Arnold Adventures

Happy 4th of July!

5 Friends + 1 Waterpark = One Very Quiet Ride Home

After a few scheduling changes, we finally managed to pick the "coldest" day of the week (ha ha ha - we ALWAYS seem to do this - it was very low 80s, but with the breeze off the Bay, it sure can get chilly!) and met Melissa and the girls (and her brother, father, mother in law and sister in law) at the Chesapeake Beach Water Park.

Rebecca and Paige acting like ladies... :P

Look, a Florida Polar Bear! =)

I *told* you it got chilly there! ;)

I refused to go down the torpedo shoot... but the girls did over and over and over again...

Jaden wanted to go down the slide as well, but I'm serious, that is about the SCARIEST one I've been on... almost as bad as the huge one in Blizzard Beach - except this one you are in total darkness... I didn't think he'd care for it about 1/2 down the tube, so I took him on the much friendlier tube slide... and he was cool with that.

 

Even with the promise of McDonald's, we could barely get them out of there!

See, I said *barely* but eventually the lure of the Nugget became too much and they begrudgedly came with us. We went back to Nancy's to eat and it started to rain so Rebecca thoughtfully shared her hoodie w/ Sophie.

They didn't want to say goodbye. Rebecca and Paige have promised to become pen pals and hopefully a FL visit is in our future!

Jaden was nodding off before I left Chesapeake Beach, and Rebecca was gone when I hit Prince Fred.

Love you, Mo! Thanks again for fitting us in your schedule and letting us crash your family events! ;)

When Old Friends Unite

One of my dearest friends from college came back into town, so the kids and I drove up to spend the afternoon with her family. We had the nicest afternoon!

and the kids had a complete blast due to the water balloons Melissa brought...

Armed and ready!

On the attack!

Can't wait to see them again!

Monkeys See, Monkeys Do

Jaden and Kyla think Rebecca has great ideas. ;)  A scene from dinner tonight at Nicoletti's:

My Memorial Day Weekend Project - about a month later

I had planned to paint the bathroom over Memorial Weekend, but other projects got in the way. So a week later, I got all the paint and transformed the kids' bathroom from this:

 

to this:

The kids seem to like the new variation on an old theme. =) I love the green - here's Becca blending into the wall color. =)

Into the Wild

OK, more like Into the Solomons Navy Rec Center. =) Rebecca got to go on her first Girl Scout Camp Out, hosted by a sibling Cub Scout pack. While it was more like modified camping (complete with make-shift kitchenette, a paved nature trail, air mattresses in our tents, and the use of the nearby pool), she had a really good time doing what Girl Scouts do, such as:

Make arts & crafts

Share a tent with one of her best buddies (and their mothers)

Eat camp food

Make s'mores

 

We opted out of the hunt for "snipes" to and stayed behind to tell spooooooooooooky stories by the campfire (aka the battery operated lantern ;) ha ha ha)

perform a skit for the pack

Go to bed WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too late (10:30!), which helped her sleep through the small summer storm that passed in the night, causing the fly of our tent to, well, fly away... luckily we were able to secure it quickly before the rain picked up the pace...

and get up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early (5:45am!) to help w/ breakfast and take a nature hike.

It was a neat experience, and as we drove away from our campsite, she wanted to know when we'd be camping again... =)

Schools Out!!!

A couple of weeks ago (bad blogger Mommy!) Jaden finished up his year at Honey MacCallum's Mom's Morning Out! I was so proud that he made it through this year =) There were a couple of hairy weeks where he just didn't want to go, but he pushed through it and eventually got excited to go again.

Here he is saying goodbye to his teacher, Ms Robyn:

And today, Rebecca finished up her Kindergarten year at Leonardtown Elem! Here she is with her teachers Ms. Murray and Mrs. Shelley:

The whole class celebrated with a yummy ice cream party:

She was a little weepy last night and today, saying she already missed her teachers... I am sure after one day with Wheezer on her summer break, those tears will be all dried up! I am very thankful she had a great year too...

and now they are both ready for a jam-packed summer! Swimming, tennis, gardening... no rest for the weary!

Baltimore Aquarium

Rebecca's girl scout troop went to the Baltimore Aquarium yesterday for "Breakfast w/ the Dolphins." The cookies they sold helped off-set the cost of this trip, and she was really looking forward to it. I didn't get to join her for it, but I was able to see the actual show later with the girls.

 

After the show, we walked around the actual Aquarium before lunch:

Aunt Stacey was able to come with us too! I'm not sure if that's how she thought she was going to spend her Saturday, but it sure was great to have her help keep an eye on the kids! ;)

Summer Snow

We had a fierce storm tonight, and had a ton of hail... we don't usually get much hail, so Rebecca was amazed to see so many "little ice cubes" all over!

 

 

Happy Birthday Aunt Stacey!!!!

Hope it was fabulous!