Fried

Laura, Jack and I went to the waterpark today. We went with my friend Jennifer and her sons Kyle and Josh. And we picked the day that had the highest UV rating of the year and the hottest with temps over 100. I walked away from the place after five hours a fried lobster, despite the fact that I applied sunscreen three times! Of course, my two naturally tanned and bronze kids did not burn nearly as bad as I did.

Anyway, this year, Jack is finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger slides. He was so scared walking up the steps to the roller coaster slide and was practically begging me not to go on the thing, but I knew he would love it once he got on it. And of course he did. I think his exact expression after splashing down the slide was "That was Totally Awesome!" and we had to do it again.

But it was a fun day for all. But I really don't need to be in the sun again for awhile.

Took The Other Option

So I opted out of the fishing/boat trip today. I actually woke up with a scratchy throat and went "uh oh" and decided that I just better stay off the boat today. It has been the most relaxing day I have probably spent in the last four years. Since I really do not feel well, I decided to just not look at my floors with the dust bunnies who now have grandchildren dust bunnies and relax today. I did have to force myself to go to Walmart to get a birthday present for Allison, our neighbor. Her birthday party is tomorrow. She is going to be five and from what I saw of the big preparations going on in their backyard, it is going to be one huge party. I will definitely take pictures. I just hope that Jack doesn't streak through their house like he did last year at her fourth birthday party! Yes, he ran fully naked through their house after he went swimming in the little pool. I always tell people that Allison had a stripper at her fourth birthday party.

Anyway, back to the fishing trip. I do not believe that Jack has ever been this excited about anything in his short life. I think this even tops Disneyworld! He jumped right out of bed this morning at 6:00 am ready for the day of fishing. I heard him yell "hey Uncle Bailey, we're going fishing today!" And he was so cute today when I saw him walk out carrying his little tackle box wearing the hat that he proclaimed was his "fishing hat". He really is growing up so fast. They really have a great day with blue skies and lots of sunshine. Of course, Jim being a Dad and a man, left the sunscreen home, even after I put it out on the counter for him to take with them with explicit instructions to lather Jack up every other hour. I am just hoping that Jim has the good sense to keep the boy under the roof of the Pontoon boat, or the boy is going to be one fried little boy when they get home! But even with that, I am sure Jack is having the time of his life.

The Last Day

Today was the last day of school for Jack. He graduated from K3 and got a diploma and everything to prove it. The plan was to have a "water day" today for all the kids in K3 and K4 with water slides and jumpy houses. All the kids were told to come to school today wearing swim suites and armed with towels and sunscreen. However, Mother Nature decided to cancel those plans with a massive thunderstorm planned for this morning. I woke to the sound of thunder and a lot of rain and knew that I was going to have one disappointed kid on my hands today. For the past week, all the kids have been about to jump out of their skins with excitement over the water day, only to have it cancelled. I guess it is just the first of many disappointments in their lives.

They did set up the non-water jumpy houses in the gym and had a play day all day and by the time it was all over, the kids forgot about the original plans. When it came time to say goodbye, everybody got a bit teary-eyed. Mrs. Nix gave Jack a huge hug and I could tell she was fighting back the tears while doing so. She was a great teacher and there is a small chance that she might be moving up to teach K4 next year so I am hoping that Jack gets her again next year.

Oh yeah and I am proud to say that my son was one of the few kids in the class that did not have to have a spanking this year. The school does have a spanking policy and if the teacher feels the child needs a spanking, then they are taken into the principal's office and the parents are called in to do the deed. Jack never had to do that this year, even though he had his share of time-outs. There was one little boy, Tanner, who was in the Principal's office more than he was anywhere else. I asked his mother the other day how many times she had to come in for a spanking and she said that she lost count after 10 or so!!! But the thing is, she never felt her son had ever done anything wrong, even when I saw him do some pretty horrible things in front of me. He never listened nor took any direction. To him, rules are not important and I could tell from talking to his Mom that she felt the same way. One time, she asked me how I got Jack to be so good and I just told her that he had plenty of swats on the butt when he was younger and he has boundaries and he knows them. She looked at me like I was talking a foreign language. I think Mrs. Nix had a very long year because of that child.

So now I have to come up with stuff to entertain the boy this summer. I am sure that we will be going to the pool a lot and the water park and the beach. I also plan to take advantage of the area churches vacation bible schools. Along with the one at our church, which I will be helping with, I plan to send him to the one at his school and maybe one other one. It is free and keeps him busy for a couple hours a day for a week. So what are some of the other mother's doing this summer to keep their kids entertained? It sure seems like a full-time job to me.

Yep It Is August

It is soooo hot and humid here right now. Yesterday it hit over 100 and the humidity was give or take a bit right around 5000%. My hair? Has not been straight and without friz since May. I gave up on in a long time ago. And last night, Jack and I went walking with our neighbors and after an hour of walking, we all were drenched in sweat. Literally. And it wasn't because of the hard walk we were doing since we had two three-year-olds with us, no it was because of the ungodly oven that we presently live in. And when we got home from the walk, all of our windows were steamed up and could not see through them. Yes it is hell here.

