You can click here, to read Part I of this post. 

In order to really assess what we were dealing with, I took some of my dad’s advice.  He said you can usually spot a yellow jacket’s nest by watching them at dusk.  He said they make a bee line when the sun starts to go down to their nest. 

So later that evening and the next evening I watched.  Of course I was watching the one enterence that I knew of, and there were a lot of them entering.  I saw a lot buzzing around our tree, but I didn’t really see a spot where they were all trying to get in.

Joe and I figured the one entrance that we saw was hopefully the main one.  Not wanting to risk another episode like the one from a few days ago, we waited until it was dark and had cooled off.  Joe hung up a Rescue yellow jacket trap from the tree they were buzzing around.  I filled in the hole that I had dug, when I hit yellow jacket oil.

Then we were ready.  Joe sprayed an entire can of a white foamy wasp/yellow jacket spray into the entrance.  I watched from a safe distance.  Nothing.  There were no angry yellow jackets swarming up.  I figured the trap would be filled by the next morning.

At the risk of sounding a bit obssessed at this point, the next morning I checked the trap, and there was not one yellow jacket in it.  There were also none entering or exiting the opening to the nest.  Had we succeeded?  Maybe this wasn’t such a big nest after all.  Only time would tell.  I was cautious though.  Look what happened last time I thought the nest was killed.

A week later, happily, there is no yellow jacket activity to report.  While I am not stupid brave enough to try to dig the nest up again, even though the new can says you can as well, I think we may have solved our yellow jacket problem for now.  When it gets cold, we will dig up the area and see what is under there.  But for now, I’m just happy there aren’t hundreds of those suckers buzzing around.   

I will see a yellow jacket in the trap every day, but then they are gone, out of the trap.  It is eerie.  We have used those traps for a few years now, and always had a ton of them captured within a few days.  A week later, there is not one in there.  Could it be the yellow jackets have gotten smarter, and figured out a way to escape from the trap?  I have a vision of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds in my mind now, but with yellow jackets stinging away instead of pecking.  I do find it interesting nevertheless.

Hopefully we won’t have any more battles with the yellow jackets.

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Thanks for stopping by A Mama’s Blog for Bloggy Carnival.  You are going to go “green” in more ways than one, with this giveaway.   I hosted a similar giveaway from Lets Go Green.biz a month ago, and it was so popular, we decided to offer it again for Bloggy Carnival.  This is round two -here we go!

If you are like me, you might be trying to gradually replace household items in your home with more eco-friendly options.  Who wants to expose their family to harmful chemicals, so often found in traditional cleaning products? 

But probably the biggest single factor for me in holding off replacing more household items is the cost.  We only have one natural grocery store in our town, and paper products, etc. are pretty expensive there.  My regular grocery store doesn’t have that big of a selection of eco-friendly paper, plastic, and cleaning supplies.  I suspect I am like a lot of people, who would like to purchase more eco-friendly products, but can’t justify spending double, triple, or even more on them. 

Fortunately, we don’t have to now.  There is a fantastic company, Lets Go Green.biz, which now provides many eco-friendly household products that are affordable.  In fact, many products cost less than what I have been paying for conventional items.

What makes it even more affordable, in addition to their already low prices, if you use the coupon code FRIEND during checkout, you receive an additional 25% off your order!  How wonderful is that? 

I am so excited and pleased to offer a fabulous giveway from Lets Go Green.biz.  It is valued at over $37 and all the products are eco-friendly.  One lucky person will win: 

 Let’s Go Green Large Canvas Shopping Bag  (I have used this bag, and it is great.  It is a heavy weight bag.  This is the bag to take to the grocery store to tote all your heavy items.  You will love it!)

 32oz. Glass Cleaner  (I have used this, and it works wonderfully!  It gets the smudges and little handprints off the windows with no streaks.  It is dye and fragrence free, non-toxic, and it is biodegradable!) 

 Recycled Bath Tissue 4pack  (Have been told this is really soft-not rough at all.  )

  Recycled Paper Towel 3pack

  13 Gallon Ecosafe Tall Degradable Kitchen Bags  (15 count)

  Slider Gallon PVC Free Freezer Bags (10 count)

   5 Minute Shower Coach  (to help time your showers and conserve water)

   Toilet Tank Bank  (helps save almost a full gallon with every flush)

   Walnut Scrubber Sponge (made with organic walnut shells)

To be eligible to win this prize, all you have to do is go to Lets Go Green.biz, and look at their products.  Then leave a comment here, stating what product, or products you would like to try, or what product caught your attention.  That’s it! 

