A New Pool, and a Family BBQ

Carson loves to play in the water.  I remember many, many evenings last year that we spent at the pool, and his love for water then.  I was excited to see if this year held the same story.  And sure enough, it does! 

We have gone to the pool many times, he goes a lot with daycare, he loves to play in the pool and hose in our backyard, and loves the river.  That's my boy....with a love for water. 
The Friday before last, I set up a play date with a friend of mine at a "new" pool.  Carrie has a daughter who is just over a year old, and she loves to play in the water.  So, we scheduled a little pool date at the Grundy pool.  I had never been to that pool before, but heard it was a lot of fun.  We gave it a shot, and I instantly fell in love!  It isn't chaotic like a lot of other pools I have been to, there are activities for all age levels, a slide Carson can help himself down, and a no-depth section....which equals a perfect pool for us.

Carson had so much fun that day playing with everything.  He always has his buckets to play with, and is entertained for the longest time with them.  He climbed up the slide, and slid down a hundred times, filled his bucket and dumped it out a thousand times, and displayed a smile the entire stay.  He played hard, and it showed.  After about 2 hours of playing, he sat on my lap to enjoy a snack.  About 5 minutes later he was zonked out, and enjoyed a little cat nap on the full-length chair at the pool. 

That Saturday morning, we had another little friend/cousin date, and made our way to Sarah and Joel's to have some fun with the kiddos.  Carl was scheduled to play in a golf tournament, so we thought it would be fun to find something to do while he was gone.  While we were there, we decided to walk to the marsh, and let the kids have fun throwing rocks into the water.  Who would have thought such activity would be so much fun? 

If you know Carson, you know that he gets "attached" to different toys very easily.  If he finds a toy he likes, he guards and protects it like it's his own.  He doesn't share that toy very well, and gets rather defensive of it.  While we were at the Kalkwarfs', he found this mower, and took to it right away.  He pushed it everywhere, including all the way to the marsh and back.  It made for a long trip, believe me.  But we made it there and back, the kids almost all got clocked in the head a few times from rocks being thrown, and we somehow walked away from the scene accident free.

Our weekend continued on, and my Grandma Sally was making her way to Iowa for a few days, and was due to arrive in the area on Sunday afternoon.  So, we had a family BBQ to get everyone together to see her.  It was so much fun! 

This would be Weston and his Cousin Kaylee.  What a cute pair!

The 3 youngest babes in the family.  I have a feeling these little kiddos are going to have so much fun growing up together. 

Carson and Zoey had so much fun playing together that night.  They used to go to daycare together, and I think they picked up right where they left off....over a year ago.  There is over a 2 year gap in age between these two, and that doesn't matter one bit to them.  Isn't there so much beauty to be found in little souls? 

I was a little nervous for this family get together, as Carson already had a big and tiring day under his belt.  He was going on no nap, and we had spent the entire afternoon at the Grundy pool.  We went right from the pool to Aunt DiDi's house.  But, he surprised us all with his energetic, and happy self.  I was shocked, and pleasantly surprised.  We had a few mis-haps, but nothing out of the ordinary for our going on 3 year old :) 

Natalie was the lifeguard on duty that night.  I didn't get a picture of her pointing her finger at the kids, but that is exactly what she was doing.  Pair that with her cute little jibber-jabber, and you have one adorable little lifeguard! 

The Grandmas of the evening did what they do best--loved on the little ones.  My boys love it, and so do I. 

The kids played outside in the water for the longest time, babies got passed around, we had great conversations, and everyone enjoyed the beautiful Summer evening.  I am loving all that this Summer has to offer.  We are making memories like you wouldn't believe, and I wouldn't trade that for the world.  There is no greater thing than spending time with family.  What a wonderful weekend!