We spent one warm summer morning at the Splat Pad with a friend and her kids. I ended up with a lot of action photos of Emily because she was very busy and not interested in looking at the camera. And not to many of Julia because she was attachedto me for much of the play time.

This park has a playground right next to the water area so that the kids can move freely between the two areas safely. Emily chose to play in the playground and not get wet for quite a while. And even after she got wet, she really enjoyed the playground area best this day. She was little ‘Miss Outgoing’ and hung out with some big girls who were great to include Emily in their play. Emily warmed up to the slide slowly as usual, but while holding Mommy’s hand she decided that it was OK. Her wet suit made her very fast down the slide.

Julia hung out with me most of the time. We tried the bumbo next to some squirting water so that she could explore it on her own. Almost immediately, a little boy came to play and inadvertently splashed Julia with water, which she didn’t like. I got her settled and Emily came to check on her. She was very sweet to talk to her and even pet her on the head. The funny thing was that Emily decided that she wanted to put her foot in the water and used Julia’s head to steady herself. The pulling of Julia’s hair was the last straw of Julia’s patience with sitting by the water and she wanted nothing less than to be held. I don’t really blame her, I wouldn’t like my hair being pulled and water splashed in my face either.

This was by far my favorite park and splat pad we have visited for a playdate. The location was good for meeting for a playdate, the size of the park was great for small kids, and the water made it easy to cool off and a lot of fun!

For months, I have been taking some time to get away with Julia and get some scrapbooking done. This has been good because I haven’t done any scrapbooking at home since Julia came. Last month, someone asked me if I had taken a photo of Julia at scrapbooking, and I realized that I hadn’t.  So, this month I took the camera. Julia was a really good sport about the amount of time we spent working and was pretty content to alternate between sitting in her bouncy seat and having floor time. She will be getting pretty active soon and my ability to bring her with me will end. But while it lasts I’m enjoying spending time with her and the other ladies are enjoying her company too.

We attempted to attend a Tennessee Smokies ballgame last week to celebrate Father’s Day with Granddaddy. We got to the field between storms and the game never got started. We waited a while for another storm to pass before we made our way out to the car. While we waited we were delighted by a visit from Slugger and Diamond, the mascots. So far Emily has been excited to meet large furry mascots, with parent in tow. She was delighted to meet these two!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about appreciating what we have while we still have it and the lessons we learn only through experience. So this Father’s Day, instead of finding a card with someone else’s words in it I’m writing my own.

If you haven’t guessed already, the little girl sitting on the table is me at an age between my girls’ current ages. What my dad thought of me at that point I will never know. The hopes and dreams he had for me are not thoughts that he chose to share with me when he had the memory of them. But, my knowing what he thought doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I’m grateful for the time that he has spent with me. If that time was letting me sit on the table at Mom’s birthday party or sitting in my car as I ran errands with he and my girls – I’m grateful for the time. My fondest memories are times that I spent with my family!

This Father’s Day, I want to wish my dad a Happy Fathers Day and thank him for the time that he chose to invest in our family. It was a wise and valuable investment.

Just some other photos from our camping trip. Elena and Emily enjoyed playing with the stroller and giving rides. Emily is now big enough to climb in the stroller by herself. Julia had been riding for quite a while as an activity while Emily took her afternoon nap. I wasn’t lucky enough to have both girls nap at the same time.

Kenny let Emily ‘pretend’ drive while they were waiting for me to get Julia ready for the pool. Emily was as thrilled as punch to be behind the wheel. Who knows how many buttons she ‘adjusted’ for Kenny. Emily warmed up to Kenny a lot on this trip, normally she is somewhat cautious. Emily was trying to call the Smith boys by the right names too. It was really cute even when she didn’t get them all right. I appreciated the boys playing with Emily and not minding being called by the wrong name.

While we were camping we went to a talk about possums on Saturday morning. The talk had some interesting things in it, but it sure didn’t capture the excitement of two-year-olds. Emily picked dandelions, worked on sharing toys with Elena, visited with the other people at the talk, and was thrilled to leave the talk early.

After the talk, we said hello to some horses. The horses weren’t inclined to visit, but seeing them up close was fun. Julia was OK with someone else holding her in the close vicinity of her mother. That didn’t happen much on the trip. Somehow she lost one sock.