Rain, rain go away...or not!

We had a couple of days earlier this month that rained pretty much nonstop. But instead of being bored with not being able to go outside, Ben came up with plenty of fun things to do inside--some were quite creative! At first glance the above picture looks like an ordinary tree, but after taking a closer look you will notice it is actually full of stealth military agents on a mission...

I don't know about Kylie, but I know I had a strange feeling I was being watched everytime I walked into the family room! At least we were safe and protected right?

Ben really wanted to go to the pool--I guess he figured he would at least get to play with the kickboard because he used an old chemistry atom/molecule kit that I have and created this:

Who else other than Ben would have thought of such a fun and creative thing to do with a model kit?! I don't really know exactly what it was, but it sure looked like something incredible!

Ben also created a "Puzzle Museum" complete with a map section (USA and solar system puzzles), a prehistoric section (dinosaur puzzles), a cat area (several kitten puzzles), and a few others. We had just watched the movie Night at the Museum, so I'm sure that was part of the inspiration behind the idea! I thought it was a great idea--and we had lots of fun working puzzles that day. So while Ben was busy with puzzles, etc., Kylie had her own fun exploring and playing. Watching her learn new things and discover things for the first time has been so much fun for me! I am so glad I get to spend so much time with Ben and Kylie right now--I know these years will pass all too soon and I'm doing my best to soak it all up while I can. And when it is not raining you can often find us at the YMCA pool. Ben has really become a confident swimmer this summer and mastered a few new skills--he loves to do cannonballs, dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve things, and go down the slide. Kylie watches everything Ben does and thinks she can do it too! She flaps her arms and kicks her legs and even puts her face in the water and LOVES it! She thinks she can swim and tries to get out of my arms. Splashing doesn't bother her a bit.

And after some intense playing she's perfectly content to lounge in her stroller by the pool while Ben plays for as long as he can. Sometimes she even gets a good nap.

It doesn't get much better than this!