The contest will run for the entire week, ending at 10 PM. eastern time, August 4th.  A winner will be picked by random.org.  This contest is only open to those who have a United States shipping address. 

Going “green” doesn’t have to be expensive, and thanks to Lets Go Green.biz, they have just made it a lot easier and affordable.  Good luck- and may the “green” be with you!

After entering this giveaway, make sure to head back to Bloggy Carnival to enter more of the fabulous giveaways!

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If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that Ryan loves “The Music Man.”  Here is a previous post explaining how he came to love this movie so much.

I have been trying to find a theater in our area that would be presenting “The Music Man,” for a while now.  We discovered a dinner theater about half an hour away which was finally showing this musical.

So today Ryan, his Nana (my mom), Uncle Jeff, and Aunt Mara escorted Mr. Ryan to his first play/musical performance. 

Ryan was SO excited all week for this.  Today when he woke up he said with a big smile on his face, “Today we get to go see Music Man Mommy!”

I wasn’t quite sure how he would do- if he would get bored, or fidget, or just not get the whole play concept.  But, I could not have been more pleased.  He was just perfect.  He ate his lunch, using the best manners I have ever seen, and his eyes never left the stage for the entire performance.  He was enthralled with it all. 

He was such a little gentleman- it was really fun to see him be a big, grown up boy.  During the intermission, I took him to the restroom, and on the way out, he held the door open for all the ladies entering and exiting. 

While the performers were serving dessert, he said a line in the play, “Ya wild kid-ya!”  I saw a few of the performers laugh when they heard him say that- he mimicked the line very well.

Here is a picture of Ryan “reading” the program before it started:

We had a great time, and it was really nice my mom, brother and sister could come with us.  I know Ryan will always remember the first time he got to see “The Music Man” in person.  As his mother, I will too, but more that that- I will remember this as the first really grown-up event Ryan went to as a big boy.  

Now he can go back to just being a little boy- as great as today was, I don’t think I’m ready for him to act so grown-up every day- not yet.

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(Note: I would have loved to added some pictures to this post, but after reading this I hope you will understand why I don’t want pictures of them on my blog.  )

The last few weeks I have noticed a lot of yellow jackets buzzing around our yard- especially by our gate- right where the boys like to play construction.

I knew I should have hung up the yellow jacket traps that we have this spring, to catch the queens, but it seemed to slip my mind. Now we are paying the price.  Yellow jackets are scavengers and fly close to the ground, looking for food.  They can also be aggressive, and unlike honey bees who only sting when they feel very threatened and die, yellow jackets can sting multiple times and they live.  That doesn’t work when you have two little boys, who aren’t scavengers, but do like to sit down on the ground when they are playing.

Last week while hanging up laundry on my clothesline, I noticed tons of yellow jackets flying into a small hole near the fence.  Yellow jackets build their nests underground.  Evidently we have a nest under there.  We bought some yellow jacket killer spray (usually I am not a big fan of insect sprays, but…) and according to the directions, we were to wait until it was dusk or dark, when the yellow jackets are less active, and then point the can nozzle into the hole, and spray away.  The directions said the spray was powerful enough to kill any other yellow jackets that were away from the nest, but who would return.  Then it said to wait 24 hours, and then you could safely remove the nest.

After spraying the nest, I didn’t see any yellow jackets for the next few days.  Yay- problem solved!  So yesterday in a moment of genius stupidity, I decided after lunch to go remove the nest…just like the directions on the can said.  Nevermind it was the heat of day, when yellow jackets are the most active, and I was in a tank top and shorts. 

I started digging with the shovel and didn’t see anything.  I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for- I suppose I thought I would see something that looked like a wasp’s nest.  All of a sudden I hit yellow jacket oil!  A swarm of them came up from the ground, and started flying right at me.  I did the only thing I could do- I screamed, batted them away with shovel, and ran my a** back to the house.  

Fortunately I did not get stung, but I was freaked out for hours.  I watched safety from the window, and cursed out the company that put those idiotic directions on their can of yellow jacket spray.  I saw the swarm eventually settle back into their nest, after they figured out the dumb lady with the shovel was gone.    Round 2- yellow jackets. 

