Waverunning

Tuesday, Logan and Shane found a break in all the rain to take the waverunner out. Logan had a great time, and is still talking about it. He had fun going fast (Shane took it at a leisurely pace, but when they got to the bay, he let Logan drive, who then held the throttle all the way down. The next time, Shane said he played with the throttle a bit to find where he was comfortable.) He liked making bubbles - they did donuts in the bayou, and that stirs the water and makes bubbles. He liked going "bop" - the sound the waverunner makes after it jumps a wave.

The boys were out for a little over an hour. Though he looks like a drowned boy, he was a happy, if a little tired boy. In fact, Shane said on the way back from the bay, he thought Logan was looking down in the foot wells. Oh no, the little guy had fallen asleep!

Both boys had a great time, and I'm sure will be out there again!

Funny sayings

Logan, on the potty:
"Mommy, no more teetee in the penis." Looks down and grabs it. Shrugs.

Logan, after getting spun around by Daddy:
"The house is bending over." Guess he was a little dizzy!

Kayleigh, on everything:
"MINE!" No seriously, she's 14 months, and this is her favorite word. I sort of blame our trip to Indiana - Keegan was informing Logan that his toys were "Mine!" and Logan started using that word more at home. Oh well, she at least says two words together now, "My ball!" (sounds like "Ma baa!") or "My book!" ("Ma boo!")

Swim lessons

From June 7 through June 25, Kayleigh and Logan had swim lessons three times a week at the College of the Mainland. It was a Water Babies class, so the parents/grandparents got in with the kids to help them kick, stroke, and generally not drown. Shane was able to make it on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Fridays Hope was sweet enough to help out. It's a good friend who will let your daughter stuff a ball down the front of her swimsuit!

Logan got over a lot of his fear of water, and when class ended was to the point of dunking himself underwater while holding someone's hands or the wall. He was learning to do some stroking, but had not mastered it. One day when we went out on the boat, he actually ASKED to get out in the water. This is the boy who, the previous time on the boat, only got his feet wet. But he swam around in the water for 30 to 45 minutes!

Kayleigh is a daredevil, and we have to really watch her around water. She thinks she can swim already, and Little Miss Independent can do it all on her own, thank you very much. One day, she wanted to switch parents. So, she kicked off of Daddy and tried to swim to me. Sank like a rock. As Shane pulled her up, she looked at him with a face that said, "Whoa, that was so not supposed to happen!" She can kick really well (especially if she wants to get somewhere, like the stairs in the pool), and will hold on to the wall by herself. She is definitely a water baby - which is great, because her parents love the water, too!

All in all, swim lessons were a success, and both kids look forward to them! We'll have to make a point to go to the community pool - even when it's super hot out!

Helpers

I live with a bunch of good helpers! Kayleigh has decided that she can help me with the laundry. Here she is taking out the diapers from the washer as I sort them before hanging them on the line to dry. Shortly after this, Logan started helping, so I had two diaper elves - just wish they would help me stuff the diapers later...

This past Sunday, June 27, we all went over to Hope, Phil, and Angela's to put in their new sink. Of course, Kayleigh and Logan had to see what was up, and to "help" Daddy out. We all know that Mommy can't help ("Karen, hand me the channel locks. No, those are bottle openers." Hey, I'm an engineer, not a mechanic. We make things so that mechanics have to fix them, duh.)

The finished product. Nice and shiny, huh? Think they're going to have to get a new stove and fridge now!

The following day, Shane replaced our kitchen light. Apparently, the ballast had gone bad, and it was just as expensive, and easier to install, to buy a whole new lighting assembly. And of course, little helpers had to be involved as well. Here's Logan, happy helper boy!

Three of my favorite people on the ladder. Kayleigh is trying so hard to get past one rung, but she won't hold the step above, but the sides, so that sort of hinders her progress. But she'll get one leg up on the second rung!

Helping Daddy choose a washer for the bolt. It was a good lesson in big and small, and the fact that big washers fit down overalls but only come out 20 minutes later.

Feeding each other

Kayleigh and Logan like to share food - because if one has something, the other needs to have the same something. Here, they share the same water bottle. Well, it has limeade in it, but whatever...

Kayleigh thinks her brother is hilarious. He'd take a piece of graham cracker from her, chop and nod his head at the same time. "Mmm, Kayleigh. Tastes yum!"

