other side of the bridge. We went and did some shopping in the morning for some black out curtains for all the bedrooms to help block the sunlight for sleeping and the heat. Then we went and had some lunch and then we headed to the park. The kids were all a little cautious of the water and the kids everywhere but once they were wet they were having a blast. One of the park staffers came out with a big jug of bubbles and a bunch of bubble wands. Of course my kids gravitated over there and Brayden was eating the bubbles while Hunter and Lotus were blowing bubbles. When they had enough of the water they went over and played on the toys and then we changed into dry clothes and packed up our stuff. On our way home we stopped off at Ben and Jerry's and got some ice cream. Lotus had Chocolate Therapy ice cream which was chocolate ice cream with chocolate pudding and brownie, Hunter had cookie dough and Brayden had strawberry kiwi sorbet. When we got home I hung the curtains and we had a relaxing evening together. We're already planning our next trip to the water park later this week.