Even though these pictures are a month old now, I still wanted to put them up on the blog! In August when we had a heat wave come through it finally felt hot enough to want to go swimming.  I didn't attempt going to the pool very often with the kids this year (ok, just once and that was with Blake along) because handling 2 kids who didn't know how to swim and being pregnant at the same time did not sound fun! Luckily our friend, Danielle, offered for us to go swimming sometime at her parent's backyard pool in Lincoln.  We could never find a weekend that would work out, so we decided to go during the week without husbands along.  It worked out really well, and both Brooks and Keely had fun! Brooks was very timid as he always is around pools, but he did let me take him off the steps and work on kicking feet and floating a little.  He even let Danielle's mom (who has taught swimming lessons for years) take him out a little too.  We will get him used to it yet! Keely did good in an intertube floatie, but she liked being just held onto much better!

Brooks spent most of his time on the steps, but it was at least a good step area for him to do that!

 

Here are Brooks and Keely with Danielle's little girl, Bria.  Keely and her are about 7 months apart in age.

 Keely liked snack time...I think she was getting really tired by this point!

 

 I think Brooks had just as much fun playing with buckets of water on the side of the pool as he did in the pool!

 

 

 

The three kids all done swimming and drying off.  It was a fun afternoon and hopefully we can do it again next year!

A Fun Family Night

Blake is supposed to have Friday's off, so usually when he is able to take the whole day off, we try and do something as a family.  Whether it's just a grocery trip or out to eat for supper, or out to the farm for some fresh air, we at least try to plan something.  One Friday a couple weeks ago, we had NOTHING planned.  We finally decided that after naps we would drive to Grand Island and try our luck at miniature golfing and supper out with the kids.  We knew Brooks would LOVE it, but we were not sure how Keely would handle the situation.  She has a tendency of being a little hard to control sometimes if she sets her mind to something.  We weren't sure if she would have fun, or if she would throw the golf balls everywhere and try and run all over.  We decided we might as well give it a try anyway.

We ate supper at Ruby Tuesday since the salad bar would have some good veggies for the kids to go with their chicken strips and fries and it sounded good to us too!  We ate at about 5:00 and it was probably the most successful supper out we have had with the kids yet!  The food came out really quick and both kids ate really good with no whining! (A pretty big accomplishment for a 15 month old and a 3 year old who can get picky about chicken strips at places we don't frequently eat at!)

After supper we headed over to the miniature golf course I always remember going to growing up.  It was almost the same as I remember it, but it had been updated quite a bit with different colored greens and some new paint on other fixtures.  Luckily there was just one other group golfing when we got there, and they were almost finished, so we had the first part of the course almost to ourselves! It was great since we had no idea how this was all going to work.  Brooks was a little unsure at first because he is used to 'real' golf courses, but he caught on real quick and liked the obstacles to hit through/around.  Keely surprised us and did fabulous.  After we got her her own ball (she kept stealing ours) that she could just put in the holes, she was happy, happy, happy!
Here are some fun pictures from the course....

 I tried to see if Keely wanted to hit the ball a few times, but she was much more interested in the balls and everything else around her!

 Brooks watching his ball come down the mountain

 

"Teeing off"

 We sometimes had to wait for Keely to get out of the way, but she just wanted to chase balls down the greens

 Checking out where we needed to hit the ball before starting the hole...

 Blake helped Brooks with a 'correct' form a few times but mostly we just let him swing however he wanted.

 

Keely making a face at "Little Red's" face we were supposed to hit through...I think Blake was the only one who made it through the mouth!

 Brooks liked the blue hole.  I think Keely did too.

 The rainbow hole was both kids' favorite.  I think it was the bright colors and the slant to walk up on.  It was really hard to get Keely to move on to the next hole, but we made it without too much fussing.

 A picture of me and the kids after we were all done.  Brooks did not want to leave, but we assured him we would go back again sometime!

 After miniature golf was over, we decided to top off the night by stopping at McDonald's for some ice cream for the drive home.  Let's just say it was a perfect end to the night for Brooks and us too! Keely might have been disappointed because she didn't get any ice cream since we were driving, but she's still young enough to get past it without too much fuss!

Overall it was one of those times that reminds me why we have kids.  Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and wouldn't trade them for anything, but sometimes between all the crying fits, whining, diaper changes, and messes, it's hard to remember why we continue to have more kids! :)  But in all reality, miniature golf and many other things in life would just not be as enjoyable if it were just Blake and I.  We would always feel that something was missing...and that's the joy kids bring to the picture...seeing them experience new things for the first time and the pure fun of sharing those times with them is something I'd never give up.  So bring on the tough toddler years, I will most likely remember these kinds of nights more than the tantrums :)