Family Picnic - 2008

We made it up here to Chicago yesterday afternoon and stopped by Jon & Em's new house on the way. They use to live behind us in Peoria and were transferred to Iowa a year ago and then transferred again just this past month to Chicago. The kids got along great, as if they had never been apart and we didn't end up leaving their house until 9:30pm.

We are now at my mom's house, which is only 15 minutes away from Jon & Em. Today was my yearly family reunion in Indiana. The kids swam all day (while I alternated between playing life guard and swimming myself) and we stuffed ourselves with so much food that it'll be a few days before any of us can eat again.

I have to tell you that I am truly proud of myself. Quite a few of the people at the reunion today were smokers. Even after 7 months, 1 week and 2 days of being a nonsmoker, today wasn't easy. At first it smelled good and many times I thought about how great just one would taste. And how easy it would be to just bum one. No one would ever have known, but I didn't. I just tried to keep my distance from those that were smoking, which wasn't easy since I was able to smell it everywhere. I hung in there and eventually the smell really started to turn me off to the point where I really did NOT want one anymore. I'm really excited that we'll be taking our first smoke free vacation to Florida a week from now. We won't have to worry about where we can and can't smoke at. Our kids will definitely appreciate that the most.

Ryan and myself before leaving for Indiana this morning.

Ashley brought her friend along with us this weekend. They watched a movie on the way to Indiana.

The kids in the back on the right side of the pool are my kids -Ryan's swim lessons are really starting to pay off - he was really starting to swim today!

Go

I declare it to be "go the pool and get rid of your weekend softball game (times 6) induced farmer's tan lines" day. And take a million other kids that are not your own and only one other adult with you. Will be back later for a sanity check.

Pool Day

While Ashley has been to the pool numerous times with her friends, this was the first trip to the pool this summer for Ryan and myself. After swim lessons, we drove over and pulled my niece Brooke out of day care and took her with us to the pool with my friend Teri and her daughter, Skyler. It didn't get very hot outside today, so Teri and I never quite made it into the pool, but the kids didn't seem to mind and had a great time.

Ashley figured out that the secret to staying warm is to stay covered in the water.


Ryan has no fear this summer. His swim lessons are paying off and he's got a lot of confidence in the water now.

Ryan and his cousin, Brooke.

Ryan on one of his many trips up to the water slide.

Now we're off to Ryan's baseball game...

Our New Summer Hang Out

Here's the new pool that we and Teri and her kids have taken up residence at this summer. We have yet to do any kind of work out in the fitness area yet, but that will come eventually once the kids are back in school. (The one time that Ashley kicked my butt on the eliptical machine doesn't count, right?) The pool is huge and now that it's gotten hot outside again, the water has been much warmer this week. Another added bonus is that our neighborhood friend, Becky and her kids have also joined so now the kids have two more friends that they can play there with.

Can you find Ryan? (Click on picture to enlarge.)



Note the kid behind Ryan that followed him around all afternoon, trying to steal his innertube and noodles. Punk. Doesn't anyone watch their kids anymore?

Ashley usually isn't around much for a picture. She's all over the place once we get there with her friends.

Quentin, Ryan, Ashley & Skyler.

Can I Have Your Attention, Please?

Yesterday was Skyler's birthday, so we all headed over to Splashdown for a day of fun in the sun. Upon entering the park, I myself felt a magentic force pulling me straight to the lazy river. First, however I let Bret go off and hit the big water slide with everyone else while I stayed behind to watch Ryan play in the big water tree house area - but not before complaining about how many parents send their little kids off to play and go off and find a chair to sunbathe with their eyes closed or read a book.

So I've been sitting in a chair where I have a good view of the whole structure and can watch him play when it's been about 5 minutes and I've lost site of him. The treehouse is huge and it's really hard to find your kids in there because they're all over the place.

A life guard comes onto the intercom and says, "Can I have your attention, please?"

Hmm...

"We have a lost little boy here at the life guard station."

Aww, poor kid. Really. Why can't parents keep an eye on their kids!?

"He's 6 years old."

Nope, not mine.

"His name is Ryan."

Nooooooo, it can't be. Ryan's a pretty common name, isn't it?

"He's looking for his mom, Lynda."

S*#t!

I turn my head and look over across the water park beyond the big pool and see my son sitting in the lifeguard's chair, crying his eyes out. There's kharma for you.

Thankfully he still had a good time and wasn't too traumatized.

"It's Fun To Stay At The YMCA!"

So, in an effort to motivate myself into getting back into the gym (yeah, I know!), I froze my membership at Gold's Gym and joined the YMCA, formally known as the Willow Knolls Country Club. I've been eyeing that olympic size pool for quite some time now and really want to get back into swimming laps again. I was on the swim team in high school and there's nothing like a good long distance swim. (At my age now it's probably going to be more like a long distance crawl...lol) I've been really tired of how crowded Gold's has been lately and can't get my kids to go there anymore. For less than $15 bucks a month difference from what I was paying for Gold's, the kids can be added on to my membership and we have unlimited use of the huge outdoor pool. Plus the Y has so much more available for kids.

