A hodge podge of summer fun

We've been busy having fun these days, so here are some pictures of the kids being kids.


Tita Grace came to visit and took Nathan on his first train ride. He was so excited! He went to his little bank and pulled out $1 for his fare and we put it in his pocket. On the way there, he kept checking to make sure it was still there. He wanted to make sure he would be able to pay the conductor when he said "all aboard!"

We went to the zoo to check out the dolphin show. We also took in the special stingray exhibit and per Nathan's request, the monkeys. I had to get a picture of my little otters. These two LOVE the water!

Nathan making monkey sounds. He asked if he could nap with the gorillas.

Emie tried to dive in the stingray tank.

Emie and Daddy waiting for the dolphin show. She loved it! She was clapping and squealing the whole time. Too bad Nathan decided to "lose it" and spent the end of the show in time out on a zoo bench :( Not my favorite part of mothering.

We've been enjoying picnics at the parks. What better way to burn some toddler energy?!

Potty training + lots of rain =

Lots of rain + kids that really want to go swimming =

Hope you're all having fun too!

The little things

This is "monkey", Nathan's dear friend. But more about him in a minute. Yesterday I had the day off of work to spend at the hospital with my Dad, waiting while my Mom had surgery to implant a deep brain stimulator to help control her Parkinson symptoms. As I'm still nursing Emie, I had to run home twice to pump. When I went home mid-morning, I did a quick house clean-up because, well you know how it is when you leave the hubby to manage getting two kiddos ready to leave the house by seven. I came across Nathan's little monkey friend and I was going to just toss him up on Nathan's bed. Then I had a thought to instead place monkey on the couch and position him reading a little book. Nathan often tells me little things that monkey does while he's away, like eat snacks or read books or what not. I smiled thinking of how excited my little boy would be when he walked through the door and found monkey reading. And excited he was!

It got me thinking about how one of my favorite things about being a parent is doing those special little things that are for the sole purpose of making my munchkins smile. Nothing big, just things like surprising Nathan by putting nutella on his toast rather than butter, or letting him keep a quarter that he found under my bed and taking him to the popcorn shop to spend it on some penny candy (which is now 5 pennies!), or pulling over to let Emie swing at the park for a couple of minutes just to hear her happy squeals.

My Mom is great at this. A little note in your lunch box, her once a year tradition of showing up at school and pulling me out for a day of fun, the random Starbucks that she'll drop off for me to enjoy . . . and so many more.

I love these little things, both as a giver and a receiver. I hope my kids' have many memories of these little symbols of my love and I hope I can show them how God loves us in the little details. Like the time I was in China and thought "man, I could go for some pancakes and eggs tomorrow for breakfast". I'm sure you can guess what was served at the school cafeteria the next morning. I didn't even know Chinese people ate pancakes!

So what little things did your Mom do to make you smile? What little things do you do for your kids? I'd love to hear!