The Fourth of July was Jack's half birthday, so it was an especially big and special holiday. We started off the morning with a flag fruit pizza, then went to a parade and came back with a massive haul. Behold:
My dad set up tarps and a hose on their hill and voila, Hazel experienced her very first slip and slide. A massive hit, I must say. But only for Hazel. Jack's going through a phase where he hates playing in water.
Both the kids napped long and hard, so we were able to head out for fireworks that night. For the last several years, we've watched them from our roof while the kids slept and have been too far away to hear the BOOM. Being at the ballpark where they were set off, hearing them, smelling them, filled me with a truckload of happiness. It was totally worth not having the kids in bed until 11pm.
Hazel taped her baby doll to her Rapunzel "hair" so she could pretend she was lifting Mother Gothel into the tower. Ingenious.
Jack's dress-up love continues...
Hazel made herself and Gemma matching crowns. Sister love!
Jack started showing interest in potty training, but has been spotty about it. I am absolutely not going to push it. I invested far too much time into trying to potty train Hazel. I'm going to take it easy this time.
Remember the birds' nest on my front porch? We thought it was so cool... until the eggs hatched and the babies started leaving huge piles of poop by my front door. Disgusting. I dealt with it for two weeks, until the babies left the nest, and then I took the thing down. A week later, the parent birds came back to lay another clutch and I've been battling them ever since. Every day they start making their nest. Every day I power spray it down. Their persistence makes me angry. Time to relocate, pals!
We spent a few days down in Cedar City with cousins. We loved every second. We partied at the local aquatic center and caught a flick at the dollar theater, but for the most part just played at home. Laura's backyard is massive, and the kids were so happy to play together.
Jack was especially obsessed with the kid jeep. If I ever didn't know where he was, the first place to look was the garage. He was usually sitting in the jeep waiting for someone to start it. He literally drove it around in the road for two hours straight.
Hazel and Jack love to make massive play structures that impede my goal of usable living space, but they play so well together I have to let it go. Puppy house.
This one's a poacher's jaguar trap. They snarled at me quite fiercely through the chair bars.
More of Hazel's elaborate birthday party set-ups. The paper bag with the straw sticking out of it is supposed to be a lemonade pitcher. The blue vase behind it is holding a massive rose made out of scotch tape. And yes, those are individual servings of Goldfish, large enough to count as lunch.
Gemma had her six-month check-up. The doctor was concerned that her weight dropped so much on the growth chart. 14lbs at 4 months and again at 6 months. I think it's mostly just that I hadn't started her on solids yet and she's being compared to kids who have been chowing down on formula and rice cereal for two months, but she's going in for a weight check in a few weeks.
We celebrated Gemma's half-birthday by giving her her first rice cereal. Hazel loves to help feed Gemma. G loves to be fed. She hasn't turned anything down yet.
Jack continued to have trouble with bad dreams, so I decided to move the room around a bit. I asked Jack what he would like me to do to make his room seem safer, and he asked to be close to the window and close to Hazel. The extra sunlight and a buddy he can see without sitting up have seemed to do the trick. He's sleeping a lot better so far. Knock on wood.
My sister Emily came in from Chicago for a week and a half. I jumped at the chance to plan a family reunion and got all my siblings up here on the 24th of July.
Everyone was in charge of planning an activity. Mine was a Crack the Egg Tournament on the tramp. Ryan was the undisputed champion. He made me suffer for 15 minutes trying to crack him. It was torture.
Emily's activity was karaoke. It got a little wild and crazy!
We went to another parade and the kids weren't even that excited. Three in one summer is overkill.
Gemma started pushing up on her knees and on her toes. She also rolls and scoots all over the room. And her neck is ridiculously ticklish. She laughs so cute.
Hazel started taking private swimming lessons, and I have to say, I never want to do group lessons again! She is learning so much, so fast, and I love that she spends the entire 30 minutes working and focused.
