Pool

This was the first night Melanie was in her swimmies by herself all evening.  It was great, and offered a level of independence since I had both the kids by myself.  The very next night, she declared that since now she knows how to swim with her swimmies, it's time to learn how on her own.  A GREAT mindset in general - but I was looking forward to some independence first :)

At Gigi & Poppy's pool, she can touch; so she is much more confident, and will jump in and swim all by herself.  She'll stop and put on her swimmies so she can practice kicking out behind her; and then take them off to see if she can sustain it.  Her own little swim instructor!

Playdate at the pool!

Joey trying to figure it all out

We are down at the pool nearly every evening; Melanie is really increasing in her confidence level, and Joey is just trying to keep up. He'll jump in if you're holding onto his hands, and he sometimes likes to be "dunked" over and over again.  Mostly he just likes to hoard his toys and not share them.  Melanie loves to jump in with her swimmies (doing "cannonballs"), touching the bottom with her toes.  She'll jump in on her own, and swim on her own, in small doses.  We're really enjoying the water!!

Random summer fun

Uncle Randy lit fireworks for our entertainment!

We went to see "Once Upon a Shoe," put on by the youth theater in Carmel

A day off of work/school; Mel and I went to the zoo for the day (I was vying for the water park - it was HOT.  She chose the zoo)

Hanging out

After the church carnival - with a ladybug on her face

Bedtime snuggling

Sparklers!

Family Reunion

The Doan/Starbuck family, roasting in Wilmington

Uncle John, David Gregory, and the granddaughter-in-law of Pop's sister.

The kids back in the hotel after a long, hot day and a cool-down in the pool

The last weekend in June, we headed to Wilmington, Ohio for a family reunion.  We reconnected with this branch of my Dad's family just last summer, when he, Uncle John, and I traveled to Wilmington to do some family "research."  We're so glad we re-made those connections, as they have supported Dad through his surgery, and participated in Pop Doan's induction to the Purdue Hall of Fame.  We had a great time getting to know more of the family, and having a little road trip of our own.

Welcome Home!

On their way across the border

The kids playing at Grandma & Papa's new house

The Worzala plan to infiltrate Indiana is nearly complete - if only we could get Rick, Sandy & Becky to the state!  Ron & Diane (aka Grandma & Papa) moved to Carmel in June, and we're thrilled to have them here!  By mid-July they will have had all four of their grandkids overnight at least once - so you can tell we have big plans for them!  Their house (they built) is gorgeous, and is 20 minutes from us, I think 25 minutes from the Fishers Worzalas.  Welcome home, Grandma & Papa!

Happy Father's Day

Gigi & Poppy came for dinner on Father's Day - a fun, low-key day

Happy Father's Day!

Mid-June Update

Weston's Summer Party - Having fun in the Bounce House!

Water Slide @ Weston's Summer Party 

Cousins resting between backyard pool trips

Joey gaining courage to visit Tom's cat

Kids playing at neighborhood pool

West Park.  While it appears Mel is terrified, this was a split-second after they were both having a blast

Kids playing at West Park (Joey and Mel are two on the right).  Joey's quotes for the evening included "I's SWIMMIN, Mommy!" and "I LIKE this!!"

The kids enjoying their first trip to Yo-Joy's

I haven't been taking many pictures lately - or keeping my blog updated - so I'll just do a photo dump here, and hopefully it will show the kids when they're old enough to care that we really did do some fun things when they were little :)  We're still going to our Wednesday night playgroup about every other week, and rarely spend evenings indoors.  After our trip to West Park on Tuesday, Melanie requested to spend Wednesday evening indoors because she didn't want the sun to make her hot.  A promise of an evening in the backyard with Grace Z changed her mind, and the sprinklers were brought out and the Pop-its were everywhere.

Grandma & Papa Worzala are moving to town next weekend, and the kids (and their parents!) are looking forward to having them in town and seeing them frequently!  We already have their first overnight planned for mid-July!

SUMMERTIME!

Over Memorial Day weekend, we set up a waterpark in Randy & Cory's backyard, with a slip and slide, a pool at the bottom of the playset slide, and this monster.  The kids had a blast! 

Down by the neighborhood pond

We had a great Memorial Day weekend!  We spent Friday night at Randy & Cory's with Ron & Diane.   The waterslide picture above indicates what our Saturday was spent doing!  We then went to a graduation party, and then Jeff & Mel hit the neighborhood pool for the first of many summer visits.  Sunday was spent in Gigi & Poppy's pool and our backyard pool, and Monday was spent back at the neighborhood pool.  It was a gorgeous weekend, and a great start to the summer!