Anyway, I dragged Teri and her kids out of bed this morning and gave them a tour of the place and then waited while they signed up. (Got to bring someone else in on the torture, you know.) The plan was to let the kids play in the game area while we did the water aerobics class, then grab them and eat lunch and swim for a little while. Only the schedule on the internet was wrong and the class is only on Tuesday's and Thursday's. So instead, I talked Teri into swimming laps. Ha. (Someone help if Scott is reading this since he may have just passed out.)

While waiting for the lifeguards to set up the lane lines, I walked over to a couple of older ladies that were waiting to get in as well to see if they had lane line preferences. Let me tell you, they were quite territorial! They each stated what lane they were going to use and didn't seem too welcoming. And did I mention yet that it's an olympic size pool? I highly doubt we were going to get in their way. And that olympic size pool? Gulp. It's a really long distance. I know Teri was already getting nervous about it, but I was still pretty determined. So I go to put on my goggles and they broke. A sign, you ask? Most definately since at that moment we decided to high tail it out of there. But don't you worry! Tomorrow I'm going back with my cute little flippers and I'm going to leave those old ladies behind in my wake!

Saw My First Funnel Cloud Today

We met up with a bunch of neighbor's at the pool today for some fun in the hot humid sun over in Chillicothe. Upon arriving, as the kids were getting ready to jump into the pool, I looked up and saw a dark cloud moving over the area to the north of us. Out of the dark cloud looked to be a funnel slowly forming and dropping lower and lower. Everyone was watching, including the lifeguards, but within 5 minutes it had lifted back up into the clouds and was gone. It was a hot one today, and we lasted about 3 hours when the thunder started and lightning was spotted. The pool was evacuated and we took off for home. We're all brain dead right now, but heading out for Ryan's t-ball game anyway.

And I'm kicking myself right now, because I had the camera with me but never thought to take a picture of it.

Fearless

Today was Chloe's first time coming to the pool with us and she did great! She had a blast and provided us with endless laughs. Once she got use to the water, she was fearless. The water must have really looked refreshing, because she kept putting her face down to it and licking it with her tongue. She loved crawling in it, too - sometimes to the point where I had to keep getting up to turn her around because she would have kept on going. Whoever thought of the zero depth pool is a genius!

She kept squealing in delight the whole afternoon.

Ryan has become more fearless at the pool as well this summer. He found quite a few uses for this fountain of water. As we speak, he is so worn out and fighting it that his eyes are rolling into the back of his head as he's watching TV.

Everyone loves a cute plumber.

Camera Dump

Ryan's First Year Playing T-Ball

(Taken last Tuesday.)

He didn't even need the Tee.

Run, Ryan, Run!

Safe at first.

First Pool Trip of the Summer.

(Taken last Friday.)

Ryan no longer needs to be caught at the end of the slide. Yes!

Wow, that's cold water!

What a pro.

Heading back out to a different pool today with the kids. This will be Chloe's first trip to the pool with us.

My Little Pet Frog

Today was another swim lesson day for Ryan. He did a great job!

It felt like an ice box in the locker room.

"I'm ready to jump!"

"Maybe I'm not so ready..."

But he did it and swam his little heart out.

Practicing kicking and floating on his back.

He kind of looks like a little frog in his googles, doesn't he?

My Little Pet Frog, II

You mean I don't have to stand there and catch him anymore?! Still need to work on keeping his feet up off the ground, though.

Lazy Summer Day At Splashdown

Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying the lazy river, water slides and laying in the zero depth pool up to my ears to take very many pictures. Here's a few I did manage to get. Lacking in quality, I know - but we had a blast and 4 1/2 hours later we were pretty well baked by the sun.

Ashley...

Ryan...

Scorching Hot Day At The Pool

It was definately a sizzler outside today. With a high of 99 degrees and a heat index of 111, I figured the best place to spend the afternoon was at the pool. As long as you stayed in the water, you couldn't go wrong.

"Come on, Mom! Let's go already!"

Ashley has learned to dive in off the diving board now!

Ryan officially doesn't need me anymore (sniff sniff) to catch him at the bottom of the water slide.

For more pictures, head on over to Flickr. And be sure to check out the videos below.

Little Plumber Boy

This seems to be a typical problem that Ryan has. For some reason his pants never stay up. Poor little man just doesn't have enough to keep 'em up.

Nice hat!

I've Been Robbed...

...By my own kids! I bought this cute raft for my own sun lounging enjoyment and it didn't look like I was ever going to get a turn with it.

Look who got there first!!!

Did she think she was going to get away with it? LOL.

Guess little man has to have his turn next. That raft is bigger than him.

And he can't quite seem to stay on it. (I swear I didn't tip it this time)

Finally I get a turn and I guess my daughter was looking for revenge from tipping her...

...because she went and called my friend that lives behind us and now I'll never hear the end of sunbathing in my kids' pool. (However, it was the best 30 relaxing minutes in my life)

Can't Ever Say No

After filling the kiddie pool in the backyard already, I gave in and took the kids to the park district pool with some friends today.

Ashley and her friend, Emily.

Taking a break from the water slides.

Ryan and his crew.

You pay money to let them swim and they want to be inside the arcade room instead. I don't think they realized that the games take money and that they weren't really playing.

Finally back out into the pool again.