Pool, bikes and chess.

 So Ben graduated 4K!  And of course we had a graduation ceremony to celebrate, lest any normal, everyday accomplishment go unrecognized.

Now with all this free time we've been able to have playdates with Ben's friends every day!  (No...)  Every other day!  (Nope...)  Every week!  (Uh uh....)  We've had one since school ended!  (Wrong...)  Ok, so he's occasionally seen some friends at the pool.

I have, however, been able to get a LOT more done around the house.  (Define "LOT"...)  I mean, I've gotten some stuff done.  (Right...)  Ok, ok, I've mowed the lawn, put grass seed and ant killer down, done the dishes and the laundry and just about nothing else.  (That's more like it...)

To sum up, it turns out that it's harder to get things done in the summer than it is in the winter.  Mainly just around here I'm guessing.  With Beth always at work, I've got to do all the "Man's work" as well as all of the house work...as well as constantly take the kids to the pool and the park.  It may not sound that bad, but just think of all the things you split with your spouse.  It's a lot.

But, on the upside, Beth will be off soon since the baby is due July 12th, so I'll be able to catch up around then.  Just don't visit and try to use the bathroom in the meantime.  Perhaps I'll put an outhouse out back for visitors until then...it's bound to be cleanlier.

Ben's been hugely into chess lately, which I'm quite please with.  If he's not gonna be interested in sports, I'm glad he at least likes strategy!

He plays against me, against a monkey on the computer who moves randomly and against himself.  He usually loses to me, beats the monkey pretty consistently and almost always beats himself.

Julia is a very smart girl, but it's very hard to convey that with anecdotes.  She's still one till July 12th, but she can talk in full sentences (some of the time), count to ten, knows some colors, knows about 15 full songs and can tell what kind of sound is made by what.  If there's a lawnmower, she knows what it is by sound and knows it's different than a trimmer or a leaf blower.  She can tell the difference (most of the time) between a plane and a helicopter.  She knows a train whistle, a truck backing up beep, what the mail truck sounds like and a lot more.  And she hears them when most people don't, which means she's always paying attention.  It's a trait I was hoping Ben would have, but he leans more toward the extremely focused aspect...which is good for chess, so that's fine.  The always paying attention to everything thing works great for sports, and I'm fairly certain Julia will excel at sports.

Remember, she's still not two, and she can ride Ben's old bike...the one with 14" wheels.  Ben started riding that bike when he was three and just transitioned off of it a week or so ago.  A one year old riding a three year old's bike.

Beth, when not working, has been getting the baby's room ready.  It's pretty much all set; she just needs me to put up the curtains...which I'm working on.

And I have 2 volleyball tournaments (maybe 3) left this summer.  I'm hoping.  We'll just have to wait and see when the baby decides to arrive.