Soccer, Stripes, Squirt Guns and Sunshine

What a beautiful day it has been today! Our day started early with Mike & Skip heading over to Church for the monthly Iron Post Breafast and Harry and I walking up to the Soccer field for 8:00.  It was a pleasure to sit under the warm sunshine and watch him run around having a blast.   During practice time I got to read a book and by the time their game started Mike and Skip had arrived. Harry took a really good fall and then decided it was too hot to play and kept asking the coach if he could sit on the sidelines. I called him over, gave him a drink, then squirted his head with his water bottle to cool him off. Apparently that refreshed him enough to get out and play again til the whistle signaled the end of the game.  It was then Skip's turn. He is coming out of his shell more and more and really improving on his skills. When it was his time to play he got the first goal for his team and was more than thrilled.  I think he needed the confidence builder because he seemed play even better after that. The important thing is both boys are really learning the game and loving the time they spend on the field.

After Soccer Mike went out to the store and returned with a kiddee pool for them. We've long talked about a pool but each time the discussion comes up we quickly come to the same conclusion: Spring time is boat prep time and whatever time is left over is spent on the yard/garden. Come summer we are gone on the boat evey weekend, vacation and day off, leaving the few "free weeknights" for boring but necessary stuff like lawn, tending to the garden etc. Bottom line is it makes no sense to have a pool since we haven' the time to enjoy it as a family, or to care for it properly.  And so the kiddie pool is the next best thing for those days when they really just want to cool off.  We put it on the lower deck next to the hottub, making it real easy to add hot water too :). While it was filling I grilled some hot dogs for lunch and then while I cleaned up and Mike went back boat work, the boys got ready to try out the pool.  Its basicially a bathtub outside where they can splash and get the floor and wall wet without worrying about what Mom or Poppa will say! They had a blast, having dragged out their container of tub toys. After that it was squirt guns. They squirted everything and everyone they could think of for more than an hour, coming back inside around 4:00 for a Wii break.  Of course while they were outside SOMEONE had to be nearby so I volunteered to be the one to sit on the deck lounge chair and read while they played. Yes, it was a horrible job but SOMEONE had to do it!  Poor Mike was back to waxing and restriping the boat. It looks awesome - better than it has in years! 

Lots of Drill work...

Wonder if his tongue is doing more work than his feet.

What I did best for a good part of the day...

We ended the day with another meal cooked on the grill - this time it was marinated pork for the big people and chicken drum sticks for the boys. (They suddenly LOVE drumsticks and can each each 2 or 3 good sized ones.)  After all the sun and exercise, bedtime was easy and thus I had the time to blog. Tomrorrow it is supposed to be 90F here so the plan is Bible Class, Church, stop by the house to grab the picnic lunch I made already, then off to the waterfront for a picnic followed by a 6.2 mile bike trail experience. I'm betting by tomorrow nite the kids will be putting ME to bed!