Life As I Know It: Where the green Grass Grows- Part ONE

Next up....SUMMER 2014!

For us, summer is about family, friends, being outside, and filling each day with as much as possible Okay....that last part is more me than it is Dave...he likes to relax while I cannot stand to have "nothing" planned or "to do" for a full day. We compromise however in the summer since we have the pool and the outdoors and lots of things "to do" while we relax at the same time.

This was the first summer I have ever had a pool. Dave had one growing up and was excited to have one again but for me....every day I woke up and jumped in feeling like I was at a resort. I truly don't know if the novelty will ever wear off for me. We lived in the pool day and night.

A family of fish

We put up these umbrellas on the one side of our fence to give it a "cabana" feel and give us some extra privacy. I think they look super cool...good job Dave & John!

This little man of mine became really brave over the summer.

We look forward to next summer when we will have a swim instructor come to our pool rather than just classes at the local indoor pool every so often in the winter.

I can't wait to see how much more he will learn!

Kiptyn often couldn't wait to get into the pool while it was being cleaned or we were applying sunscreen

I am SO glad that our two little ones love the water as much as we do because we often looked like this after a regular day of swimming.

And BOY did I have fun outfitting these two with swim gear.

Watch out ladies...he's single!

I am not sure they had as much fun as I did...

We had lots of friends over for swim dates. This was one thing Dave and I always talked about. Growing up or before we moved we would always wish for a pool on those hot hot days and we wanted to be sure people felt welcome to come and enjoy ours if they didn't have one of their own.

Cuteness overload when we had some of Maisy's baby group over!

Speaking of Maisy's baby group....here are a few pics from some of our get-togethers. I cannot believe how much they have changed in such a short period of time!

We hosted a little viewing party for the movie "Breast Milk" ;)

We spent a lot of time on the soccer field as Kippy Boo started soccer for the very first time!
He loved wearing his uniform and going each time however he didn't really understand the concept of "soccer". You can summarize Kippy's soccer season by his soccer photo...actually, you can summarize Kiptyn in general by his soccer photo...Ha! Too cute.

Sitting on pink chairs was always a highlight

GOAL!

Even though he didn't quite "get it"...he still loved wearing his uniform and going out to the field each week with his new friends

And he had the world's cutest cheerleader

The best part of game day...the playground when the game was done!

Since Dave and I are off all summer we only put the kids in daycare part-time in order to spend more time with them but also keep them going to "school" which we feel is so very important at this stage

We were outside whenever we could be....something we miss SO MUCH when the snow flies and we are stuck indoors all winter long

Cousin LOVE

Outdoor DORA LIVE!

Can it GET much better????

Fwends

First little pony tail

We LOVE the Choo-Choo train at Storybook Gardens!

Awesome gift from Daddy!

STOMP ROCKETS!!!!

And a beautiful natural backdrop for a cousin's pre-wedding BBQ celebration

We often watched the bus pick-up and drop off the kids outside in May/June...it was always a highlight of Kippy's day

In the evening we would go for Jammie walks around the neighbourhood. There is an empty lot on our street we call "our spot" to get out and run around near the end of the walk.

Once in a while Jammie Walks included Bailey's on ice for Mama ;)

And pretty much ALWAYS included flowers for Mama

Every so often when we were feeling ambitious we would do our evening walk earlier and go for dinner at the local Pub

The VERY BEST is the nights where we had warm rain showers that we get to explore in and the puddles left behind...

So much time outdoors last spring also gave us the FULL "go ahead"for potty training. Although we had started much earlier, it wasn't until spring that he really went for it. I have to admit....tiny Calvin Kleins???
ADORABLE

And Kiptyn says that ponytails also help...

Canada Day is always a good time. Dave and I aren't working and have two wonderful months to be at home.
Canada is a great place to live!

We went FULL SPEED ahead on "Baby Led Weaning" and Maisy is a pro eater because of it

Carrots

Hands OFF of my STEAK!

Birdie pretty much eats ANYTHING at all

We found out very quickly that Maisy had a bad allergy to the protein in milk products.
Now that we have it figured out and that Epi-pens are on hand...this is the only kind of cheese she will be touching for a while

Sweet cousins holding my little chunker at the ALL You Can Eat Buffet!

LOVES her water!

And straws and ice

She even goes after things she isn't supposed to!

My bestie Colleen had a baby girl Kaitlyn. Although I am seirously behind on these blogs and just attended her first birthday party...here are some pics I took of baby Kaitlyn fresh from the womb.