I called Joe, and interrupted the class he was teaching and told him I needed him to bring home ammunition- Raid yellow jacket spray (the best I am told) and several more of the Rescue yellow jacket traps.  Spare no expense, I told him-this was war. 

Like any good general preparing to launch a battle,  I read up on yellow jackets on the Internet, and to my horror discovered they can have very complex and big nests underground.  Some can be several, several feet.  One picture I saw the nest was over six feet long.  It also said if the queens don’t die, and the nests aren’t destroyed, the pregnant ones stay dormant for the winter and can survive the cold winters, to emerge in the same nest year, after year, expanding the nest.

We have always had yellow jackets- a few years ago Joe got stung horribly by several yellowjackets in the front yard while mowing the lawn.  This was about six feet away from where I sprayed, so I just know, we probably have one of those huge six feet nests underground. 

Later in the day, my dad stopped by and I told him what was happening. We went back outside, and from a safe distance saw yellow jackets again, going in and out of their nest now, in two different spots, plus we saw countless ones flying by our big tree in the front yard, where Joe had gotten stung. 

We observed the enemy and formulated a plan- Clearly, I had underestimated the yellow jackets.  This was going to be much harder and more complicated than just spraying yellow jacket killer spray in one of the many entrances to their nest…

Stay tuned for Part II

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As always, thanks to everyone who entered this terrific giveaway.  Remember, you can always check out KIWI’s site, and subscribe to their newsletters too, and since there can only be one winner, you could get yourself a subscription while you are there-come on, you know you want to!

The winner of the year’s subscription as determined by random.org is:

INSTA-MOM!

Thanks again for all the entries, and be sure to stop by A Mama’s Blog next week for a fabulous, fabulous giveaway during Bloggy Carnival.

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CrossPosted on BlogHer

I admit it- I like to scan People.com a few times a week.  It requires no thought, and I like looking at the pictures of the latest styles- styles I will not have the good fortune to wear, but I like to look at them anyway.

Last week I saw this article on Eva Longoria’s new look.  Evidently she has gained some weight and has cut her hair to play her character on Desperate Housewives.  I haven’t watched DH in a few years, and it sounds like her character, Gabby, has kids now.

Longoria’s rep made this comment to People on her client’s new look, “She’s making herself look like that as her character has let herself go. Gabrielle has gained weight and cut her hair,” Liza Anderson tells PEOPLE of Longoria Parker’s character. “She’s a worn out mother with two kids.”

Anderson continues on Longoria’s weight gain, “And even that was not enough. She’s also wearing butt pads and a stomach pad to play the part.”

Is this what TV and networks think of mothers now?  That we let ourselves go, and the only way to accurately portray this, is to have a petite actress who is now playing a mom, don butt pads and a stomach pad to look like a tired, worn out, mother who has let herself go?

I don’t argue that a lot of mothers are tired and worn out- show me a mother who isn’t and I will say she is probably in the minority.  But the assumption that a mother may have put on weight, because she has automatically has let herself go is insulting, and degrading.  Maybe the mother just doesn’t have time to work out like she used to.  Maybe it is taking longer for her to lose baby weight- there could be plenty of reasons why a mother has gained weight.

I also take exception to the whole “letting yourself go” concept.  Women are held to such a high standard, and are under such a microscope at times when they become mothers.  If they don’t look adorable, cute, and look like they have gained enough weight during pregnancy, then they are looked down on because certainly they are not eating for two and risking their baby’s health.  Yet, women that don’t immediately shed their baby weight in less than a month, are viewed as “letting themselves go.”  God forbid if a mother decides to simplify her life a bit and get her hair cut short too!

Most mothers I know, would love to go to the gym and work out.  Reality is they can’t- they are taking care of their children and are working.  Most mothers do have a period where they have to adjust to being a mother, and figure out how to balance it all again in time.  

But in the meantime why the double standard?  Why single out mothers like this?  No one says a fit-in shape, and stylish mother is a bad mother, because if she has time to work out, then she isn’t taking care of her kids.  Why do we have to assume that a mother who has less than a perfect body ”let herself go?”

What do you think- is this fair to put women into this category, or is this just a situation a lot of women are in that Desperate Houswives is trying to portray?

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Cross Posted at BlogHer

I really wanted to attend the annual BlogHer conference in San Francisco this weekend, but I thought we would be moving, so I didn’t sign up to go.  I did however, register to attend in Second Life.  You may have even noticed the banner ad that I have in the right sidebar on my blog.

