I really wanted to spend some time with my niece Olivia this summer. Can I say that living away from family really stinks? I love this little girl so much and I seriously wish I could see her more. I love her to pieces. After talking back and forth with Ben and Katie we decided that after I hiked with Aaron we would pick up Olivia. Somehow Ben convinced me to take Braxton too. That was CRAZY!!!! I love that boy and fell more in love with him every second of the day when he was with me, but I did not trust myself to allow him out of my eyesight. Ever! That is how crazy that two year old is. Not to mention exhausting. Yet when he would see me every morning and yell Awnell my heart fell a little more in love with him. So this was probably the most exhausting 5 days of my summer, it didn't help that I was still having the effects of vertigo, but I was on a mission: lots of swimming and playing.
So most days after breakfast we started here
These two are so cute. Olivia is such a stinker. She is old enough to know exactly how to be a punk. I loved doing her hair every day. She would whine and cry and tell me her mom never made her do her hair, so funny because that is not true. I am a fan of not having hair in a child's face so they can play like crazy, plus I want to see that cute face.
Cliz Townsend was nice enough to loan us her pool in the mornings so we could work on swimming in a real pool with Olivia. It was fun and hilarious. Olivia tries to talk her way out of everything and she loves to reason with you. I told her before we went that there is no bargaining during swim lessons. She says things like: how about I eat one more bite and then have a popsicle, how about I throw the rings and you can go get them, how about I don't eat anymore and just play on your phone, how about Braxton takes a nap and I play on your phone. So funny how her mind works and how she is figuring out how to navigate the world.
Bubba loved the riding lawn mower. Grandpa took him on lots of rides and it was the first place he would run when we went outside.
We went to the park
Swings were a favorite. They love to be chased, especially Olivia, but unfortunately this trip it just was not physically possible for me. We went in the mornings and usually had Palermo Park to ourselves.
We swam at the river.
Moki mastered jumping off the dock to fetch her toy. Pretty much awesomeness!
After the first day of swim lessons at the Townsends I made Braxton wear a life jacket anytime we were near the water. Nothing happened, he is just psycho. In my head he drowned 20 times and so life jacket by water it was.
This little miss was so funny. Looking back I wish I would have called a few other five year olds and tried group lessons. It was really hard to try things all by herself. She was around water a ton as a baby but once they moved to Fort Bragg there were not many swimming pools. She would not even go in the water with a life jacket on for me while holding her hand. Luckily there are always tons of kids at the river and these two older girls told her they would teach her to "swim." Of course she did whatever they wanted and was in heaven.
I was just happy she was willing to try. After that afternoon the river became her favorite place.
The river is exhausting and everyone needed downtime afterwards.
At church I realized nursery is the best thing ever!!!! Seriously I love that place. During sacrament meeting Braxton escaped the pew and took off towards the stand. I turned to my Mom and asked if I had to go get him. She assured me I did. After many attempts at keeping him happy we just roamed the halls and the parking lot until nursery started.
After church I sighed a big sigh of relief. We did it! All three hours!
Let's go home and celebrate.
Oroville was so hot. It always is hot. I hate swamp coolers. And I hate the heat. Sunday evening me and the kids ran through the sprinklers together. There was no relief. We did lots of bubbles too.
We did bubbles a few times because they are so much fun.
Overall it was a blast. I went to bed before 10pm everyday but I loved spending time with these cuties. By the time they went home they were exhausted.
Overall mission accomplished and .....I will probably even try it again someday.
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