Freetime at the airport ...

Tuesday, July 31:  How could it possibly be the LAST day of July already? Yikes. I hope August goes much slower ... and is much warmer too! 

I picked up the boys this morning and took Brendan to his swim lesson. Afterwards, since it was such an agreeable weather day, we went out to the airport viewing area and relaxed for awhile. I brought my Stomp Rockets and a few toy airplanes, as well as THREE paper airplanes to fly.

 Brendan was very good at blasting rockets. He went at it with all of his heart.

 I brought the beach ball too, but I didn't really envision it being a chair!

 We flew our paper airplanes for awhile, but it was a little bit too windy for them. They had a few good flights with some super loop-de-loops, but mostly they crashed and burned.

 Wee Aidan wasn't so sure about the airport noise at first--those jet engines can be a bit overwhelming; but he got used to it and then settled in to have a good time.

 ... but Aidan ALWAYS has a good time ... it is just how he is!

 Cuties!

Aidan tried his hand at blasting off rockets too. For 16.5 months, he did very well with the mechanics of it and was very pleased when he got one to blast off ... even if it was only a few feet.

 I loved every minute spent with these two dears today!

A full Monday!

Monday, July 30:  I picked the boys up at their house this morning at 7:30 AM! How's that for the first day of my LESS-tirement? I know you do not believe me, but I was HAPPY to do it--truly!

We came over to my house to play for the morning. Sometimes when Aidan is a little fussy, I plop him in his own little chair and give him stuff to do--which at least keeps him occupied until I can find some food for him that he is NOT allergic to and thereby feed his little tummy. Aidan is very playful and mechanical. He enjoyed this colorful chain for a long time while I was fixing him something to eat. 

 Brendan put together a few puzzles ... very sweetly too.

Aidan was walking by my tiny potbelly stove and ... stopped ... and went in for a closer look. He wanted to hear the music box, so I wound it up for him. He wanted to wind it too, so he did.

 Aidan actually took a NAP in my cozy bedroom on my soft, round, couch/chair. He slept for an entire hour ...

... so while Aidan was sleeping, Brendan made a water park for my PlayMobile camper people. We even had real water that they splashed in! It was very fun. Brendan was super pleased. Do you see the cardboard "box" on the near side of the playground? That was the hotel--"just like at the Great Wolf Lodge, Grandma!"

Aidan woke up and ate some apples and then some gluten-free pasta ...

... and then we drove over to the playground at Kaity's school (without Kaity-kins!).  It was perfect weather--not too hot--no rain ... so we played there for about an hour.

 This really is the nicest playground ...

Brendan enjoyed exploring everything here. Aidan too ... he is SO little though!

Look at Aidan copying everything Brendan was doing! 

AIDAN PAUL! You are the cutest little love of a baby!

The boys and I were invited to meet Dylan and Kelly downtown at SLOW'S for some bar-b-que dinner. YUM. They were treating me to celebrate my less-tirement.

 Baby Erin was there, soundly sleeping for most of the time ... until the food came and then Kelly "wore" her in a little snuggly vest, which Erin seemed to appreciate.

 Aidan and his beautiful mama ...

 Brendan drew a picture of our waterpark model so that he could show Kelly what it looked like.

Our meal was very delicious. It was fun to be with the kids and their parents ... so thankful for them.

Kaity-Jane's school playground!

Sunday, July 29:  This is Kaitlynn completely in her element. She is dynamite at a playground ... AND ... this is HER school playground. She knows ALL THE MOVES.

See that smile on Kaity's face? That's an honest-to-goodness joy-filled smile from this dear person. I love her so much. She was SO excited to show me all the stuff at her school playground. I am so happy to do this with her!

This is a very tall climbing wall for a lower-elementary age school! Kaity's school is a Readiness-K through Second grade school. Kaity tells me that ALL the kids climb on this stuff and are super fast and good at it.

These little "seats" spin if you tip your body a certain way ...

Look at the fish! Isn't it great?! Below is Kaity after climbing up its bones ...

What a great little playground! And this is only 1/3 of it!

This is Kaity, underneath the pirate ship, sitting on a little seat/swing, telling me all about her adventures on this playground. 

Kaity--Sea Captain extraordinare!

ARRGGHGHGHG! 

Kaity totally proved to me that she is a monkey -- look at her go on these monkey bars!

Kaity's endless energy (when outside) is amazing to me. She loves the outdoors. She loves to climb and swing and jump and skip and hop, etc. She is VERY athletic.

Look at the sweet kitty! We were playing with two other children, Abbie and Ollie. They live very close to the school playground. They told us that this was THEIR cat.

Kaity-Girl ... I am SO thankful for you. I love you just the way you are right now!

There were several monarchs that flew in circles around us. I was finally able to catch a picture of this one.

The pirate ship ...

Oh Kaity ... don't grow up SO fast, dear one.