Our Summer Thus Far

or, subtitle: Postcard from , a really, really long post.

To begin, this has been the "summeriest" summer I've had in years. The last two summers were spent moving, and the boys were little enough that the goal was to keep them out of the sun. So this year I feel like we're having an all-American kid summer. Here, some glimpses of our fun.

Jackson discovering tadpoles:

Jacob and Jackson first in the wading pool:
and then in the little fountains that shoot from the ground,:
which Harry was not thrilled with (it just scared him) so he stuck to the baby pools.
The same day; my friend Katharine barely making it into the picture:

One day we went to a show in a local park, saw clowns, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Joe McDermott:

I took the next picture to demonstrate Matthew's new ploy to get Jackson to eat most anything. Tell him he's a ferocious dinosaur, and he'll gobble up cheese and peach houses (shown), platefuls of broccoli (forest of trees), and beans (boulders):

Our constant companions, Vienna, Jacob, and Grace. Notice the difference in J's haircut in the picture above and below. A few weeks ago I sheared Jackson, Harry, and Matthew with our clippers, all the same haircut, because it's the only one I know. :)

All spring and continuing this summer Jackson has spent hours digging for bugs. Here's one of his finds:

Every day while Harry naps, Jackson has a quiet time in his room, where he listens to music and books on tape and usually creates something with tinker toys (thanks, Clint!). Here he's demonstrating the spinning of some form of a helicopter (I forgot what he called it):

And another day's creation, with him making a funny face for the camera:

I took the next photo for my mom, who sent this shirt for Harry. Here's our little model on the way to church. When I put these dress shoes on he looked at them with great satisfaction and stomped around staring at them for awhile. He is constantly asking for a hat and sunglasses. He brought me this hat to put on him to complete the outfit. Yes, this is the same conductor's hat Jackson wore when he won best dressed cowboy :)

And I include this one to show off his haircut, which I'm now calling "the Ruthie do"

Four-child pileup while playing slip n' slide in the "backyard". Charlie on bottom, then Claire-Ellen, then Jackson, then Harry. All in the mud. We headed to the bath immediately after.

Following, a different afternoon water session. This is the conversation you're witnessing; Boy in Red: "I'm washing my shoes in the sprinkler." Jackson: "Me too, except mine are crocs" (a fact he's endlessly proud of, as if they aren't shoes; they're beyond shoes, they're crocs.), Boy in Red: "Mine are too!", Jackson, "Hey! Yeah! Yours are crocs too! Wow! You have crocs too. Mama! He has crocs too!" As if every child in TX this summer isn't wearing crocs. :)

Today we (some other mothers and myself in the complex) combined ingredients to make homemade ice cream:

An ice cream ball (you combine all ingredients w/ the rock salt and agitate it; we made it into a game for the kids). Harry in orange on left and Jackson in the blue hat on right. He has his collared shirt on backwards and kept it that way all afternoon. Notice it also in the photo above:

And finally, this past week Jackson has had swim lessons (they continue next week). Here, learning to float on his back w/ his teacher, "Miss Sam":
I include the next picture to show how huge he is compared to other kids his age (one of these kids is older than him, the other two barely younger). While they swim Harry and I splash in the water too.
Yay for summertime fun! Yay for you making it to the end of this post!