First {real} Swim

It's a right of passage for all children on Memorial Day Weekend.

The pool opens.

And, because this Momma hates crowded swimming pools, with goobers floating in the water, I put if off for the entire weekend. 

After days of begging and a few tears shed by P-Man, I caved, and I took them to the small pool where we have a membership...waiting until the evening hours....hoping there wouldn't be a gazillion other families with the same idea.

The water was cold but the sun was hot and these boys of mine....they love the swimming pool.

The thing I love most about this pool is that it's not too big...I don't loose my kids in it.  There is almost always a friend there to play with, and we can bring our own food {packing PB & J sandwiches for dinner}.

{I love this photo because I took it right after Parker's friend told him, "We will be friends forever!"  Melt my heart.  I hope so.}

Summer is my favorite.

Roller Coaster Living

There are so many wonderful and fun things that happened over our long Memorial Day Weekend.  But, for some reason, I'm having trouble gathering my thoughts to put a sentence together about everything that's taken place over the past week or so.  Throughout this past week, my emotions stretched to the limits...my Mother Bear instincts took charge, my instincts as a mother were confirmed...and my husband and I have grown closer than ever....but putting all of this to rest, we had some special days together as a family, where I was able to simply enjoy the company of my boys, and they once again left me smiling in a moment where I wanted to run and hide under the covers.

When people ask me what life is like lately, I've been describing it as feeling like a roller coaster.  Days are going by at lightening speed, our heads are often in whirlwinds of thoughts and things to do, we are shifting from here to there without stopping or slowing down, and...the best part...we are {most of the time} enjoying our little family, with our arms up in the air, smiling {but sometimes screaming with fear} because we are lovin' this roller coaster ride.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and celebrated the days by remembering loved ones lost and celebrating with loved ones present...here's a glimpse of our Riffel Memorial Day Weekend.

Afternoons spent in a pool, with golden wheat rustling in the background.

Water fights...

Sweet second-cousins...

Lots and lots of climbing on rock piles.

Camping...

Time with our sweet Bella Girl.

A little Ladder Golf.

Lunch with Grandma Elaine at one of her favorite spots.

Water balloon fights...

Smiles at cousins.

A new little fish was born...

Beautiful scenery.

Rides in the 'wave pool'.

Glow sticks in the warm, summer night.

Tractor climbing.

Pulling little brothers.

Sweet boys.

Gummy worms in a whipped cream pie...

Hay Bale Tag...

{Look at this precious family of mine.}

Beautiful nieces who will pose for photos for me {something my boys never want to do.}

Sweet time with my boys...

A very serious jumper...

And, a ride in a Combine...

Thank you Riffel family for giving us a fun weekend!

Happy summer my friends!  The summer roller coaster ride has just begun!

Pictures

I got my camera back today!  Ohhh...how I love my camera!

For the past two weeks I've been using my mom's little point and shoot and although I am thankful for the camera to capture all of the moments that have occured throughout the past couple of weeks, I really missed my Canon....the one I know how to use...the camera where half of the photos I take aren't in actuality, video.  Yes, half of the photos I took with mom's camera were video...I must have pushed the wrong button...imagine that.

I'm gonna get caught up now.

Starting with our trip to Colorado....Andrew's first airplane ride...Poppy's funeral service...and lots and lots of bubbles.

 

Bubble Machines are so much fun...and apparently they are even more fun in Colorado!

 

Poppy's Service

 

Poppy's service was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from celebrating a wonderful life and love for Poppy.  This was the first true military service I'd ever been to - it was touching and beautiful.

Now, here's where I left our camera in Colorado.

And here's what happened after that...

A Mother's Day party at Parker's school.

Where Parker wanted to invite Aunt April and Aunt Dani {and his other aunts and all of his grandmas}.

And, just look at this little cutie pie.  Yep, he's my curly cue, who sometimes get mistaken for a girl at Target by a senile old lady.  But, obviously he's my surfer dude and I can picture him on a sandy beach, hauling that surf board around someday.  Don't you agree?

Brothers with hats on, reading books, in a bed where the sheets are being washed.  Enough said.

We celebrated Mother's Day with a day at the park with grandmas, aunts, and great grandmas.

{From left to right....my grandma Elaine, Andrew, me, Parker, my sister April, my grandma Ruth, and my Momma.}

We ended up riding the train at Gage Park....something I remember doing as a kid and something I am happy to be sharing with my kiddos on Mother's Day.  It was a beautiful day!

Onto the next day....

Parker made me some new pots...for our herb garden...for the new house.

I got to watch Parker's first tee-ball game.  And he was amazing!

 {I love this photo...look at those fielders scramble for the ball while Parker races toward first base!}

 And, just for fun...here's a photo of Andrew and I cheering big bubba on!

It feels like summer around here, but technically, we couldn't start summer until after the last day of school.

Look at how much Parker has grown since his first day of school.

His class celebrated with a trip to the park...

 

And, after school, I took Parker and his buddy Carter out to lunch and then Parker got to play at Carter's house.  A very special day indeed.

And, to cap off the past two weeks, we celebrated two pretty special birthdays.

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We partied good.

With watermelon.

And good friends.

 

 

 

So...this is what we've been up to.  Many, many moments.  I'm so happy to have my camera back.