Stayin' Cool

It's H.O.T. What do we do when it gets H.O.T.? We get W.E.T. My friends are out for summer break (they are teachers) and we decided to schedule some play dates. The first get together was at the Splash Pad. It is insane that we only have one in Tucson. Seriously. Because we only have one, odds are it's going to be busy. This particular day is was not too crowded so that made us happy. There were 4 adults, 8 kids, 2 playgrounds and a splash pad. It was so cool how we all instinctively jumped into "team parenting". We were watching each other's kids and helping each other out. I love my friends.
Here are some pictures from the day:

The water gun is Brody's favorite

Ami and her triplets, Jaxon and Delaney in the background

Brody and Hunter

In addition to the Splash Pad, we have been swimming a lot! This is from this morning:

What's the word?

Brody is a little lazy when he swims so he uses more flotation devices.

Seriously.... good times

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Summertime....

Summer in Tucson.... sucks. I really don't like the extreme heat and I REALLY don't like that the kids can't play outside for 5 minutes without turning bright red from the heat. The kids LOVE to be outside. Naturally, we have been swimming, playing in sprinklers and playing in the splash pad at the zoo to keep cool. ATTENTION: from here until the end of this post there will be boatloads of pictures that may look similar, but I promise they are not!!

He loves the sprinklers- clearly!

He also loves to try and smash them!

Delaney showing us her mega muscles

And you know how it's impossible to lick your elbow? Not for Miss Delaney. Skills people. Mad skills.

A sweet moment.

Since Eric started his own residential contracting company, he has some freedom to hang out with us, sometimes, during the week! Since we have a membership to the zoo, we decided to brave the heat and go on a family outing that was FREE (my fav kind)!

Such a stud muffin

Checking out the "Beary big black cat"

I love how freaked out Brody looks

Delaney touching a snake. Whatever Delaney does.....

Brody does:)

They were able to pet the cutest little armadillos!!

Then we chilled on Nana's bench

No zoo trip is complete without Dippin Dots

 

It was so hot we decided it was time to head into the "splash pad" thing.

Brody thought it was hilarious!

Delaney liked spraying all the kids- Brody included

But then he got her back:)

Good buddies:)

 

Random Day #2

I had fully intended to post another assortment of random pictures the day after my last post (which would have been LAST Tuesday) but I didn't-- obviously. Anyway, here are some more happenings at the Mikk casa.


It's now so hot that the only thing you can really do is swim. Well since we moved, we don't have a pool anymore. Oh but never fear! We took care of it in the most sophisticated way:

That's right. Plastic pool to the rescue!

Of course we take plenty of time outs for some nice, cold popsicles....

In case swimming and popsicles are not fun enough, here is another great activity to

really make Mom jump and holler:

Paint yourself with yogurt!! (yeah... I was so not happy)

Delaney has been going to our church pre-school program (she has been twice now). It is so strange! It's the first time that I have just dropped her off somewhere, other than a relatives house. She was a little nervous the first day, but got over it very quickly! What's really weird is just having Brody! We never get to spend time together, just the two of us so it was fun! In July, Delaney is going to go to Vacation Bible School for a full week. Brody is going to be so sad, he misses her so much.

At the beginning of the month, my brother in law, Kevin's new fiance, Kristin and her family came into town for a visit! Kevin works at the JW Marriott here in town and we went up there to go swimming. The kids loved it! Especially the lazy river and the water slide!

Wrong setting on the camera, but you get the idea. She was way ready to go!

The boys being crazy

Brody loved the little splash pad they have!

So did Kevin!! :)

"Hmm.... some hot chica left me her room key"

Pretty sure they could get used to living like this:)

And with that comes the end of random day #2. I have so many more pictures....

The End... Day 4

We are finally up to our last day! We planned a nice, calm day for our final one and I am sure happy we did. We decided to go to the beach. Delaney has been talking about the beach for a while now so I thought it would be fun.

                                                              Daylen showing Brody the cars

Delaney having major attitude

We get to the beach and get all our stuff together. I was cracking up on the inside. Have you ever seen that show 'Yes, Dear'? The theme song when they watch the couples in the convertible drive by while they are crossing the street to the beach with tons and tons of crap..... that was us. We had towels, snacks, diaper bags, sand toys, an umbrella, a stroller and who knows what else. We looked ridiculous. But, that's okay, we are a family:)

Here are a TON of beach pictures:

Eric showing Brody what to do

Kaylie getting some sun (although she got way too much and fried)

Lovin it!

Daddy and son

Daylen and Eric trying to decide if it's too cold. It was WAY cold, but they went in

Monkey checking everything out

Delaney getting brave (it lasted only a minute though)

This was after he dumped a bucket of sand down his throat. Super scary.... had to smack the crap out of him and then I poured an entire water bottle on his face. Not fun.

Content on the towels

Kaylie let Delaney rub sand all over her back....what a good big sister

Brody sat doing this for 2 hours. He was so peaceful.

I said, "Help Brody look at Mommy!" Apparently, that meant a headlock

I really wanted a picture of all 4 in front of the water, but the babies wouldn't take their eyes off of it.

Brotherly bonding.

This one was better....

After the beach, we went back to the hotel and went swimming the much warmer water. Delaney wouldn't get in for some strange reason. Instead she acted like quite the diva.

Brody was tired of being dry....

So Kaylie took him in the water

LOVE THESE

Daylen was happy to be in warm water....doing back flips as usual

And once again, Delaney was content doing exactly what she wanted.

That's all folks. Thanks for reading about our fun, family vacation. It's so different being the 'grown-up' on the trip. Me being the parent, making sure the little kids and Eric had what they needed, packing the suitcases, trying to find ways to save money etc. It was not at all relaxing, but it was worth every minute. I hope to go on many, many more vacations with my family. I have great memories from vacations growing up and I want that for my kids too.

The End