Hammock time!

International Parade

Alekisio was so excited because he got to be in a parade with his soccer team. Our city soccer had such low enrollment they almost didn't have teams this year. I think they did the parade to gain enrollment. We were so excited and I think that came from loving to watch parades. Let me tell you that being in a parade in the middle of an Ohio summer is not as fun as watching it. This is what I learned. When walking in a parade be sure to a)wear tennis shoes, not flip flops b)don't remember that you should put on sunscreen then forget it at home c)bring more than one bottle of water per person d)get dropped off at the beginning of the parade and park at the end so you don't have to walk the parade and then walk back to your car with three tired kids.

Aside from the sore feet and sunburn I got it was really fun, and good exercise. Alekisio loved every minute of hanging out with his friends. We waited forever because the parade started late. The kids kicked around a soccer ball and got balloons from the clown. Alekisio took his teammate's hand and they walked over together to the clown. I started to follow and he told me no, they could go by themselves. So I watched from a distance. When it finally started they didn't really get what we were doing. Usually at a parade you get candy thrown at you, but they weren't getting any, and at four that hardly seems fair. It didn't take long for them to realize that there were candies left on the ground from the people ahead of us so they would pick it up and eat it before we could tell them to throw it. The highlights of walking in the parade were watching all the International princesses dressed up and riding by us to get to the front in their cars, or the "pretty girls" as the boys called them, and getting cold water either dumped on their heads or sprayed from a bottle on their faces. Alekisio loved it, and I learned that I'd much rather watch a parade then be in it.

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The International Festival

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The kids were shakin their groove things. Isabelle loves to dance. The first thirty seconds are just her dancing while we walked and it's a little slow but if you wait it out I promise she delivers.

Cooling off

It's soooo hot here on the days when it's not raining. The kids love playing in the water. Braylen likes it but isn't so sure about the slip and slide. Isabelle isn't so sure about throwing herself down to slide either. Alekisio took full advantage and had the slide to himself most of the time. In his eyes they were missing out, who wouldn't want to throw themselves at the ground to slide as far as you can?

Last night the kids made pudding after dinner. They all get to pour milk and stir. The "twins" were melting down from being tired so they went right to the bathtub. Alekisio was left with the delicious job of licking the whisk. Life can be delicious sometimes!

We're playing at any park we can find to see where the fun parks are. Alekisio loves french creek because he can walk in the woods, find animals, and ride his bike at the same time. Well maybe not walk and ride at the same time. Yesterday while I was at the credit union I had Naomi take the kids to the park across the road and walked there when I was finished. Next time I'm not walking in flip flops, they made the walk seem longer because my feet were hurting. Anyway it was the coolest park. The slide is rollers so the kids actually slide down instead of getting stuck and scooting down. The whole park had really different features so we didn't feel like we were at the same park in a different location as with most parks. The kids loved the swinging step bridge thing alot. It's definitely a park we'll visit again.

So the picture below may make some people queasy. If he wasn't my child I probably wouldn't have had the stomach to look at it. Heavenly Father obviously gave me strength I didn't know I had so I could be calm in order to keep Alekisio calm. Thanksgiving was his first set of stitches and yesterday was his second. That's two sets of stitches in seven months. I knew he'd be in the ER alot but I didn't think it would start this early.
Thanksgiving was from football. This time it was our dog. I have really mixed feelings about this because the dog is still a puppy and he's really sweet. The kids jump on him, pull his ears and tail, pinch his face, lay on him, and occasionally Braylen bites him. He's really calm about it and doesn't really mind, he plays back with them. Our issue is a problem alot of dogs have. He's territorial about food. I usually put him in the kitchen when the kids are eating, but we got home and I was making lunch and gave them each an olive to munch on. Aisea called to talk and I heard a attack growl and then Alekisio crying. Alekisio said Misiu took his olive and he tried to get it back.
My heart breaks every time I look at his precious little face. I called my mom and we took him to St. John's. The mark is from Misiu's nail and I thought they might need to stitch it but wasn't sure. They did just so it wouldn't scar so bad. Alekisio was pretty calm this time. He still needed some reassuring, and I thought he was just tired but my mom pointed out that he was so scared he stayed still on the guerney the whole time. As soon as the doctor's were finished he was up jumping around. The doctor's there were great, his doctor told him stories about his son the whole time while I held his hand. Even at five he still loves his blank because halfway through the stitches he asked for his tag. His face looks pretty bad in the picture below. After we really looked at him the area they stitched was from the dog's nail and it looks like his teeth marks are above his eye. He looked much better after a shower. I'm hoping we'll make it until november without another ER visit.