Summer Bucket List Update

I know today is the "unofficial" start of summer, but we've already managed to knock a few things off of our summer bucket list in the Smithson household.  A lot of these items won't happen until we go on vacation in July, but we're looking forward to a summer full of fun until then!                                                                           
• Go see a movie 
• Play in sprinkler 
• Watch fireworks
• Play putt-putt
• Build a sandcastle 
• Find seashells
• Family vacation  
• Try a new restaurant 
• Buy ice cream 
• Buy food from a food truck
• Family slumber party
• Night swimming 
• Vacation bible school
• Go to the zoo
• Go to the aquarium
• Go to Rock City
•  Go canoeing 

Life Lately

Happy Friday!  We are officially on summer break!  I had to work Monday, Tuesday, and about an hour on Wednesday, so we're completely in "summer mode" now.  We don't have any big plans for Memorial Day weekend besides joining the pool, so I see lots of swimming in our immediate future.  Here's what we've been up to lately!

• Cooper finished out kindergarten strong!  He had such a WONDERFUL year, and I can't praise his teachers enough.  Kindergarten is such a critical year for learning and learning to love school, and thanks to his teachers, he's already looking forward to 1st grade!  He's definitely going to be bored this summer... he wakes up every day asking me what "fun thing" I have lined up for the day.  He's definitely going to keep me busy!  I signed him and Clark up for the summer reading program at our local library, so he's been reading like crazy!  We've swam a few times at the Y this week, and he's back to being a little fish.  Thankfully he didn't forget how to swim over the winter, and he's looking forward to getting in an outdoor pool soon.
• Clark is as wild and ornery as ever.  We're trying really hard to get him to branch out and eat more, but let me tell you, I want to cry through every meal with him.  He has so much anxiety when it comes to eating, and with food in general, that every single meal is a chore, even when he likes the food.  I hate it for him.  He's done better the last day or so since we've laid down the law, but it takes him forever to finish a meal, and he's just miserable.  We're just trying to get him to eat sandwiches so he'll have something he can eat at pre-k next year.  I don't know what to do for the poor guy.  Our pediatrician isn't concerned because he's consistently gaining weight, but it's extremely frustrating as a mom to look at the tiny list of things he eats, and how little he eats of them.  I don't know how he's surviving.  We're also trying to get him to eat anything that's consistently on a kids menu at restaurants, but we're not having any luck there either.
• Abel is as busy and sassy as ever!  I took him to the doctor yesterday for his 15 month checkup, and everything looked great!  He's been loving the pool, and he makes me nervous in the water!  He likes to dunk his head, and he'll be the type that'll dive in the minute I turn my head.  He wants to be "independent" in the pool, so we've tried every type of floatation device we can find.  He fits in a puddle jumper fine, and once he figures out how to balance himself in it, I think that'll work for him fine.  The primary thing we're using now is an old school baby float.  He doesn't have as much independence in it since it keeps him out of the water more than he'd prefer, but it's our safest option at the moment. 
• I've said this a million times, but my boys like to be on the go.  I've told them over and over that I'm not making plans every single day this summer, but I'm hoping to keep us to somewhat of a routine over the next couple of months.  My goal is to make it to the Y most weekday mornings after breakfast, and then go swimming or somewhere like the Aquarium or zoo, then naps, and then whatever once Andy gets home from work.  Between our pool membership and family/friends houses, we swim a lot in the summer.  We also have memberships to the Chattanooga Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium, Rock City, and the Chattanooga area YMCAs, so we have plenty to keep us busy that we don't have to pay for each time we go.  
• I still haven't found another TV series that I want to watch.  I've been reading so much in any spare time that I have that TV has been put on the back burner.  I'd like to find one that Andy and I would both like to watch this summer, so I'm open to suggestions!  If I've been watching anything lately, it's been a lot of Disney movies... I'm ready for something that isn't animated!
• Andy turned me loose today with an unlimited amount of time for child free shopping.  I took about 3 hours and hit up Southern Charm, Old Navy, and Target.  Everywhere was running great sales for Memorial Day weekend, so I got a good amount of clothes that were all on sale.  Apparently, my summer wardrobe is going to be made up of shift/t-shirt dresses because that's all I've bought this year.  Granted, if I have to take off chasing a boy or pick Abel up from the floor, I run the risk of showing too much in a dress, but they're light and cool.  I'm not a huge fan of shorts, so dresses are my best bet to not burn up.  I have bought some really cute shorts at Target this year, so I'm hoping to retire my jeans for awhile.

Alright, I hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day Weekend!  Like I said, we're planning on swimming (weather permitting), watching fireworks, and going to the the Street Food Festival Sunday.  For some reason, food always tastes better when it comes from a truck!

Saturday Hiking

Last Saturday we went on a hike at the Pocket.  It's in the Cove, on the Pigeon Mountain side.  We've been there before, and it's a great place to throw rocks and look for crawdads, and that's all the boys wanted to do.  It's an easy hike, and for the most part, I feel like I can hang pretty well in a family of all boys when it comes to outdoor stuff.  I was really worried about snakes and parasites on this particular day though (thanks to Coop getting so sick last year, parasites are a constant worry of mine), and felt extra girly and out of my element a bit.  Cooper and Clark were very sweet and told me to "be careful and don't fall" about a million times, so my protectors were ready to help me out!

Abel just wanted to be in the water the entire time, and made the hike rather difficult at times.  He's definitely 100% boy, just like his brothers!