Happy Mother's Day!

Today we were able to celebrate Mother's Day with my wonderful mother-in-law as the seven of us had dinner this evening at TGIF. We used gift cards plus a coupon for a free steak dinner. She is an amazing mom and grandma. I am ever so blessed to be able to call her my mother-in-law. It was also very nice to spend some time with my mom two days ago in Maryland. Usually Paul doesn't do anything for me for Mother's Day. I think part of the reason is that it's so soon after my birthday. I buy him gifts and have the kids make cards for him for Father's Day. I was very surprised though that he had purchased a card for me this year. I absolutely LOVE being a mom. I had dreamed of being a mom since I was a child. Parts of motherhood have definitely been harder than I had anticipated, but being a mom the past almost seven years has been utterly amazing. I love my three children more than words can express. I remember all the Mother's Days in the past when my heart was aching, and I always pray for women still in that state.

The first moment Oliver got into the pool yesterday it was obvious he still had no fear. He will just jump right into the part that is 5 feet deep. Thank goodness he has a flotation device attached to him! At first though he didn't grasp the concept of what to do with his arms and legs to move around the pool, but he quickly figured that out and can travel around the pool now. The water in the two pools is about 87 degrees, and he likes that a lot. Ian is a big fan of joining me in the three Jacuzzis where the water temperature is about 107 degrees. We haven't taken Oliver in them, and Nadia thinks it's too hot. Ian frequently asks me to take him in a Jacuzzi. Oliver doesn't like the water temperature in the splash pad, but he's done better with the water sprayed on him in the pirate ship (much cooler water). Nadia adores the big water slide. Ian liked it yesterday but didn't enjoy it today. Oliver wants to go on it, but he's 6 inches too short. Oliver wasn't too sure at first about the small water slides coming from the pirate ship, but now he loves them as Ian does.

Finally taking off from DC!

This afternoon Nadia enjoyed playing hot cannonball (like hot potato), using a hula hoop, doing a water balloon toss (with me as her partner), and doing some dances (hokey pokey, YMCA, chicken dance, and the limbo). These were new to her. I participated in some to help her earn more tokens, especially as they were giving moms double tokens today since it was Mother's Day. The husband and wife duo that lead these activities every Sunday afternoon (we've seen them every year) dress like pirates. The wife is VERY pregnant with their second baby. It's not every day that you see a pregnant pirate who looks like she's about to pop, ha ha! Generally Nadia and Oliver are the ones talking to strangers in the pool, but this afternoon Ian played with another five year old boy for more than an hour. He also met another 5 year old boy in the pool who shares the same exact birthday with him! After dinner the kids did a little bit of miniature golf, played on the playground and also did a little bit of ping pong and foosball. It was very hot today (97 degrees!) but the humidity has been very low, and we've been in the water for many hours each day.