Aren't they sweet - and don't you just love the dog who waits patiently to be fed as well? He is big enough to reach food off her tray, but he waits until it hits the floor.

Ant bites

Kayleigh is officially a Texan!

Last week, she had just woken up from a nap when I brought her outside to finish mowing. I could hear her screams over the mower - so I know that it hurt. She had ants all over her - hands, feet, legs, diaper. But they don't seem to be bothering her now - she didn't miss a day of swim class, so I guess the chlorine didn't hurt them.

Sharing a yogurt

Kayleigh is slowly learning to use utensils, and she loves to eat yogurt. She and Logan shared one container.

Ahh, yogurt face.

Logan enjoyed getting his picture taken. Yeah, this is sort of posed ("Mommy, Logan picture! Kayleigh picture!"). But he was enjoying the yogurt, too!

Look at my FROG!

Logan scooped up a frog with his sand shovel the other morning. He had to bring it in and share his find with me. The frog somehow got turned over on his back and fell asleep. Logan thought he was dead. But we were able to get him righted when we took him back outside. He jumped away into the grass.

Pigtails!

I finally got Kayleigh's hair up in pigtails. And, I've found out a way to get them there - FOOD! Some people use TV or books, I use milk and dried berries (found a yummy mix - blueberries, cherries, cranberries - both kids love it!). She was super content to sit sort of still while I messed with her hair.

And the finished product was, naturally, CUTE!

Little Daddy

Logan is a great "little daddy". He loves to take Kayleigh's doll for a walk around the house. He straps her in the stroller so she'll be safe and not climb out like Kayleigh tries to do. He had quite a time getting the strap under her right arm, but he eventually managed.

Then Logan told me that "Baby-doll hungry. Baby-doll want Daddy-cereal." Daddy-cereal is Logan's name for Fiber One Honey Clusters. So we got Baby-doll a small bowlful of Daddy-cereal. It ended up being too big for her mouth, so Logan had to eat it. Apparently, he was hungry, because he ate two more tiny bowls full.

And of course, what is eating good food without a good friend to share it with? Logan was so kind to share his Honey Clusters (okay, maybe just the flakes) with Bug. And Bug was a sweet, attentive dog. Logan specifically asked to share with Bug! This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Rumba de Roomba!

My awesome husband, knowing that I rarely seem to get time to vacuum and mop our floors (our whole house is tile except for the kids bedrooms), bought me an iRobot Roomba. Sweet! I've used it three times today! Right now, it's running (and freaking Zoe out) and I'm blogging. It's not quite as great as I would do it, but it gets rid of most of the hair bunnies, and with two shedding dogs, that's amazing. The kids love it, and Logan thinks it's a hair dryer.

I'm doing the rumba just thinking that the Roomba will vacuum my floors every night!

Hermit crabbing

Today, June 8, we went to Galveston to find some hermit crabs. We found a few out on East Beach. Here's a shy little one.

Logan holds a hermit crab. He was not excited when it did crawl out of its shell onto his hand. He sort of freaked a little and dropped it back to Daddy.

This was Kayleigh's first time to the beach. She really had a great time! She loved to run to and through the water.

She was one wet and sandy baby when we got her out. She loved to splash in the water, pick up seaweed, and walk out as far as she could. Little Ms Independent did not want anyone hanging on to her (just like in swim class yesterday). But all that sun and water really wore her out!

Logan had fun running across the water after he got a little courage from holding Daddy's hand for a while. He also made some little friends - there was a group of Mexican tweens playing near us. Logan walked over and started hanging out with them. He had a great time, and they were so generous to let a little two year old play with them!

Daddy toys

While we were up in Indiana, Logan and Kayleigh had fun playing with Keegan's large Tonka trucks. Grandma had a dump truck that was for Logan, and Daddy took home his old Jeep from back in the day. The black paint would come off on your hands. So Daddy bead blasted the Jeep and repainted it. It used to be black, now it's a fabulous red! The two kids love it!

Weight Watchers 5K

On Sunday, June 6, the kids and I did a 5K walk with a bunch of Weight Watcher folk. At our walk we had about 200 people, raised over $1,800 in cash, sent at least 2.5 truckloads of food to the Ronald McDonald house in Galveston, and together we've all lost 4,000 lbs! Awesome. The kids were decked out in blue, just like everyone else. And everyone commented that they had the best seat on the walk - and that next year, I should auction those off! If next year is anything like the sauna it was on Sunday, I'm sure I could raise LOTS of money!