I have never been in Second Life (SL), and prior to this, had only read an article about it.  I only joined, so I could hear the speakers that were speaking at BlogHer live, like Lisa Stone.  I joined Thursday night, and after figuring out how to work my avatar, I was able to log in to the conference on Friday. It was wonderful to be able to hear the speakers, and even attend some of the SL sessions they had exclusively for SL attendees. 

I received the invitations and notifications BlogHer in SL events, and on Friday night there was a virtual party.  So I signed in and went.  It was a little funky getting my avatar to dance, but thanks to the BlogHer helper in Second Life, Gidge,  I eventually got grooving.  Here is a picture of my Second Life avatar dancing on Friday night (I’m in the black top, purple skirt, and black boots-& you can click on the pictures to see them larger):

   (Bonus: behind me in the purple shirt and jeans is Amy, or better known as the Crunchy Domestic Goddess)

After the BlogHer party, Gidge invited us to her Second Life house to continue the fun.  She has a beautiful house with a dance floor, pool, and BBQ.  After we danced for awhile, she invited us into her house, to the mud wresting pit, and get this- a knife throwing game.  Just like you see at the circus or magic shows. 

Amy and I were pretty fascinated by all of this, and watched the mud wrestling and a few rounds of the knife throwing.  Eventually, I decided to give the knife throwing a shot, and I have to say, I didn’t do too bad- I missed a few times, but I think I hit the balloons more than the person.  Here is a picture of me throwing knives (thanks to Amy for the picture:)

 (To the right of me in the blue dress is Gidge, and behind us is Amy)

The best part of the party this night was Amy was trying to change her clothes, and ended up in a 3-D box.  She couldn’t figure out how to get it off, so she came to the party with a box on.  It was hilarious and we all had a blast cracking jokes.  She was ‘hip to be square!’  You can read Amy’s version of the party, as well as see pictures of her in her box here. 

There was another party on Saturday night, and after having so much fun the night before, I just had to check it out again.  Besides, how often does a chance like this come up?  So I created a pretty snazzy party dress with red sequenced shoes.  Gidge was the volunteer again, and she offered us a champagne flute that had stars floating out of it.  Pretty cool. 

Again, after the party we went back to Gidge’s house, and danced, and tonight I mud wrestled.  While I don’t have pictures of it, since I was wrestling, it was fun. I won the best out of three in my first match, and then I wrestled the Queen herself-Gidge.  I almost had her in one of the rounds, but she quickly overpowered me.  The best part was, I didn’t even need to take my party dress to the cleaners.  As soon as I got out of the pit, it was clean.  I wish that happened in real life.  Here is a picture of me on the dance floor at the BlogHer party, and at Gadge’s house:

Gidge was so nice and so hospitable.  She invited me back to her house anytime, and even allowed me to set my homebase at her house.  I met a lot of friendly people- the whole thing is kind of surreal- who would have thought you could attend parties and have a blast, over your computer?

I am greatful BlogHer made the conference available to those of us who couldn’t attend, and I know even if I was at the conference in San Francisco, I would not have been throwing knives and mud wrestling.  I wouldn’t have been able to create my own clothes either-for free.  Can’t beat that. :-)

While I had a great time with my first Second Life BlogHer experience, I have already vowed that I am going to the conference in person next year.  I know several other friends who are planning on it too.  If it is any indication how much fun and informative BlogHer is in Second Life, I can’t wait to be there for it in real life-even if I don’t get to mud wrestle and throw knives.   

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If you missed part I of this post, you can read it here.

House Hunting is nothing like what you see on TV.  So far, we haven’t encountered any rooms with black wall paper, but we have run into three things (so far), that never happens on house hunting TV shows.

1.  When a house has a For Sale sign in the yard, it is listed on the on-line and realtor listings, and there are open houses, one can only assume the house really is for sale-right?  Wrong.  

The first house we made an offer on, after it was all said and done, we found out that the sellers aren’t interested in moving, and they don’t have to move.  We are only left to wonder why in the world they put their house on the market then, if they don’t want to sell it. 

I can hear  Suzanne Whong now…“Unfortunately, the first house the family made an offer on, the sellers are crazy, and have no intention of selling their house. They just like to waste people’s time, so the family has to keep looking.”

2.  No matter how much you think you are on top of the listings, there is at least one house that will get away from you, and be under contract before you can get your offer in- even in a “buyer’s market.”

