Sprinkle, sprinkle

What do you do when it's too hot to go to the playground and there's no one to go to the pool with? You make Daddy set up the sprinkler in the backyard—for the first time ever, believe it or not! Happily, we just happened to have a round stationary sprinkler stashed away in the garage, perfect for four little people to share:

First time in the sprinkler 
(l to r: Jude, Dahlia, Lucy, and Isaac)

As I expected, Jude and Isaac dove right in and stayed under the spray almost the entire time we were outside. Dahlia and Lucy were more cautious, watching from a distance while the boys got soaked. Eventually, however, neither girl could resist the siren call of the "waterfall" (as Jude likes to call it), and soon everyone was enjoying the refreshingly cool water. We stood under it, drank from it, pretended to wash our hands in it, and, of course, ran through it:



I'm pretty sure we'll be doing this again!

Outside, outside, outside!

We love to be outside! We take walks outside:

Collect rocks outside:

Pretend to fall down and break our crowns outside:

We eat outside:

Laugh and squeal outside:

We even practice holding hands outside:

Mostly, though, we just like plain old having fun outside:



Summer, we sure are going to miss you when it's cold outside!

Backyard wonders

Our backyard isn't fancy, but to the Fab Four it's no wasteland: It's a wonderland.

After all, when you're 2 years old, not many things are more rewarding than to run around finding "lallow flawers" for Mommy:

Or to stand on your very tiptoes to pick the buds off of trees for her:

And few experiences are as exhilarating as scaling a great big climbing tower:

And then feeling the wind in your hair when you get to the top:

I mean, when you're 2 years old, what could be more fun than to test the sturdiness of the picnic table:

And verify that there is enough room for two on the bench?

To be sure, there can be no shortage of smiles:

When the entire yard is yours to discover:

Especially when Mommy even lets you see what lives under the drain pipe!

Yes, when you're 2 years old, you can play and explore until you're plumb tuckered out:

... but that doesn't mean you won't still scream in disappointment when it's time to come inside!

It's pool time!

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of our nation by eating hot dogs and introducing the Fab Four to their new kiddie pool. (Yes, it's July and we are just now getting them into the water. Baby steps, people!) We filled the pool early in the day to give the water a chance to warm up, and then we initiated the kids into some of the most beloved rituals of summer: Swim diapers? Check. Bathing suits? Check. Sunscreen? Quadruple check!

Ah, summertime!
(clockwise from top left: Dahlia, Jude, Lucy, Isaac)

Once everyone was ready, we put the Fab Four in the water and waited for their reactions. They all seemed interested in the new experience—until the moment Ted activated the pool's fancy spray feature:



The unexpected blast of water scared Lucy away from the pool for pretty much the rest of the afternoon, and Jude was right there with her (kind of like how he refused to walk in the grass the first few times we were out in the yard). Dahlia, on the other hand, was not fazed and thoroughly enjoyed walking around in the pool and squirting the water out of bath toys. Isaac, too, was totally in his element, splashing and rolling around, climbing in and out of the pool, and sticking his face in the water like a pro.

Hopefully I can get everyone accustomed to the water so that we can try out the big pool in our neighborhood at some point. What I'm really looking forward to, though, is the day we get to take them to the beach for the first time—a girl can dream, right?

Wasteland no more

Until recently, our backyard was a veritable toddler wasteland, barren of toys or anything else remotely fun. Thanks to a new-to-us picnic table and climb-and-slide, though, we are now well on the way to creating a great place for the Fab Four to get some fresh air and—most importantly—burn. off. some. ENERGY!

We introduced the kids to their new toys over the long weekend. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as Ted unceremoniously initiated Isaac on the slide, Jude refused to walk in the grass, Dahlia tried to escape, and Lucy made sure that she was a part of the action. Never a dull moment!