Summer Is Here

The weather the first part of June was pretty terrible, but we've managed to squeeze in a few summer activities.  We went to Lagoon on the 12th with my whole family (minus only Travis).  My niece, Tarah, had a dance performance there that day.  It was chilly!  At one point I swear I saw my breath.  When we first got there we had to fight gale force winds.  It took all of our strength to not get blown over.  I was worried about what we were in for, but it was all about supporting Tarah that day.

Once we got in and claimed our table at the pavilion, the wind died down.  It was still cold.  Luckily, I had Kaden's winter hat still shoved in the bottom of his diaper bag (I really shouldn't call it that anymore, since he's no longer in diapers).  We all started out in kiddie land and rode rides together - even Grandma and Grandpa.  There are a lot of rides for grown ups to ride too, which is nice.  Annika was rip-roaring and ready-to-go!  She had no fear and wanted to ride everything.  Kaden, on the other hand, had to be forced on most rides kicking and screaming, literally.  He didn't cry while on the rides, only before and after.  He warmed up to it though and enjoyed it - at least I think he did. 

Later, my parents, Dave and Tarah went off and rode the big rides together, and Kristin, Tina, Kathy and I stayed in kiddie land with the little kids.  It turned out that the weather was in our favor.  There weren't a lot of people so there were no lines and we didn't stand in the heat sweating all day.  I think I would take the weather we had over a sweltering day at Lagoon.  And last but not least, Tarah did great in her dance performance!

We've also been swimming at our pool a few times.  Here are a few pics of that.

Tina took Kaden to the Children's Museum too.  He loved the helicopter, grocery store and rock climbing the best.  Tina is so great, I don't know what we'd do without her.

Perspective

I was blog stalking today and found this quote through a blog of a blog of a blog.  I found it to be incredibly powerful.

"If I had my child to raise all over again, I'd build self-esteem first and a house later.  I'd finger paint more and point the finger less.  I would do less correcting and more connecting.  I'd take my eyes off the watch and watch with my eyes.  I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.  I would stop playing serious and seriously play.  I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.  I'd do more hugging and less tugging." Dian Lommas

How I strive to be a better parent and desire to be a better mother.  This past weekend, I was looking at my son.  He wasn't doing anything special, it was just an ordinary minute in time.  I got teary eyed thinking of how my ex-husband doesn't get these everyday moments.  I suddenly felt overwhelmingly bad, sad, guilty and mad all at the same time.  I had to hide in the bathroom for a minute to have a quick cry and collect myself.