I had seen a house in a newer subdivision for about a month now in the listings.  It was a short sale, meaning the bank agreed to sell it for less than the amount of the mortgage owed on it.  I guess this is one step before a foreclosure.  The house had never been lived in.  It was gorgeous.  Everything brand new, granite counter-tops in a HUGE kitchen, a sunken bathtub in the master bath, one extra bedroom than what we were looking for, a three car garage, and a decent sized yard.

The best part it was priced about 60k less than what it sold for new.  It was an incredible deal, and the price was in our price range.  I don’t know why in the world it just didn’t ”click” with me, for us to look at this house when I saw the listing.  We were focusing on houses in another subdivision, and we were in the middle of the offer with the people who really aren’t selling their house. 

Last week when it finally occurred to me that this was a great house for us, and that was confirmed by doing a “drive-by,” I called our realtor to set up a showing.  He told me this house hadn’t come up in his search for us, because- we asked for at least a quarter acre lot- a .25 lot.  He said this one was a .22 acre lot.  I just laughed, that was close enough, but then the bad news.  He said it went under contract the week before.  We were one week too late!

Says Suzanne, “Because Heather suffers from Mommy Alzheimer’s  the family wasn’t quick enough to get to this house before it was snapped up by someone who is on the ball.  This would have been a terrific house for the family- just what they were looking for.  Now the family is back to square one.” 

3. Because the entire process is not fun and frustrating, you will be faced with a lot of decisions that you never considered.

We looked at another house this past weekend, and decided it is something we will keep in mind, but we aren’t going to make an offer on it (I’ll never say never, but no offer on it at least for the time being.) 

The house needs a lot of TLC, but the major problem for us, is the kitchen is tiny.  Joe and I could barely fit in it.  It would have to be remodeled, but there is a wall, and we would have to make sure it isn’t a structural wall.  There were a lot of other projects that would have to be done too. 

We were considering it, but then realized we don’t really want to do all that work- we want to spend time with our boys while they are young.  Not spend the next five years on home improvement projects every weekend.  We didn’t even really like the layout of the house that much.  We could probably get this house at a rock-bottom price, but we just aren’t excited about it, and doubt this is the house we are looking for.

To widen our horizons so-to-speak, we are now considering looking at a town about 15 minutes away from us.  It is a lot smaller town than where we live now.  There are several houses in this town, that are what we want size and price wise, but we just aren’t sure we want to move to this town. 

Now we are debating the pros and cons of moving to this town before we set up any showings.  We know there are houses there, but the questions we are now facing are, where do we want to live, and do we keep waiting for something to open up in a neighborhood we like and had decided on, or do we move now, even if it isn’t to a place we really ever thought about living in, but has what we want?

“The family has some hard decisions to make, and all they know at this point, is they don’t know what they will end up deciding.”  Suzanne says. 

You can say that again, Suzanne Whong. I’m sure there will be a House Hunters Part III- stay tuned.

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I love watching the real-estate shows on Home & Garden, TLC, & Discovery channel.  My favorite is the cheesy, House Hunters, with Suzanne Whang.  If you have never seen it, it is a riot!  Basically you follow a family as they look at three houses for sale.  I’m used to the ‘old-style’ version.  It goes like this:

One house is usually a dump, but they still try to be nice about it.  It can be the most hideous house with black velvet wallpaper and polka-dots, and they will say something like, “Oh, that’s a unique design.”  Or the entire house is boring- white walls and beige carpet and they will say, “These are really nice walls.” 

Everyone knows what they are really thinking and you wish just once the family would say it- that they wouldn’t live in the house for a million dollars.  After they are done looking at the hideous interesting house, instead of saying they would rather live with Paris Hilton in a Motel 6 than in the house, they mutter things like, “Well, even though this is a really great place, we don’t think its the place for us,” or, “We love the bathtub (usually the only thing in the house that isn’t messed up, ” but we think we should look at a few other places before deciding.” 

Then the second house is usually OK.  Not great, but not as awful as the first one.  It may need a few repairs, but at least there isn’t velvet wallpaper on the walls.  After looking at the second house the family is mulling it over.  They usually tell their realtor (who has traveled in a time machine from the 1970’s to appear on House Hunters), “Well this is a lot better than the first one.”  Then the over-eager 1970’s realtor jumps in and says, “Well, now that I know what you are looking for, I have one more house to show you that I think will really grab you.”  Of course, the family always agrees. 

