Painting, Parks, and Fireworks, Oh my!

Ah! The weather has cooled from July's hot, often humid "air conditioning" weather to a more pleasant August warmth. August is my favorite of the summer months, long warm sunny days following by cool and refreshing nights, and just a tinge of fall creeps in.

We have been busy trying to absorb as much of that atmosphere as possible over the past week. Joshua is currently highly enamored with fireworks, so much so that he cannot stop talking about them even while watching them. ("It was green, Mommy--look, red AND purple, ooh silver...") We've been able to view them not once, but twice this week, so he's considering it a succesful one. Tuesday night's show was viewable from our deck (another of the perks of living in the heart of a small town) so we put Lydia to bed before they got started. Last night was following Concert in the Park, an annual outdoor orchestra concert, and not near the convenience of her bed. So, I was a bit tentative about how she'd do well-past her bedtime with extremely loud booms, but snuggled in Daddy's lap she didn't even flinch at the noises (past the first one, of course) and even seemed to enjoy watching the colors and lights.

We've continued to make daily visits to the local parks and it's more and more fun to watch Lydia. She starts bouncing and squealing when she sees the swings! Joshua is a little monkey and can't get enough of jumping and climbing on everything, though he scares me sometimes, because when it comes to park structures, he has no fear. We took a detour on our walk to the park this morning and swung by the fire station. Several of my friends with little boys have mentioned that our local fire station is happy to give tours pretty much anytime assuming there aren't any emergencies. We haven't taken advantage of it as of yet, so our completely unscheduled morning seemed like a good opportunity. Joshua was definitely in awe of the trucks, although a bit hesitant lest touching something should cause the sirens to start sounding. He got to climb into the jump-seat on one of the older trucks and probably could have spent the rest of the day climbing in and out. He also got to try on our friend Paul's helmet. It was way too cute! Alas, the sponteneity of the trip did prevent me from capturing any of it on film, but it was fun. I have a feeling we'll be returning at some point not too far in the future, so maybe next time.

We've also been trying to get some projects done around the house. The most recent is re-paining our deck as time allows. Joshua has insisted on "helping" James paint, and really for a two year old, he does a great job. The brush, however, is a bit worse for the wear. ;-)

I love keeping you all updated on our life story in pictures, BUT, my babies only sleep so long, so I should probably get something done with my remaining few minutes.