Over the summer Wesley and Carissa earned money for our “Helper Jar” by doing chores most mornings. I promised them we’d do something fun with the money they earned, and today was that day to cash it in. I took them to the local nickelcade.

They were SO excited.

Wesley came here once for a birthday party, but this was my and Carissa’s (and Elizabeth’s) first time.

Since we went at 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon, the place was empty and the employee turned on the machines so we could use them. But this was secretly my plan, because a big empty place means an easier job for me to keep track of Wesley.

In short, the kids had a ball. Lots of balls, in fact. Wes’s favorite games involved balls–basketball and ski-ball. The one employee must’ve been super bored, because she actually stood and played basketball with Wes for about 20 minutes while I took Carissa around to the other games. All I could hear was his laughter echoing in the room.

No, that’s not true. The nickelcade is really loud, like a Las Vegas casino. But I could still hear his laughter above all the music and noise.

Carissa’s favorite game–surprise, surprise (NOT!)–involved candy. She sat on a stool and directed a claw over a pile of candy and then pushed a button to scoop up a piece or two or three. I finally had to cap how many times she could play this game. But just look how joyful it made her.

At the end of two hours we had lots and lots and lots of tickets. Over 800. The kids immediately picked out two blow-up guitars that are as tall as they are, plus a ball. Once I got out to the car I discovered another pocketful of tickets–but I gave them to another family getting ready to go in. We had our guitars, and that was enough. And that was our reward for summertime chores.

In June we had some family photos taken. Here are a few candids in between shots.

Here are some my mom and sister took:

And the real photographer’s pictures (John missed it):

On August 15, 2013 our sweet Carissa Rose turned three. She had a wonderful day. I’d been telling her that soon she would turn three, and then she’d be old enough for preschool, and she’s been looking forward to it. The day before she turned three I told her it was the last night she’d be just two years old. And as she went to bed that night she reminded me that it was her last night as a two-year-old. She has a good memory!

The morning of her birthday I didn’t remind her that it was her special day until the morning was about half over. But as soon as I did, she paused and her eyes lit up as this news sunk in. In an animated voice she talked about how she was three years old now. It’s so fun to watch her excitement.

We pulled out a helium tank we have and blew up a few balloons. That was hugely exciting for Wes and Carissa.

But the Big Event of the day was taking Carissa to Build-A-Bear at the mall. I’ve never been into stuffed animals myself, so I never gave it much thought. But a few weeks ago John and I were at the mall for dinner and noticed little girls coming out of the mall with Build-A-Bear bags and their new stuffed treasures inside. They looked so happy that we thought we should walk through the store before we went home. We did, and we observed the prices (which are naturally not cheap), but we came away convinced that out little daughter would absolutely love the experience.

And thus she did. The way it works is you pick a stuffed animal shell, fill it yourself (with an employee’s help) with fluff, give it a heart, and then you can buy accessories and clothes and print a birth certificate. Wes was quick to find a Hello Kitty one, and as soon as Carissa saw it, that was it. We took it to the fluff machine. The very, very nice employee showed Carissa how to use the foot pedal to fill her Hello Kitty with fluff.

You’ve got to watch this video. It is just so cute to watch her experience this. Also, notice that the employee is missing his forearm, but look how good he is at using what he has.

Bath time.

Honestly, cross my heart, I wasn’t planning to buy the stuffed animal any accessories or clothes. But as soon as her kitty was bathed she sidled up to the accessories wall and said that Hello Kitty needed some clothes.

OK. Why not? It’s her birthday. There were dresses and shirt/short combos, but since Carissa herself prefers shorts that’s what Hello Kitty got, too. I was turning to leave when I heard Carissa say, “Now she needs shoes!” and she was already perusing the selection. So. Hello Kitty ended up with some pretty snazzy wooden sandals.

However, I drew the line at the chair and car. But Carissa sure had fun playing with them for a while.

During this time Wes is mostly pulling these wheeled toys around the store (and out into the mall).

Carissa is happy. Off to print the birth certificate!

There’s a candy shop/ice cream store near the mall that we’d never been to before. We stopped in. Wes had an ice cream cone and Carissa had a huge sucker that the nice employee gave her for free since it was her birthday.

After dinner we headed to my parent’s new place and had a birthday celebration.

Oh, Carissa loves birthday parties! She throws birthday parties for her stuffed animals often, and we knew she couldn’t wait to have a real one for herself. As I buckled her into her carseat to go to the party she said, “I want candles on my cake!” Because her stuffed animals always have (pretend) candles on the (pretend) cake that she makes for them in her (pretend) kitchen.

We sang, she blew, and then we ate!

She ate her cake with such relish, enjoying every bite. She picked out the cake herself at the grocery store the night before. She was so sure she wanted the one with balloons on it, I couldn’t say no.

Then it was present time. Grandpa helped her open (along with all her cousins).

Besides the Hello Kitty, I really only gave her a backpack (which is practical since she starts preschool in a couple weeks). It’s a penguin backpack, since she’s really into penguins these days. But her grandma, uncle, aunt and cousins were uber generous and she received some really lovely gifts like a dress-up fairy costume with accessories, Hello Kitty book with little toy figurines, magnetic dress-up dolls, and the list goes on.