Can you guess what is coming?  The third house is always perfect.  Just what the family is looking for.  Why the realtor bothered to show them the first two houses is a mystery.  They could have saved 23 1/2 minutes of the show.  The family walks through the house, oohing and awhing over everything, and I mean every last detail.  “Look at the ceiling honey…it is marvelous.”  Or, “This toilet seat is fabulous.  It is padded.  That will be comfortable to sit on with a good magazine.”

When they are done drooling over the toilet seats, the tell the realtor this is the house for them and they want it.  The realtor gets that KA-CHING look on their face, and tells them, “Sure, let’s go back to my office, and we’ll write it up.”  Then the “drama” begins.  Will the seller accept their offer? 

HGTV only makes you wait in suspense for one commercial before you find out.  Suzanne Whang does a nice recap for you showing the houses that were shown, and the house that the family finally decided on (just in case you forgot.) Then you are told the Smith’s put in their offer and are now eagerly awaiting to hear if their offer was accepted.

Then you see the family playing a board game (do families still do this?), or eating at a restaurant, very casual and relaxed when suddenly- the phone rings.  In a very relaxed and laid-back manner, they answer the phone “Hello?”  PLEASE-like they don’t know who that is!

The next part goes like this,”Uh-huh- yeah, OK, Uh-huh, OK. Thanks Carl.” The person than hangs up their phone and turns to the spouse who didn’t get the good fortune of answering the phone and says, “That was Carl, and we got the house!” 

Astonishing!  Who would have thought?  I was so sure their offer was going to be rejected.  Then there is another commercial, and when we return, the lovely Suzanne Whang revisits the family a few months later, after they have had a chance to put their own touches on the house.  Unless they have covered the walls in black velvet wallpaper, all is well, and another successful real estate transaction has been completed. 

Real life house hunting is NOTHING like this TV show.  I will give you our version of House Hunters (minus Suzanne Whang) in an upcoming post.

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We are having a lot of fun around here this summer. The boys have taken to swimming, well-like fish to water.  Especially Cole.  It doesn’t matter what kind of water it is- he loves it.  From water from the hose, to the kiddie pool, to the sprinkler, to the water at the swimming pool- he is thrilled around water.

We have been trying to go swimming at least once a week.  We are pretty lucky that our town has two great kiddie pools, that we can alternate between them.  Today we took the boys to the kiddie pool in town that has a slide.  It isn’t a huge slide, but it is adequate for kids of all sizes.

I say that because Ryan wouldn’t go on it.  He didn’t want to at all. But Cole- we couldn’t keep him off of it.  Never mind that he was the only two year old going down the slide.  Never mind that all the other kids going down the slide were at least twice his age.  He was just in his own little world, and he was going down that slide as much as he wanted.

He would climb up the rock stairs, and wait his turn-just like all the other kids.  Then when it was his turn, he’d sit on the slide, and look at the water running down it.  Oblivious to the fact, that he was holding up the line. He just had a grin on his face a mile wide.  He had waited in line, and he was going to make the most of it!   He examined the stream of water coming out of a sprinkler to keep the slide wet, and had to touch it and play with the water.  No amount of coaxing from his daddy or mommy would make him hurry up.  This was his time to decide when he was ready to slide. 

And when he decided it was time to go, he let go, and swish…down the slide he went, with even a bigger smile into his daddy’s arms.  If he got water in his eyes, or in his nose, it didn’t bother him.  He would laugh, and quickly squirm out of daddy’s arms to go get in line again, and do what he just did, all over again.

Ryan was just happy to be bouncing around in the water and playing. At one point he came up to me, gave me a hug and said, “I’m having so much fun in this pool Mom.”   Another time, I was holding him in the deeper water, and he told me to take him back to shallow water, because he had a great idea.  Once we were in the shallow water, he asked me if I wanted to dance with him.  So we did a little waltz in the water. 

I had so much fun playing and watching my boys today.  They are so sweet and innocent, and watching them have fun, just made me appreciate again how fortunate we are to have them.  It doesn’t get much better than dancing in water with your four and a half-year old, or seeing pure joy and excitement in your two year-old’s face, as he experiences a water slide for the first time. 

When I was a kid, my mom used to take us swimming, but she never went swimming herself.  She said she had just as much fun, sitting on a beach blanket watching us.  I never understood that growing up- but today I did. I understand what she meant all those years ago.  As long as your kids are having fun, and enjoying themselves then you are too, and it is the most fun you will ever have.    

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