Playing Around & July 4 Fun

One of the best things about my schedule at work, even though I work 13 hours at a time and sometimes overnight, I end up with more days off.  I can use that time to be at home and help out with the kids or go play.  One of the activities we do with the girls is bringing them to play groups with other kids and parents from church. When I go with them and Tanja, I am usually the only dad there. I like having the chance to play with them and be part of their day more than for just a few hours each weeknight and on the weekends like it used to be.

Here are some pictures from a recent playgroup at a local playground. Karina loved getting the chance to push Lydia on the swings.

Lydia loved getting tossed in the air.

And I loved being out with everyone for a fun afternoon.

Karina will occasionally get to ride her tricycle outside and she is proud of her helmet. She still hasn't figured out how to pedal and doesn't see the need, but she was insistent that we needed to take a picture of her wearing her helmet. I think it turned out OK.

For the Fourth of July, I had worked the previous night (July 3) and would be working the night of the Fourth as well (no fireworks for me). But that's not to say we didn't celebrate. The church here has a tradition of putting on a program every July 4 and then having a pancake breakfast, so we made our way over there (with me on less than two hours sleep) to take part. Last year, we had moved to our house and Lydia was born shortly before July 4 when we went to the July 4 party, so doing it again this year felt somewhat nostalgic. We were all dressed up in our red, white, and blue (though Karina was throwing a fit earlier because she wanted to wear one of her "pretty dresses").

One of the most popular parts of the party is a bike parade where all the kids ride their bikes around the parking lot. Karina loved this part of the activity.

Here are Tanja and Lydia in their patriotic colors before we went inside to eat our pancakes.

We got some blackberries and Lydia loved eating them (and obviously smearing them around her face). I decided she was too messy and too cute to not take a picture.