Her grandma provided goodie bags for all the kids, which I let Wes and Carissa open at home the next morning. It was like Christmas! Carissa kept asking if she could play with the toys she had just gotten, and which I had piled on the little kids’ table, and I kept telling her, Yes! They’re all yours! Play with them! The light in her eyes is unforgettable.

So she had a very happy birthday, thanks to the wonderful support of family and the beautiful innocence of being three years old. For a few days after she would say, “I’m still three!” (I think she was going for, “I’m three now.”)

And here’s Elizabeth!

Only August 3rd and here’s what we’ve done.

Elizabeth is almost 9 months old. In the past month she’s started, and gotten reeeeeally fast, at army crawling. I don’t recall either Wes or Carissa army crawling, just crawling. I think Carissa started around 10 months, and Wes was slightly older. Elizabeth gets on all fours sometime and rocks back and forth, and I’ve seen her take a few short legitimate crawling movements forward before falling back to her tummy. She can push herself up to sitting. She likes to play peek-a-boo and can even pull the blanket off her face herself to play. She’s super curious. She wants to touch everything, eat everything, and she definitely puts everything into her mouth that she finds. Daily I’m pulling something out of her mouth. She also seems very social, preferring to be around people and crying if she’s left alone. Her demeanor seems calm and sure. Wesley loves her, and both he and Carissa delight in grabbing her by the feet and pulling her backwards on her tummy, away from things (they think) she shouldn’t be getting into. She also recently acquired two bottom teeth.

Some newer advances include pulling herself to standing, such as on this toy.

Today I found her, for the first time, sitting up in her crib when I went in to get her.

And, today we discovered she can climb steps. ALL of them. And the fun continues.

Oh yeah, I had a birthday yesterday.

This morning I visited and guest-taught at a Zumba class, and on the way home I saw a yard sale. I stopped and now we’re the proud owners of two new Easter baskets and a green tent that looks like a turtle. All for $5.50. Elizabeth didn’t have her own basket, and I know Carissa just likes having the baskets out to play with all year round.

Like so:

(With Pingu, of course. That’s Wes in the background playing in the rocks like he does.)

Ritual bathtime is every Saturday night. All three in the tub. Elizabeth only recently joined the other two in the big tub, which she considers tremendous fun and likes splashing in like a crazy person.

Not going to lie, bathtime is not my favorite time. It is a hard job to bathe three non-independent people, some of whom (*cough*Carissa*cough*) put up a big fuss if any water comes in contact with their eyes/face/ears/body. Lately it’s been starting to get a little better as Carissa gains a little pride in being independent and trying to get the ends of her hair wet herself after shampooing. I just have to be really careful to keep the water off her face. Her hair is a big job to clean. Wes is pretty brave and can dump water on his head himself to get most of the shampoo out.

Nonetheless it’s a physical and time-consuming thing, bathtime. Good thing they smell so good and have such shiny hair afterward.

Wes found my camera as I got things ready.

Can you see her bottom teeth?

When Carissa comes out of the tub we have pamper time. I set her on the counter of my vanity, smooth oil and mousse in her hair, brush it all out, and then blow-dry it. She likes this time. Her hair always turns very straight, which for some reason makes John hopeful it will stay straight forever, but within a half-hour the curls come out of nowhere. Those curls are here to stay.

…Our attempt at such.

This is sort of actually what I was aiming for–except all of them doing it at the same time together. And smiling.

Our small city recently opened a splash park downtown. I used to bemoan our downtown area, because it wasn’t much. I always thought that the corner of Main Street and Center Street ought to have something of importance, but it didn’t. But things are looking up. There is a new library on one corner, and this splash park is in the park across the street.

Today I ventured out with my three kids to check it out. We spent 20 minutes slathering on sunscreen and finding swimsuits, sunglasses, and hats.

I set Elizabeth in the shade while I waded in the water with the kids. She was a good baby and didn’t fuss the whole hour and a half we were there. After a few minutes of arriving I saw some friends who happened to be there with their kids, and Elizabeth hung out in her car seat near them while I held Carissa’s hand and kept an eye on Wes.

The splash park has a winding river area with water zero to about three inches deep. There are big rocks kids can climb on, water shooting up like geysers, a small waterfall, and a separate splash pad where the water shoots up from the cement. It was really nice and was apparently designed by someone who’s won awards in various states and countries for his work.

Wes was fearless–running into the water, jumping off rocks, and never looking back to see if Mom was anywhere near. This is normal.

Carissa was timid and wanted to hold my hand and try to keep up with her brother, but she made it very clear she did not want to get wet. This is also normal.

After about 45 minutes she started to warm up and was starting to climb and jump off the rocks. After about an hour she got really brave and lay down in the water with Wes.

Then she and I headed to the splash pad, where she really enjoyed giggling as the water geysers turned on and off. She even started putting her hands and feet in the water and laughing. It was fun to see my kids having so much fun.

After the splash park we went to the grocery store and spent $1.07 on two giant ice cream cones for Wes and Carissa. A perfect day.

I really enjoyed being out in the sun. Even with SPF 30 on I got a slight tan. Being outside lifts the spirits, so I am happy summer is practically here. Tomorrow is Wesley’s final day of preschool. In the fall, he starts transitional kindergarten and Carissa will go to preschool. But this summer I plan to do summery things with my kids, to soak up the time and savor experiencing fun things with my little people.