Easy, Breezy Summertime

We've been having a lot of fun the past couple weeks. Payton attended a "Candy Shoppe" camp at a local church where he learned how to make a different kind of candy each day. The good part was that he also brought home samples each day - yum!
We've also spent lots of time swimming in our neighbor's pool. They are so gracious to have us over all the time. It's much easier to go swimming at someones house right now rather than going to our community pool with Parker. He's not a big fan of cold water, so our neighbor's hot tub is perfect. They keep it "bath-water warm" so he can enjoy being a part of the whole pool experience without having to get into the cold pool. And yes, Parker is naked in this picture.

That's another nice thing about being in a friend's pool vs. our community pool. I don't have to worry about yucky swim diapers. There's nothing fun about wet diapers - be it from urine or pool water. Apparently, our little man prefers to skinny dip!

Last weekend when we were at their house, they had some leftover fireworks that we set off. My friend's camera has a "slow shutter speed" setting that allows her to capture cool pictures of the kids playing with the sparklers. As you can imagine, Payton had a ball.

This week, I took Parker and Payton to my good friend Rachel's beach condo for a few days. We had such a fun time playing and relaxing. Thanks Rachel - you're such a great hostess!!!

Next week Payton goes to another Vacation Bible School, then we only have 2 more weeks until school starts! Where did the summer go?!?! We have about half of our "Summer List" items crossed off, so we better get a move on! Happy Summering everyone.

Allowance and DS games

Payton started receiving an allowance this year. Every day he has to make his bed, tidy his room, help walk Rohy (or push the stroller), and clear the dinner dishes. We also usually have other little things throughout the week that we ask him to help with. And the most important part of all his "chores" is that he has to do them without complaining. At the end of the week he gets his allowance and then splits it up: save, spend, tithe. 
He is finally starting to understand the importance of saving... and the idea that life isn't free. He continually asks us to buy DS games for him. And each time we say, "No, but if you save your money, you can buy one." So, he finally saved up enough money and was able to purchase his own DS game.
It's called "Plants vs. Zombies." And although it sounds really dark and scary... it's actually pretty funny. Apparently Parker thought it was just as great as Payton...

Okay, so maybe Parker wasn't really interested in the game at all. He really just wanted to look at Payton. He adores his big brother. I hate to think that temper tantrums and screaming matches over sharing toys are in my future. For now, I'm trying to really savor every moment of them cuddling, laughing, and really enjoying each others company. It truly is so precious.

 

Summer List and other cute things

Have you ever created a "Summer List" with your kids? Payton, Brian and I came up with this list of things we want to do before the end of summer. We had so much fun coming up with all sorts of interesting and fun ideas. Everything from "Attend a boxing match with Dad" (Payton's idea), to "Learn how to tie shoes" (Mom's idea), to "Watch the sunset at the beach" (Dad's idea)... we came up with some great ones. I highly recommend this activity!

Payton just got back from 3 days at "Camp Nana's." Boy was it fun! He got to go to do all sorts of fun things and came back totally worn out! So we sat down to write a thank you note yesterday and he wrote everything - even the address on the outside of the envelope. Look how cute...

 

Okay, just a couple more cute photos of my littlest man. He recently realized that he has a mobile hanging over his bed. When we wakes up from his nap, he lays in there and watches the mobile and plays with his feet and lets out all these little coos and sweet noises. It's so precious!

 

That's all from our end. Please send me updates on your summer happenings!

Sleepovers, Bowling and Trains, oh my!

We're in full summertime mode here at the Heckman household! Playing with friends all day, going to bed late, sleeping in, and staying in jammies until mid-day... it's definitely laid back around here these days. 
Payton had one of his best friends sleepover this week. They had so much fun playing the Wii, taking a bubble bath, making ice cream sundaes, and staying up late. 

Today, we went bowling with our neighbors. I always forget how much fun bowling is. The kids had a great time competing for 1st place, the food is cheap, greasy and yummy, and the arcade is full of silly games. Great rainy day fun, which is what we needed since it's been raining for two days straight...

We are also discovering that Parker is going to be a train lover just like his big brother. This morning, Payton got out his little battery-operated trains and Parker looked on with great anticipation...

And one more photo to share... just because he's so darn cute in his little jumper...

Did I mention that he cut a tooth this week??? He's growing up too fast! Somebody tell me how to keep him a baby.
Hope everyone is enjoying the slow-pace of summertime!

Friends, Family and the 4th of July

Wow... what a fun "stay-cation" we had for the 4th of July. We had lots of fun enjoying our local amenities with just the four of us. Well, the four of us and our neighbors. We ended up spending almost every day with another family that lives down the street from us. They have three children, and Payton adores them. Plus, their youngest is just over 2-years old, so they aren't too removed from the "baby phase" of life and understand how we roll with Parker.
We kicked off the weekend with a pizza party on Friday night at our house. After dinner, we walked up to our local "downtown" area and enjoyed the "First Friday Concert Series." It had rained earlier in the evening, so the weather was nice and breezy and not hot at all. After listening to some music, playing some corn hole and letting the kids bounce in the bouncehouses, we ended up back at our neighbor's house for a little night swimming (Payton's favorite!).
Saturday morning, we all slept in and then went out to breakfast at our local "greasy spoon" cafe. We followed that up with a visit to the neighboring Dollar Store to load up on 4th of July essentials: Silly String Spray, neon glow-in-the-dark bracelets, and pop cap fireworks. We had a nice lazy day on Saturday and then went to Busch Gardens that evening with the same neighbors. BG has a great show during the summer called "Kinetix." For those of you who live in Tampa, you've GOT to go see this show. It's amazing! The kids had so much fun! After the show, they did a special 4th of July fireworks show. Again, amazing! You can imagine how incredible a fireworks show is at a theme park. It did not disappoint!
Sunday morning we all headed off to church and then back home again for a lazy afternoon and naps. That evening we joined some friends at their new house for dinner. It was another very fun (but late) night. Needless to say, we needed to sleep in on 4th of July... which we did! Payton even slept until almost 9 a.m.!
After a big breakfast at home, Brian and Payton headed out and bought some fireworks. Then we loaded up and walked down to our neighbors house again. We spent the afternoon swimming, playing cornhole, darts, pool games and enjoying good friends. The evening was super fun and filled with lots and lots of fireworks.
All in all, a very fun weekend and one that we will remember forever! Enjoy these fun pics of all the festivities, along with some other random pics of Parker...