through mommy goggles: fun-filled fourth

I am so exhausted and should definitely be sleeping instead of blogging. But I know some of you (you know who you are) get antsy for photos and don't like it when I dawdle.

Our day began much like any other Sunday. The kids got up early-ish as usual and we all got ready for church. The service was particularly enjoyable because there was a large musically-inclined family leading the special music. After church we ate lunch and had naps.

Ok, Levi took a nap. And so did my dad.

Camille did not.

And that's almost always a sign that the afternoon and evening will be rough.

After not sleeping for two hours I got her up, sunscreened her, and we went outside with Dowie (what she calls my mom) and Daddy to play on her slide.

Little did she know that Dowie was surprising her with a new (to her - thank you Craigslist) slide! The first thing she said as we were coming down the hill to the backyard and she saw it was "Thank you, Dowie!"

Talk about melting my mom's heart!

So time was spent climbing and sliding and swinging and sliding and climbing and swinging and sliding...

You get the picture.

Then we had to hurry to the front yard to make sure we got good seats for the big Maple Island Parade.

Good thing Boppa (what Camille calls my dad) had brought the lawn chairs out for us! We settled in and waited for the parade to come around. So did our neighbors.

Camille even went next door with our neighbor for a few minutes to visit with her good friend Shadow (the black lab next door).

The parade began with a fire truck, had a mini marching band, a king and queen of the island, several kids with water guns, an air band family, and a Smart Car.

We watched.

And clapped.

And had a very nice time enjoying it together.

Especially when my mom got hit with a water balloon! (I do have a photo of this but am using my better judgement in not posting it, lest my family be kicked out onto the streets.)

After gathering up all the candy that was thrown, Aaron and the kids and I scrambled into the car to make it to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and some swimming fun.

Camille had a great time in the water with Aaron and practiced all the things she learned in swimming lessons earlier this spring.

Levi, on the other hand, was less than thrilled to be in the big pool.

So after two dips into the water up to his knees we decided not to torture him anymore. Ok, maybe once more. We tried putting him in the smaller and much warmer baby pool. Turns out he didn't think that was too bad.