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This weekend we had very sad news. Our cat Pumpkin was killed outside our home by an animal in the middle of the night. Joe found him and has been very, very torn up about it since. The kids have taken it very hard as well. Dewey always said that Pumpkin was his very best friend. He was just the perfect cat. Joe wasn’t allergic to him and he is allergic to feathers and fur. He never strayed far from home and he was always so good to the kids. And my clients loved him too. Kids all of the time loved looking for him out of our window and would ask to see him when they came back for visits. He was just so cute. Here is a picture of him when we first got him. Huey (or Dewey) took this picture with my phone.

On the day we found him, H was just so upset.  She kept sitting where we buried him and would cry and cry.  She has a chair that she draws on and one time when she came inside I told her to draw a picture on her chair of Pumpkin to remind her of him.  I went in her room to check on her later and saw her sitting in front of the chair crying.  This is what she had written on her pillow, “Pumpkin died.  We were best friends.  Bye Pumpkin.”  It started with just a picture of her and then when her siblings saw it, they drew in themselves too.  All is well now, but it was a very sad day.

This week we spent some time with my parents in the mountains. We had a great time crafting it up big time!! I am always so thankful for the grandparents, both sets. They have such different strengths and give so much to their grandkids. My parents always provide a very full schedule and one day this week they rented a boat on a lake near the cabins and we set off on an adventure. It was the kids first ride in a boat and first dip in lake water. They had a wonderful time. Simply wonderful.

We brought an inner tub to pull around the lake, but it was against the rules. So we found a cove and swam around for a couple of hours or maybe a little less. And when I say “we swam around” I mean that “they swam around.” I am not a fan of swimming. I know, it is lame, but I really could live without it. I know a lot of people that feel like they have basically bathed after being in the swimming pool. Not me. I feel so gross. I immediately have to take a shower. Multiply that by a thousand and that is what I feel about lake water. Totally gross. Add in a few fish, snakes and whatever else lives in lakes and I am not a fan. But we were on a family trip and I thought I would try it out. I had on my bathing suit and the kids were begging me to get in the water. I actually thought I could do it until my feet touched the water and that was almost the beginning of the end. I made it in, but after my slight panic attack I spent my time in the lake water on top of the raft and then back into the boat. That is one of the hard parts for me about being a mom… I want my kids to be so much better than me. I have these crazy deficiencies, dislikes and fears and I don’t mind me having them, but I don’t want my kids to have them. So I really love that they are in the lake water, but I really don’t want to be in there myself. But I worry that if they see me not doing things that they will not try new things too and so I try to do them, but it doesn’t always work out. I digress….

So we were out on the lake and my mom jumped in with the kids. Since they were swimming for a long time and the kids started getting cold, she started doing synchronized swimming with them. They had a blast. (another reason why I am thankful for grandparents – they can do the synchronized swimming and I don’t have to). Then, because we were in a cove without an anchor, we kept gently moving closer and closer to the banks and so every once in a while Joe would pull us out to the middle. While Dad and I were in the boat we looked down and Louie had decided to pull us to the middle. Our little 4 year old pulled this huge pontoon boat all by herself. She was so proud of herself and we were all amazed!! I am so glad we got it on videotape. So, here is a video of Mom and the older two doing synchronized swimming while Louie pulled us out of harms way. Love it!!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful day with your family and friends celebrating July 4th.  We have had a great day playing in the creek, sliding down the slip-and-slide, drinking red, white and blue drinks, making T-shirts, making sand hand crafts, sleeping, reading, playing in the rain and eating.  It has been a very eventful day ending with our $10.00 version of fireworks.  The kids thought they were the best ever!!!  Although they missed terribly Uncle Jay’s version of fireworks.  Here is a video that Joe shot of the big finale!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!