Bits of Summer

I love the everyday feel of summertime around here. The kids are wearing me out, but in a good way.

Dexter Dexter Dexter these days. Everyone who says two is the hardest age lies. Big fat lies. He is so cute that I just want to squeeze him and never let go. At the same time I also want to lock myself in my bedroom and hide from him. Don't let this picture deceive you, this child never wears pants. Shirts are fine, but underwear and pants, forget it. The messes he makes are horrific, and I swear he is the worst cleaner I have ever met. But he melts me in a way that none of the others do. 

 There is a new local ice cream shop that is on the way to the pool. Coincidence?

 Little Emmy Lu ends up catching a nap whenever she can.

Weekend Trip to Richmond

Nate and I constantly talk about taking more weekend trips, but it doesn't happen often. We decided a week ago to spend the 4th of July in Richmond. It was a lot of fun, and I was surprised by how many things we found to do there. Nate was off work on Friday so we woke up early. We drove straight to Pony Pasture Park (well not straight there thanks to our GPS). The park is situated on the James River. It is pretty shallow and there are rocks peppered across the river. We packed our lunch and ate on the rocks. 

 Piper and Dexter stayed in this spot most of the day and collected rocks and shells.

 My little adventurer swam around and discovered all kinds of boulders and under water treats.

 His goal was to swim through as many rapids as he could.

 Emmy Ly got a little tired of being on the rocks so Nate found a little place for her to splash around.

On Saturday we went to Belle Isle and swam around there as well. It was a great mini vacation as the kids called it.

Botanical Gardens

We recently got a membership to the botanical gardens. It is a beautiful place to visit, and there is a lot for all of us to do. Nate's parents came to visit last weekend, and we went to the gardens for the day. 

 Emmy appreciated the fact that we remembered the stroller this time, but needed frequent breaks so she could crawl around.

 These two get along pretty well these days and it's a lot of fun to watch.

 There is a huge children's section in the garden. There are a lot of fountains and water areas for the kids to play in.

 Dex spent most of his time sitting on this frog. He is all about consistency these days.

 Little Loopers loved being in the water.

 Asher of course, takes every opportunity he can to climb something.

 I think we will have a lot of fun exploring this place.