monkey joes

Monday morning we joined a BUNCH of our friends at Monkey Joe's.  I'd never heard of it before but WHAT A FUN PLACE! We were even able to get a playgroup rate so it was even better! (Adults are free)

As you can see below, its a BIG place with a bunch of inflatables perfect for sliding, climbing, and bouncing. The kids had a blast! The only stipulation is that they need to be in socks, otherwise they make you BUY socks there.

 They even had a couple inflatables especially for kids 4 and younger.

This one below is one of them. Jackson is on a sea monster or sea dinosaur. You can see a snail in the background too, etc.

This shot is a double slide (one set of steps and slide on each side of the palm tree). You climb up one side and slide down the other.

Like I said, there are a couple inflatables specifically for littler ones, but they could go on any of the others, its just that they're a little more involved and more apt to be bounced around by the bigger ones.

The slide below on the right, Jackson climbed up a couple times but for some reason never slid down, he ended up walking back down the steps backwards. But the shot below this one is of the slide on the left. Later he tried that one and did that over and over again. Goofy boy.

See the cute Monkey Joe in this shot? It was a cool place. Lots of bright colors and such, very clean. They use a special Swisher cleaner on all the inflatables and kill 99.9% of germs (hopefully).

Alivia was coming down the slide as I stood there ready with my camera. I asked her to pause for a picture and this is the look she gave me.  :P This one's a ham!

Jax and his sweet little cousin A were climbing up and over these walls on their way to the slide, but as he neared the slide, he changed his mind and back over the walls he went to get out.

Lil' Levi was an angel for me, as usual.  He's such a good boy. He was smilin' at ALL the ladies, despite being SO tired. I thought this was a funny shot of him laying on my lap with his little hand under his chin and fingers in his mouth. (He's working on getting his TOP teeth now! Slow down boy!) Of course, he fell asleep once we got in the car.

This one shows Alivia climbing. Notice the guard in the black and white keeping the kids safe. There was at least one at each station, aside from the 4 and under ones (the parents' of the kiddos playing were watching over those). 

I'm so glad we went. It was about a half hour drive through pretty countryside (I went the back way because that's what GOOGLE Maps had me do. Yet, when I touched it to chart our way home it told me to take the freeway.  Why is that?)

It was a fun time. The kids were great.  They were exhausted, hungry and thirsty by the time we left but I'd prepared for that.  We will definitely come back!

I had to include this. The morning we were getting ready to go. Alivia asked how long it was going to take? I told her a half hour (or so). Then she went over to the table, got out her paper and crayons and wrote up this map. (I think that's what it is.) See- it says half hour, in the middle is a compass, and below is the place we're headed. I think it's her version of a GPS. Pretty cute. Of course it inspired Jackson to make one too. Mommy helped and he colored it in. And, as we drove up, they were both in the back, holding their maps as to help me find my way. :) Thanks guys.

miss curls

I can't help but document these gorgeous CURLS! We did her hair in sponge rollers Saturday night for church on Sunday. Aren't they gorgeous?!

And I even used the BIG pink ones, not the little ones and they still sprung her hair up to her shoulder tops!

By the end of the day, they'd relaxed a bit and were just about perfect.

It was funny- throughout the day you could notice she had a little extra bounce in her step. :) She liked feeling them bounce along with her. Pretty little lady.

this and that

These are some random shots of what's been going on...

Last week we drove over and visited our cousins.  This is most of them, having a Tootsie Pop before we headed back.  **Notice the boys and their "football eyes make-up". This is our solution for when the girls want to play make-up. Aunt S got out the eyeliner and gave the boys football eyes.  Jax loves it! Very clever!

Alivia and I taking some shots with the forward-facing camera in my phone.

I just can't get enough of this little one. He's SO pudgy and kissable and SWEET!

JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE!!

Jax is starting preschool this fall. This one morning we went in and had a playdate. It was cool, just to go in and get him familiar with the room, bathroom, all the toys and other cool things.

He was proud of the bear necklace he made. He also REALLY enjoyed the tools and workbench they have to play with and the mountain race track for racing cars. It's going to be pretty fun!

Doesn't he just look like a big boy?!

way back in May...

Somehow I forgot to finish this post and post it.  Better late than never!

These were just some little moments around the house.

The kids were playing with the water table when a WATER FIGHT broke out! They had a GREAT time dumping water on each other and seeing how far they could throw it.

They got soaked! And LOVED it!

We topped it off with some Lemonade popsicles. Mmmmm...

Often I put Levi in my front pack while I vacuum (it's not an easy feat, but it counts for a workout while I vacuum). He's generally pretty happy and content to be in here, but after a while I noticed he seemed extra heavy. And this is why- bless his heart. He'd fallen asleep like this! However uncomfortable it looks I guess it is possible. Don't worry. I carefully took him out and laid him down in his crib to sleep.

Levi is VERY ticklish, like Mommy, and he loves it when Daddy tickles him. This is one such instance. I wish the pictures had the audible giggles to go with them. I love watching, seeing, and hearing him laugh!

early July festivities

Sometime in either late June or early July, we had a water party at our friends house. We had a picnic, a slip-n-slide, a wading pool, water table, squirt guns (I think), and SUN! It was a really fun day. Here are most of the kids; they were able to squeeze in together for a shot. It was a fun FUN day!

No 4th of July would be complete without a day of swimming at Pap & Grandma's, grillin', and fireworks to end the day. We had quite the assortment of fireworks this year and even Levi stayed up for them!

  Alivia is quite the artist, at least I think she is. This is her portrayal of our 4th of July festivities, complete with the night sky, fireworks, grandma and cousins. :) Love it.