Slip and Slide

This afternoon we went outside to play on Michael's new toy that he got for his birthday, a slip n slide. Our neighbor next door was outside with her son and the boy were going to play on their own slip n slides. Todd was pushing the boys down each slide on the small inflatable board that comes with it.

After watching this for a few minutes, the moms decided to show the boys how to slip n slide. We each went inside to put on our bathing suits and then took our turns on the slides. It was fun to go through the water and slide down to the end. It was also refreshing at the temperature was approaching 100 outside. However, one thing I realized is that it's a lot further down to the ground when you are a mom than when you are a 5 year old. I felt lucky to get a few slides in and not break anything or get any bruises.

What was pretty funny was that after I went on the slide, Michael still would not go on the slip n slide without being pushed. He would walk on it but that was it. Maybe next time.....

Where did the water go?

Yesterday we didn't have anything planned until late afternoon. So I was trying to think of something fun and new for Michael to do. We played in the sandbox for a little bit. Then I remembered an activity I had read about on Facebook or another blog.

I asked Michael if he wanted to do some painting. He asked me if it was painting like Daddy does since he has seen Todd paint the playhouse recently. I told him that it was a different kind of painting and it would only last for a little while. I also told him that it wouldn't be very messy, which is important to Michael. I got our big Home Depot bucket out and filled it one-third full of water.

We went out to the driveway with a pack of paintbrushes. I dipped my paintbrush in to the water and started to make shapes on the driveway. The temperature was in the low 90's so the water dried fairly quick. Michael saw what I was doing and started painting "grass", which was just a big spot of water that he kept expanding more and more.

Katie even got in on the fun when I gave her a paintbrush. Her idea of water painting consisted of dipping the brush in the water and then eating the end of the brush. Or just trying to see if she could stick her hands in the water.

It was fun to watch the kids playing together and painting on the driveway. Michael and I talked about where the water went and how the sun dried the water. He kept trying to paint over the places that had dried. The best parts about this activity was that it wasn't messy and the kids played for at least 30 minutes. That's a decent amount of time for one thing!

Waterboy

I can't believe a month has already passed since I blogged last. On Michael's first birthday, he got an Elmo sprinkler. Sometime last summer, I hooked it up to the hose and put it in the backyard for Michael to play with. He ran away from it so fast like Elmo was chasing him. I don't think he will be doing the same thing again this summer. Daddy was outside watering the grass and Michael couldn't stay away. He was drawn to the water like a moth to a flame.


Luckily it was a nice night outside because Michael got soaked. Here he is after all the fun of running through the hose as Daddy was watering the grass:

Then after all of that fun, he decided to ride on his new toy and dry off in the breeze. This was the first time that he didn't push it all through the yard and actually sat down and pushed the button to go. And he was off. Here he is on the side of the yard:

Looks like it's going to be a fun summer at our house!!