Cottonwoods and Swim Lessons

Today was the first day of "vacation" for Mazy and Bo this week. They are both home with me and Violet all week and I am determined to make it a fun time for them without spending too much money!

The adventure today was a picnic lunch at a great shady playground over by Valley Junction. It was so beautiful out. The cottonwood trees were all blooming and little tufts of cotton floated all around us while we were there. It was so serene and picturesque, spoiled only by the occasional tantrum by the chubby little eastern European boy who insisted on riding his big wheels onto the playground equipment where he inevitably ran over a little red-headed girl. His mother never learned to just take the trike away and put it in the car. I don't know what language she was scolding him in but it was not very effective.

My boys, on the other hand, were delightfully well-behaved! Which is always a nice surprise. :) Violet and I hung out on a blanket under a big tree until they were ready to eat. I made roast beef roll-ups for me and Mazy and a pepperoni roll-up for Bo. I also bought a variety bag of snack-sized chips and let each of them choose a bag, and then had mandarin oranges and bottles of water. Very cheap lunch. But they loved it!

After the park we decided to celebrate our week of vacation by getting ice cream at Sonic. They both got sundaes, which Bo promptly spilled all over himself and I got a Diet Coke float, which was delicious. We capped off the afternoon with the inaugural sprinkler session in the backyard. Mazy loves to get drenched, Bo loves to NOT get drenched.

I started supper at 5 and when Shawn got home at 5:30, I took Mazy to a swim clinic over at North High School. It's kind of an introduction to their all ages swim team. I also signed him up for summer swim lessons at the end of June. He'll go this week for three 45 minute sessions with a bunch of other kids. I doubt he learns much but he loved being in the pool and practicing his kicking and some basic swim moves.

And tomorrow we are going on a road trip to Pella, Iowa! I'm excited to take the boys -- it's a cool downtown with lots of green space in the town square for them to explore. I already made our sandwiches for tomorrow's picnic lunch. My aunt Sherie is going with us. I thought another adult might be helpful on a road trip. If all goes well, we'll make a stop at the famous Jaarsma Bakery to buy treats for the ride home! And maybe a few baked yummies for Shawn as well. Have a great day!