Monday, Monday

I braided Melanie's hair at 5 this morning.  She accompanied Jeff, Papa Ben and the big kids on an outing in the mountains.  Horses were in the plan.  And fish.

Jane was the first little kid up.  She sat outside and watched the hummingbirds.

Ben entertained himself with a flashlight for a long time.

Luke built a tall tower with my magnets.

Jane and Julia had the same breakfast: a bagel, hot chocolate in a cat mug, and marshmallows.

Nathan asked for hot chocolate with his cereal.

I was distracted during breakfast by the hummingbirds.

I sat with the kids at the table, not my normal place, and was enchanted with their activity.

I have all summer to learn how to take pictures of these birds.

This is a Rufus.

After breakfast, we went to the pool.  I asked Luke to do a trick for me.

Nate and Luke always have plenty of fun together.

These 3 kids are pretending that they are on an island.

Nate left of his own volition.  He wasn't voted off.

Luke quickly joined him.  It was in the low 70s this morning.

Jane swam all over the pool.

Ben spent some time watching trucks on a nearby lot.

Today was the first time Mom saw him swim.

She was pretty pleased.

At one point Ben ran off.  We called him back, but he knew what he was doing -- chasing an errant ball.

The boys, all three of them, are calling to Julia.

She ignored them.

It was hilarious watching these three swim and play together.

After a while, the kids were freezing, so we went down to the hot tub.  The water felt scalding.

Luke worked himself in pretty quickly.

Ben got in so he could swim.  We finally had to go home.

I tended for part of the afternoon.  I let Ben drive in the house, but not down the stairs.

I am liberal with computer usage, especially Animal Jam.

These two intently played together.

The magnets came out again.

Kung Fu Panda 3 arrived today.  This worked well during Ben's naptime.

After dinner, we went on a walk.

Ben's scooter soon became stuck in the mountains.

The evening was beautiful.

Clever Luke climbed down the bank onto some huge rocks.

Rocks and water.  Perfect!

Julia and Ben joined them.

Not Nate.  He was having too much fun throwing rocks.

Luke is such a good kid.  He made sure Ben was safe.

Ben likes the water.

Jane had to throw a few rocks.

Julia was the last one to leave.

The boys hunted for more excitement.

More rocks!

Rocks are made for jumping.  So are little boys.

The evening was perfect for clowning around.

Jane made a wish on the way home.

Ben found a few more sprinklers to race through.

The mountaineers came in after 9.  Ben said their day was "Fantastic!"