It's rather warm here in Alabama

This week the forecast has been pretty brutal in Birmingham. It's not Texas-hot, but it's close.

The boys and I went to Target on Sunday afternoon to see what they had on sale in the Clearance section with regard to Beat-the-Heat items. Turns out, they had a 6x6-foot inflatable pool for 30 percent off.

We were on that like the white on rice.

And it wasn't ONE BIT FRUSTRATING that it took more than three hours for me to blow it up once we got home. Nope. Not one bit.

Once it was FINALLY ready to be filled up with water, the boys jumped in it when it only had about an inch in it. They couldn't wait.

There was a lot of horseplay and even some anger ... I can't imagine WHY anyone would be angry, because when I said for everyone to dump water on his own head, SOMEONE might have leaned over and dumped it on his BROTHER'S head, instead.

But the majority of the playtime was happy and pleasant.

I was sitting at the table beside the pool, so I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Even with bug spray on, I am catnip to mosquitoes.

The boys, however, were perfectly happy and apparently bug-proof in the pool.

I ultimately decided that not only was I being eaten by bugs, but I was also in danger of getting drenched to the bone by the splashing.

They were throwing plumes of water sky-high, and each plume came down in an arc that was getting way too close for comfort.

I decided to take my last few pictures from the safety of the kitchen. Can you see how wet the deck is?

Every square inch of the deck was wet within minutes.

And of course it was only a matter of time until Jakey discovered that the hose was a FANTASTIC water weapon.

 Luckily by that point, everyone was soaked to the bone and didn't really care about a few more drops.

They went on like that for a couple of hours, and it's a big treat to have it set up right outside the back door so they can pop in for 30 minutes when we come in from school in the evenings.

The way the weather runs here in Alabama, we may well get to use this into early October!

Indoor fun and games. And stressors. And meltdowns.

Grayson flew to Minneapolis on business early Sunday afternoon, so I took the boys to an indoor play place about 30 minutes away to spend a couple of hours. We'd never been before, so I wasn't sure how successful a venture it would be.

After checking in, we first headed over to the treehouse area, which was a really tall play area. I think when I took this picture, Jake was somewhere inside that tree. (I apologize in advance for the pictures; these were all taken with my phone!)

The big tree connected to the rest of the playset, which was surrounded by metal screening. I liked the screen, because it provided a barrier, but I could still see the boys and keep track of them as they ran around in there. Sort of. Because they were in there when I took this picture, but I have no idea where.

Oh ... there came Nick and Jake.

After they'd played in the play area for a while, we moved over to the arcade games. Those cost money, so I didn't want to exclusively do that all afternoon. They each had a prepaid card that had $15 on it, and I told them that when the money ran out, there was no more where that came from.

Jake wanted to try the Batman mallet game. The mallet weighed as much as he does.

The big boys really wanted to move on to Skeeball, and it was just a little stressful for me because -- as you can see in the background -- it was pretty crowded in there. I needed us to all stay together, because I knew that it would only take a few seconds for us to get separated. I wanted to be able to see them at all times.

So, we went to Skeeball. The big boys were thrilled! Wait. What's that thing on the ground behind Nicholas? Oh, no worries. THAT'S JUST MY 3-YEAR-OLD HAVING A MELTDOWN, IS ALL.

Luckily it only lasted as long as it took for another lane to open up. THEN he was pleased as punch.

I did end up allowing the big boys to stick to Skeeball while I took Mr. Fussypants Who Has To Have His Way over to the motorcycle race ride. (Skeeball was about 10 feet behind us. And I made Nicholas and Nathaniel promise to stay together.)

After their prepaid cards ran out of funds AND we'd established that I'd been telling the truth when I'd said that there would be no replenishing of the money, the big boys went together up to the front desk to redeem their tickets for "prizes." And when they came back, they were worried because Jake and I had shifted about 10 feet to the left of where we'd been, and Nick and Nathaniel couldn't find us right away.

It was about this time that I wondered if all the flop sweat in which I was covered from the stress of a very crowded, new-to-us place was worth it.

I said, "No more separating. All together from now until the time we leave." So the big boys got to watch Jake go through his last $3 like it was water.

All in all, with Grayson gone and many hours to kill, it was an okay experience. But it would have been MUCH more enjoyable if I'd had a second pair of eyes with me.

24x24: Saturday, July 20, 2011

Smith Lake with Lisa, Honor and their families

Saturday the big boys and I got up really early and headed up to the lake. Shortly thereafter, we were out on the boats!

Lisa, Honor and I headed out on the pontoon boat with a couple of the kids so we could watch all the "action" on the ski boat -- the other kids were with Mike and Doug on the ski boat. Doug tried surfing behind the boat and did a great job.

We chilled out on the pontoon and enjoyed the boat. Including Gates the Wonderdog.

There was a LOT of tubing going on.

The kids were great about taking turns.

After a few hours on the boat, we came back for lunch and some swimming off the dock.

My boys couldn't wait to practice flipping and diving off the float.

Josh and DJ get a lot of practice, and they are very accomplished and enthusiastic flippers!

Nathaniel got more comfortable flipping the more he practiced.

Smiles were in plentiful supply all day.

After lunch we headed back out on the pontoon boat and rode about half an hour to a cliff-jumping point we'd been to several times before. Nathaniel wasted no time jumping off from the highest point.

DJ followed suit.

Nicholas started off on the lower side.

He jumped off that point several times, eventually moving up to the highest point.

When we'd finished there, we moved just around the bend to a place we'd never been before. Some friends had told Lisa about a 35- to 40-foot cliff that people were jumping off of, so we headed over there. Daredevil Doug was the first to take the plunge.

And THEN, Nathaniel followed suit. I was nervous, but we'd checked the depth and it was plenty deep. Still, I was holding my breath.

It was a long,

long, long, LONG way down!

DJ, Josh and Hannah all took turns, too!

But I think Nathaniel took more turns than anyone else. He didn't want to quit!

Such a fun, fun day, and I was completely exhausted at the end of it. We headed back to Birmingham around 10:00 that night, and I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Fun with friends FTW!


24x24 is a series posted at totally irregular and unpredictable intervals. I invite you to participate anytime you'd like! Simply post 24 pictures from a 24-hour time period. You can just post the pictures alone, caption them, put a time stamp on each one ... whatever you'd like. If you'd like to write a 24x24 post of your own, grab the button at the top right of my blog and come back and let me know when you've published your post. I'd love to visit!

I've got it on Repeat

I am obsessed with the Brad Paisley/Carrie Underwood duet Remind Me. First of all, they’re probably my favorite male and female country singers, and second of all, it’s a catchy tune.

I also love the video. They are beautiful people (well, she’s beautiful and he plays the guitar and is hilariously funny, which gives him a pass on the sometimes-sketchy facial hair), and while she out-sings him on this song, I can’t think of many men who could hold their own against her pipes.

Enjoy.