Lasagna Lover

This is Kayleigh, post lasagna. She LOVES it! Of course, pretty much anything with pasta in it goes over well with this girl - even whole wheat noodles!

Indiana visit

The day before Memorial Day, May 29th, we flew up to Indiana to visit Grandpops, Grandma, Aunt Monica, and cousins Keegan (3) and Trinity (6). We all had a good time. On Sunday, after church, we grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the Ft. Wayne Zoo (due to having Houston Zoo passes, we got a half price deal in Ft. Wayne).

Here the kids try to get a little shade in the African huts. Keegan tried to make a campfire on one of the chairs using mulch. Good idea, sort of - just a fire inside a closed tent would not be such a good idea...

Kayleigh and Grandpops enjoyed the misters. Well, all the kids enjoyed the misters - Logan would run through them like the crazy man he is, but the asphalt was too slick for Kayleigh, so she got a first class ride with Pops.

Trinity, Logan, and Grandma ride the sky lift over part of the zoo - all field, with a few Canada geese. But I guess the lifts would freak out the animals. Logan was telling everyone, "Logan went up in the sky!"

Then we made our way to the giraffe enclosure. Here, Logan is feeding Mystic, one of the female giraffes. Did you know that their tongues are dark to keep them from getting sunburned? God was really thinking...

The kids play the African drums. Logan had so much fun playing. When Daddy sat down on a bench near a drum, he started playing that drum and singing his "yeah, yeah, yeah!" song. He'd stop occasionally, look at his daddy and say, "Sing, Daddy!"

Look, I was actually there! There is a small log ride through the Australian section. Grandma went with Kayleigh, Logan, and Keegan. She said Kayleigh was ready to climb out to get in the water (she really is a water baby), and Logan just loved being in the boat.

Shane and I were in the last boat, and this is the sight that greeted us! How sweet are these kids!

There was also a fountain in the Australia section - in which all four kids played. Here Logan and Keegan run around the fountains.

Kayleigh has FUN in the water! I think she could have stayed in there the rest of the day! She crawled in and out, tried to follow the big kids, and would giggle and splash when she fell down.

Then, on the way home, disaster struck. Grandma had been saying on the way up that she felt the Aztec had been driving funny since being back from Dallas. Just as we were getting ready to stop for dinner, the "low oil pressure" light came on. Happily, Shane, Grandpops, and the Little Flachman kids were not far away. Unfortunately, nothing could be done in the parking lot - there was ZERO oil in the engine, and as I opened the back tailgate, I got oil on my hands. It had sprayed everywhere. After dealing with over-tired kids in a parking lot (and a non-PlayArea McDonalds) for two hours, Barb and I took the kids home in Pops' truck - Keegan wedged between two carseats, and Trinity and I sharing the front passenger seat. I think I sang "Where is Thumbkin?" twenty times to keep them happy.

The next day, Shane and Pops went back up to Ft. Wayne in Joe's (Monica's boy toy) truck. Unfortunately, they got to Ft. Wayne (about 1 hr drive from Peru) without the keys to the Aztec. Hard to take it out of Park when you can't get in the car. So, once Monica got home from the grocery store, I hit the road to rescue the boys.

Good thing that I went up there, too, because who else would have taken these stellar shots? Of course, these shots actually make it look like Shane did something...

So Monday was shot hanging around Ft. Wayne, and on Tuesday we were originally going to go to Indiana Beach, a small amusement park in Monticello. But some of us were sick of being in the car all the time - 4 hours from Chicago on Saturday, 2 hours on Sunday, 2 hours on Monday. We opted to stay "in town" and go out to the country and see Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Hileman.

The boys tell Grandpops that there's a oil leak in Great-Grandpa's jeep. Keegan thought it needed to go to the Barbershop to be looked at.

Kayleigh and Grandma June. She sort of sat still.

Logan gets on top of the restored 1950 John Deere tractor.


Country bumpkins.

Kayleigh drives the John Deere tractor.

The boys drive the jeep around the barns.

We had a great time in Peru, Indiana. The kids got to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpops; I got to sleep in until 9:30 am one day; and Keegan and Logan got some good lessons in sharing. All in all, a fun trip!