surprises from the "mailman"

the boys all collect 'yu-gi-oh!' cards and 'duel' each other.
this summer the cards served as payment to them for mowing the yards.
a couple times, they ordered them off amazon.

christopher had the idea of rewrapping the cards he didn't want for john.
he would wrap them in the original packaging, tape it together, and put them in the mailbox.
then, he would tell john that the mailman had left him something.

john john would get so excited, and run out to see what was waiting for him in the mailbox.
it absolutely made his day.
then christopher would continue to do it over and over, as it made john so happy.

after learning this sweet example from his older brother, john did the same to andrew.
one day this summer he started wrapping up cards for andrew to retrieve from the mailbox.

he was so happy and excited to do this for his older brother.

he would go and hide, wrap and tape them all up, then run and put them in the mailbox.
he couldn't wait for andrew to see what he had packed up for him.

it was so cute to see this go on over the summer on a couple different days.
they were so determined to place these surprises out in the mailbox for each other.
and so excited to receive them too!

pool time

some fun shots of the kids and chris in the pool this summer.
for years they have loved having him throw them up into the air.
and this summer little john john got into it too...

towards the end of the summer, andrew resurrected his flip off the diving board.
i was nervous watching him do it again for the first time since last summer.
but he flipped himself around just fine.

and even a 12 year old still likes getting thrown up into the air by his strong dad.
he planned this throw up and turn around to wave to me while i take the picture shot.

it turned out perfect, thanks to my mastery of timing with the camera :)

another fun pool activity that chris introduced the kids to this summer was relay races.
they had a great time with it, and had the olympics as their resource too.

it is really amazing how much little john can keep up with the older kids
he is right in there with them in all that they do, and my oh my, he is a good little athlete.

then there was the toss the part of the pool noodle that broke off to john,
while dad throws him up into the air to see if he can catch it...

we feel so blessed to have a pool, really gets you through the scorching summer with kids.
not to mention great exercise and a fun summer activity for the whole family.

i will still be posting on summer stuff (or things from the past in general) for awhile,
as i cannot find my cable cord to download pictures from my camera to my computer :(
i better start praying to st. anthony...