Pool Time and Birthday Celebrating

Last week with T and S we adventured to the Cryptologic Museum to "learn" more about codes and machines that have been used by our government. Needless to say, keeping track of four children, especially Jonah, meant I didn't do reading of any sort. I was a little worried about how T and S would do- the word museum might automatically make it boring. But as we walked in, they were offered to do the challenge of decoding 10 clues throughout the museum. They were given a cipher, which changed at each clue, and they decoded words and phrases. It mostly meant that I would read off which letters lined up together, but it was fun! They each got a little prize at the end (which was the main motivator for completing it!)

Later on that afternoon we headed to a local pool, where I inadvertently got Noelle in for free. They couldn't see her over the counter and they thought I was including Jonah (who was free) when I said I had four people, and then of course it took me awhile to realize I didn't pay for four people. Oh well! I was nervous about having four kids to look after, especially since Jonah and Noelle do not know how to swim and have only been around water a little bit. (Maybe Jonah's first time in the pool??) But the kiddie pool worked out really well for my two while T and S played in the big pool, and checked in with me every so often.

Jonah working on his de-coding

Later on in the week, I met my friend and her little guy at her gym for some playtime in the pool. They had a really nice kiddie pool, and Noelle and Jonah spent pretty much the whole time playing in the shallowest part with all my friend's pool toys. All this time in the pool makes me want to get a membership somewhere next summer! Luke wants to teach them how to swim, but we just need consistent access to a pool.

clearly excited about her birthday cake

We also decided to have a last minute birthday celebration for Noelle on Sunday evening with our families. Nothing like calling and texting our families on Sunday afternoon to come join us for pizza and cake that evening. But we had all the grandparents and two aunts, and once Noelle recovered from her nap on the couch, she loved being the center of attention.

We've been enjoying a lot of our summer evenings by taking walks around the neighborhood and then eating popsicles. We've gotta soak up our time outside while we can!