I am thinking it is too hot even to go swimming at the moment! That is hot.

Pictures - The Room, The Pool

The girl's room. It really shows up pink in these pictures. Almost hurts your eyes. Laura and I are still discussing what we are going to do with the green paint. Right now, she wants to paint circles of all different sizes. Will post more pictures when that is done.

Also notice the reflection on the wall from her mirror that is on her bed. Laura and I could not figure out what that was in the picture. Her Dad walks up and says "oh its the mirror reflection." Duh. Yeah we felt stupid.

We went to the pool this morning. It was totally gross. There were about 6 dead frogs floating in the water, probably from the huge rain storm we had last night. Anyway, the girl would not go in the water until I had fished them all out. I guess I had to do the mother thing and de-frog the pool. After all frogs were gone, the two fishes had a fun time.

After Jim goes to bed because he has to work tonight, I am thinking about taking the kids to the beach. It isn't miserably hot today (again thanks to the rain storm) and it would be a good beach day. Ahhh tis the life. Pool, beach, fun in the sun. Tough life here.

Got a Girl

Well we got the girl. Of course, it couldn't happen without some drama enfolding. Her plane was delayed from California because of the bad weather in Texas, which meant that she was not going to make her connections in Houston. After a lot of drama with her mother and all, she finally got into New Orleans last night at 10:30, only 3 hours late. We didn't get home until 12:30, but Jack was soooo super duper excited to have his Sissy that he was practically bouncing off the walls. He did not want to go to bed when we got home, but I told him that "it was so late, it was early."

We started off today by going to the water park. Laura and her Dad went off to do the really big slides, including the water roller coaster, while Jack and I stayed in the kiddie pool area and the kiddie slides. Truth be told, the slides in the the kiddie area are quite enough for me. In fact one that Jack can't ride by himself yet, but can go with me, is quite fast and twisty turny enough for me. But I am sure, by the end of the summer, my courage will be worked up enough to go on the water roller coaster. Maybe.

But we all had fun and got home just before the big storm came through the area. It is the same storm that was holding Laura up yesterday in flying. I was invited to a Southern Living home party tonight, but am thinking about not going. Our road is basically one big river at the moment and not really into boating to the party. So a quiet night at home watching the downpour is in store.

The Countdown is Over

Today is the day. The day that we in the Jackaroo house have been looking forward to for weeks. It is the day that Laura/Sissy gets here from California. Seriously, Jack has been missing his sister so much, that it just about breaks my heart. He mentions her every single day. And for the past six weeks or so, we have been counting down the weeks and then the days. Every morning when he wakes up, he said "Sissy gets here in 3 weeks/days". And today is the day we go to pick her up from the New Orleans airport.

And if all goes well, she very well maybe staying through the school year. I am hoping and praying that is the case. It would be so good for her and Jack and Jim and I to have her here with us as a family. Of course, this all has to be okayed by her mother (the wicked witch of the west) and negotations are still continuing on that front. But I think there is a good chance that we will be enrolling her into sixth grade here in Mississippi. Yay!

And speaking of Mississippi, it is HOT and HUMID. Oh my gosh people! When at 6:30 this morning, I am outside admiring my rose bushes, I have sweat rolling off of me. There is something just plain wrong about that. I knew moving to Mississippi would mean hot and humid summers, but this is ridiculous. Enough already. Problem is, it isn't even officially summer yet! I am in trouble.

Today's Life Lesson

Never let your three-year-old be the one to rub the suntan lotion on your back.

After 2 1/2 hours in the pool this afternoon, my back looks very much like a lobster. Ouchie. I didn't have anybody to do my back and so I told Jack to rub it all over. Um not such a good job. Oh well. We had fun. We were joined by our neighbors and Jack had fun splashing with Allison. Even with this being the first time in a pool this year, he was so not afraid of the water. In fact, he had to be lifted out about 78 times in order to jump back in. He is my little Jack fish.

Fun In The Sun

Summer in Gulfport, Mississippi. It is hot. It is humid. It is miserable. I am not looking forward to the humidity. I am really not sure what is worse - the California heat of 110 + degrees (it was 114 the day we moved) or the Mississippi humidity of 90 degree heat with 5000% humidity. I am learning toward the humidity as being worse. We shall see.

I do have a couple of plans in force to beat the heat AND the boredom of having two kids with me ALL SUMMER LONG with NO SCHOOL. (I think I may become a proponent of year-long-school.) The first of these plans is the community swimming pool. It is a short walk away from our house. It is really not that big and I have a feeling that it will be crowded with having over 100 homes in this neighborhood and one small pool. But it is a way to cool off and it is free! Free is always good.

The second of these plans is not so free. It is the water park that is only 10 minutes away. It is a really cool (hehe get it cool) waterpark with all the slides, wave pool, toddler splash area, and my favorite - the lazy river where you just float down on an inner tube. And now we get to go all summer long as many times as we want! I just bought tickets for a season pass for all four of us. I figure if we go more than 3 times, it will pay for itself. I have a feeling that we just might be there more than three times a week!