Aquaholics

I let the kids pick what they wanted to do today since Steve and Cole were going to work most of the day. Their decision was easy-swimming. This time, we headed to the Tipp City Pool. It is such a great pool, and it was another perfect day for swimming. As much as it saddens me that Riley is growing up, it sure makes taking them places by myself so much easier.  I was actually able to sit and relax in the sun for a while.   

FIVE

Today was Riley's 5th birthday. Since we had her party last weekend, we let Riley pick what she wanted to do for her birthday. She wanted to go swimming, so we all headed off to the Troy Aquatic Center. Riley (and everyone else) had a great time. Her courage continued today. She went down a tunnel water slide, and then she went down it over and over and over again.  Happy Birthday to the most amazing little girl I know. I got awful lucky the day God picked me to be your mom.

Jumpys

Today, we went to Jumpys in Troy. Jumpys has an arcade, laser tag, and a bounce area. Trent, Reed and Riley played in the inflatables for a couple of hours. Going down that tunnel slide on her "fake birthday" sure has made Riley more courageous. Today, she went down even the biggest slides at Jumpys. When we went to Jumpys over Spring Break, she would only do the smallest slide. The kids had fun celebrating their first day of summer vacation (finally).

"Fake Birthday"

Because a lot of the Suchland family (Mark, Troy and Lori, Jace, and Cory) will be on vacation on Riley's birthday, we planned to have her party a week early this year. Riley understood that her party wasn't on her real birthday, so she began to call the day her "Fake Birthday". After her having her party at Cottonwood Campground last year, Riley was eager to do the same thing again this year. It was a beautiful day with highs in the upper seventies and a nice breeze.  Grandpa and Grandma Suchland, Mark, Troy and Lori and kids, Tom and Rene, Cory and Jace were all there.

 As soon as we hit the campground, the boys went off to fish for a while. When they returned, Riley opened her presents, and we had cake and ice cream. Riley got some great gifts (a princess scooter, a cardboard play house to color, a Lego and Friends set, a doodle penguin, a diary and much more). One of the gifts she was most excited about was a hula hoop given to her by her Uncle Jace. Riley had been asking for a hula hoop for her birthday for weeks. This year, Riley wanted a cake with all the Disney Princesses on it. She asked for it to be pink on the outside (icing) and pink and purple inside.
After presents and cake, we took a walk around the campground and ended up at the park. Riley ended her "Fake Birthday" by going down a tunnel slide for the first time. Seeing her little cousin Jenna go down with no problems, got her to give it a try. Once she got to the top, it still took a lot of convincing to get her to go down. Finally, big cousin Jadyn got her to go with her. After she did it once, she wanted to do it over and over again. My little girl is growing up!

                            

 

                                      

Summer Kick Off

Since we didn't get Kings Island passes this year, I told the kids that we would do lots of local things this summer that we haven't done in a while/ever. We started off by going to Wegerzyn Gardens in Dayton on Saturday. Steve and Cole were working. After checking out the website, Trent decided he was probably "too old" to have much fun there. So, it was just Reed, Riley and I. We had only been to Wegerzyn Gardens once, and it was when Riley was a baby. Since it is only 10-15 minutes away, I am not sure why we have not gone more often. Back to the always being busy thing I guess.

Wegerzyn has some beautiful garden areas, trails through the woods and a Children's Discovery Garden. We first explored the Children's Discovery Garden, and Reed and Riley really enjoyed all the hands on activities there. I had to drag Riley away from watering the plants.  She is still my "Little Garden Girl". After having a picnic lunch, we moved on to walking through the garden areas and a couple of short boardwalk trails through the woods. Then, it was time for what Reed and Riley had both been waiting for-the water play area. When I had talked about going here earlier in the week, I didn't realize the high would be hovering around 70 degrees with a cool wind. But, they were determined to get wet. They played in the water for a lot longer than I expected and had a blast. On the way home, both Reed and Riley started saying that they wanted to make a return trip to Wegerzyn at least once or twice this summer. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Water Fight

On Memorial Day, the kids asked if they could play with water balloons. Steve took them to Wal-Mart, and they came home with a pack of five hundred water balloons. They claimed that the balloons would last them "all summer long". Five hours later, the balloons were gone. I went outside for a little while to take some pictures of them. It was clear that Trent and Reed had decided who the easy target was. Riley didn't stand a chance. Good thing she was happy about getting wet.