pool party!

last year we got the kids (well, mainly cole) a kiddie pool. it was the first weekend that kelvin was home from tulsa (yes, he was there last year too!!) and instead of getting the practical-and-conventional-yet-kind-of-boring plastic wading pool, daddy thought the kids needed something "cool". so he picked out an inflatable pool with an inflatable slide. the first week it was inflated and filled, it turned cold. by the time it warmed up enough to use it, the birds had pecked holes in it and the local stray cats had peed in it.

that was that.

THIS year, mommy again (very wisely) suggested a plastic pool. this time, daddy thought it wasn't a bad idea.

the kids, however, were a tad bit skeptical.

they just sat stock-still, like they were deer in the headlights (except for the panic-striken blank stare... that's kind of exclusive to the deer species).

but they soon grew interested...

(this is my favorite shot of the whole thing, by the way)

... and found themselves having a ball!

cole started splashing mommy
(who eventually turned the hose on him to teach him a bit of a lesson...)

*GASP*
"mama, what is THAT?"

"oh yay, a school bus!!"
(yup- she was THAT enthused over the school bus, hahaha!)

the three musketeers.
er, picassos?

"i'm number 1!"

diggin' in the cupboards for mommy.

these next two photos are specifically for auntie kandace and uncle duey:
madison kind of likes her ride-on pal!

her grin says it all!

other random tidbits of this-n-that:

• madison made her daddy proud this morning by saying "hemi!".


• she has a vocab of well over 20 words, and she tries new ones every day. it's true that subsequent kids seem to pick up language more quickly!


• cole went on a potty strike (which, i suppose, is inevitable at some point during the training process. i'd hoped he'd be a little potty genuis and forego it...), so for the past few days, he's been incredibly reluctant to go. at all. not even a bribe or two worked. it ended this afternoon- as we were sitting down for supper, cole loudly announced that he had to go potty, marched into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and went. he got his usual gummy bear, sticker on his "potty chart" and LOTS of praise from mommy and daddy!!


• daddy took cole to the car wash (BIG mistake- cole hates them, we found), and stopped at the grocery store afterward. they saw an amish horse and buggy in the parking lot, which got cole all excited. he called it a "horsey with a trailer". technically, i guess he's right...