Summer Fun

I know I've fallen a bit behind but the days aren't long enough for what we do....As you can see from the slide show below...we have been spending most of our time at the pool/park. The boys have both completed 2 levels each of swimming lessons this summer. Payton is doing well and Gavin can go off the boards by himself. Olivia LOVES going off the board as well and she calls it the little high dive. She's a character. On Monday the 21st Gavin fell from the climbing thing in the picture with him. He said he was all the way at the top and I was over lap swimming at the time so I didn't see. He and Payton play there (you can see it from in the pool) while I swim. Up until that day, things had been pretty routine and uneventful...but you know the boys...(GAVIN) We didn't have to go to the ER (luckily) and he just mainly knocked the wind out of himself. The chiropractor checked him out and he was back to unstoppable the next day....Thus far (knock on all the wood in the world) I haven't had to take him to the hospital. I have a feeling that day will come!! The boys have been playing outside and practicing with their bows. We've lost a few arrows to the trees, which I'm sure we will get back when the leaves fall. We went to Music in the Park (which is exactly what the name implies) and had a good time. The kids ate too much and we heard Ashlee Hewitt off of Nashville Star perfom. She is a local from Lancaster, MN. She and her sister tried out as a duet but only she went through...those of you who watch may know who I'm talking about...anyway, she was good and it was fun!
We had a little thunderstorm today but it cleared off nicely for family swim. Olivia is begging my attention so I will post again later. Love you all!!

Summer Fun in the Park

Summer Time and the 4th of July

The last few weeks have been busy here for us...I came home from AK to tons of hugs and kisses. Everyone survived and Kevin did a wonderful job. He did mention that he does not want to become a stay at home dad anytime in the near future. I will have to be taking yearly alone vacations to remind him of that. lol. So I came home from some freezing 60 degree rain in AK to, as you see in the picture Kevin took in the car, some scorching hot sunny weather. This was the day I came home I think. Obviously this wasn't the temp outside it was more like 85, but Kevin still has that cold AK blood inside his veins and anything above 68 is burning hot. The children and I have acclimatized nicely and LOVE the heat. I must clarify that statement and add that in ND there is always a breeze so 85 is hot but nice with the wind blowing.

Kevin's parents arrived soon after I got home and spent 6 days with us. It was nice to see them and the kids had fun. We went to the Japanese Garden, Sertoma, in Grand Forks and I tried my best to get a picture of the kids LOOKING at the CAMERA. Olivia is not so cooperative. It was a nice little park, not really what I expected, but we had a nice walk.

Payton showed us his skills on the monkey bars. He is getting so strong!!

The boys also got Bow and Arrow sets. They have a blast outside shooting at the amazing target their dad made. (Thanks dad!!) No one has been injured (yet) and I do hope to keep that record. We explained all the rules, you know, don't point at people, only shoot at the target, no shooting animals unless you are going to eat it (Alexander/Ruhl clan cabin rule!) and in doing so I was pretty sure we wouldn't have any boys wanting to shoot the birds. Well Gavin did ask if we could shoot a bird to which I replied, you will have to eat it. To which he replied that's okay it will taste good. Another backfire....but he still hasn't shot a bird. Please oh please if there is any mercy left for me. I don't want to clean and cook a finch!!

Then on July 3rd we headed down to Grand Forks to spend the night. On the morning of the 4th we did the Firecracker 5K (as a family). This was really my first time completing a 5K with the family and I must admit it will probably be my last until they are all able to complete it without complaining...It was crazy. First the heat was insane for 3 small children and one large!! (Love ya Kevin).. by 8 am it was already in the mid 70's and we had 3.1 miles to go. We started off well and about .2 miles in Gavin started in on how he wanted a shoulder ride and Olivia ended up on Kevin's shoulders. Then Payton kept telling me how not fun the whole thing was all while I tried to smile and tell them what a fun time we were having and how great it would be when we finished. Now this is NOT the first time my kids have walked this kind of distance. Actually we do 4-5 miles often, but it was the first time on about 6 hours of sleep in 70 degree weather...even the prospect of the donuts and powerade at the end didn't entice them. We DID finish, LAST for the 5K and probably near the end of the 10K runners. But....WE FINISHED as a family. Not the worst experience of my life.....but probably not the most fun!

Here are the kids with their participant ribbons. The sun was out as you can tell from the hiding eyes!!

So after I tortured my family in the morning we headed back to the hotel for a nap. 2 1/2 hours later (It was bliss) we awoke and headed downtown to the 4th festivities. We slept through the parade (oh darn! lol) but made it in time for the 85 degree walk around some expensive (worse than the state fair) food vendors. We had some lemonade, a funnel cake and some crazy foot long hot dogs for Gavin and Olivia. There were these air rides on the park strip that the kids wanted to try so we headed over and I figured we would be paying a small fortune for some relief from the children but to my surprise..pleasant surprise...the bouncy rides were FREE!!! They were taking donations for a new special needs playground they are putting in at Sertoma (see above). The boys bounced and bounced and bounced and Olivia stayed with Kevin and I. Then we found the water slide. Needless to say the boys ended up wet and Olivia just watched.

Here's Payton going down!


Here's Gavin!

And here is Olivia....holding the shoes!

Later that night, around 10, we headed down to the river and watched the fireworks. Olivia was terrified of the noise and supprisingly fell asleep in the car but the boys had a blast watching the fireworks. It has been a long time since I've seen fireworks like this and I don't think the boys have ever since up in AK it's never this dark on July 4th. Not the best picutures but they were wonderful.

Today it is storming and we had some thuunder and lightening. No swimming today but starting tomorrow we are due back in the 70-80 weather....can't wait!

Love YA!