paz amor y familia: summer snapshot

john john learning how to swim by himself.
overnight, he turned into a little fish - he absolutely loves swimming.
jumping off the side doing a turn cannonball combination, constantly going under -
i just love watching him having so much fun and being so active in the water.

ella and john doing some 'school work' and playing games together.
john is so concentrated when he does worksheets, taking his time to color carefully.
i saw this in the little preschool he did this year (homeschool preschool-still need to post)
his 'teacher' would always comment on how meticulous he was with his work.
i just love how serious and calm he is while doing it...

the boys started a basketball camp this week that they have done for many years.
i think christopher has done it for 5 or 6 years, they love it and it's right down the street.
they go for an hour and a half everyday, perfect for just getting them out for a bit.
i didn't take any pictures of them there this week, so these are from last year.

the boys have been in the same age group for years but this year they are split up.
so, the go at different times - i think this is good for them this year.
last year christopher won the free throw contest on the final tournament day...

going to samurai comics for yu-gi-oh! cards, the boys are little encyclopedia's with these.
they got some as payment for mowing the lawns.

fresh salads for lunch.
christopher and i had blue cheese on ours, they were delicious,
and just hit the spot on a warm summer day.

getting tp'd.
there was a loud long knock on our door around 10 pm on friday night.
we had just tucked the kids in, and opened our door to find this:

we saw the car drive off and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out who it was.
then realized it was our neighbors birthday and he was probably having a sleepover.
so, the boys walked down to tell them we had caught them.
i told the kids we could tp them back, andrew said 'perfect, they're going in the pool now'.
he was dying to do something - and so it went back and forth the next morning too...

then, they caught andrew the next morning -
they had already been down to our yard several times, checking on their work,
adding a little touch - i saw it all from the front window, our kids were still sleeping.
they would see me through the window, and then scooter/skateboard off down the street.

once andrew got caught, he joined their party - he is such a social kid.
they started playing 'chicken' in some of our neighbors front yards -
everyone lays in the front yard in a ball, someone rings the doorbell,
first one to get up is the 'chicken'.

they took john john along too - they had a lot of fun.
i actually loved that we knew right away who tp'd us - it made it so safe and fun.
back and forth in a friendly way, they're all good kids.