Kayaking

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While we were at the beach, Lee and I decided to take the kids out in the kayaks.

Little man needed a life vest.


He liked sporting the vest.


He didn't like what happened after.


At least we got some pictures, right?


At about this point, we headed back. I'll tell you one thing: it sure ain't easy to paddle with one arm while snuggling with an upset boy with the other. That's why Lee and Jocelyn beat us back by a long shot.


We made it eventually. And when we did, our sweet girl grabbed the edge of my kayak as I pulled up next to the dock and said, "It's okay, Mom. I got you."

I love her.

A family of under ruff-ers

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Lee wanted me to post this: the old subwoofer beside his new, bigger one. I don't know much about home theater audio (in part because I have very poor sound localization; in other words, I usually can't tell the origin of a sound, which means that surround sound is a waste for me), but I do know that it makes my man happy.

So I present: big brother and little sister.

Bouncy. And Quiet.

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Benjamin Bear Says GoodnightI thought that Benjamin Bear Says Goodnight by Claire Freedman would be a cute read and then disappear into our mix of books. I thought wrong.

This is a story of a bouncy bear winding down for bed. He likes to bounce, but he learns that it’s good to have quiet time sometimes, especially at bed time. In his words, “I do like quiet times – almost as much as bouncy ones!”

If you know my family, you know that we have a bouncy girl. She doesn’t always value quiet time. But she does love this book, and she did tell me last night as she was getting ready for bed, “I like to bounce, but I like quiet too.”

The other Benjamin Bear book I reviewed also has the little bear bouncing all around. I think I’ll be seeking other books about this bouncy bear, given that he has a lot in common with the bouncy bundle of preschool energy in our home.

And, as evidence, here's our bouncy girl at the beach:




Many thanks to Kregel Publications for providing this for our family to review (and to read at bedtime!). They didn’t ask for a positive review, only an honest one.