Kickoff to Summer

It was the best way to kick off the last summer before our little girls appear to be all grown up and take off to kindergarten in the fall. We had a big girlfriends and little girlfriends afternoon to remember.

We met over at Allison's and loaded up in Jennifer's car. This is never an easy task with three booster seats in the back and the seats overlap the buckles so it takes at least one mom and three kids to figure it all out. Not to mention that the lucky mom is coming in from the back, leaning over the seat and probably sweating in the meantime. The middle seat has two car seats and a mom and the driver and front seat rider are the least inconvenienced :0) Allison and I took turns in the front. Fifteen minutes after arriving, we head to Rockwall for a picnic and playtime in the spray plaza.

We may be a little spoiled but we all want different things to eat. We go to a place called Which Wich to get Jennifer and Allison a sandwich but they are way too crowded so we head toward McDonald's. On the way there I spot the Taco Bell / Pizza Hut and decide that pizza sounds good to me. We pull in line with four other cars and order a variety of mexican food and italian food. Then, we head under the highway to McDonald's for the rest of the crew to choose what they want. Here we hit the lunch rush again, joining six other cars in line. Everyone is starting to get very hungry but we wait patiently until we get to the Harbor.

We pick out a partially shaded area on the grassy ampitheater, lay out our towels and realize that the grass is wet so we move to the stage and sit on the steps. The stage was the girl's best friend for a few minutes as they momentarily went into Hannah Montana mode and posed every which way that she might have. Then , they remembered that they were hungry and sat down to eat and try to keep the wind from blowing away their food and drinks. (The wind was the only challenge of the day but it did keep it from being unbearably hot.)

We enjoyed the lunch and then the girls were ready to head to the water. The fountain only sprays every 15 minutes and it wasn't time yet. Ross, Alex, Anna and I went out onto the docks. The water was so choppy that it felt like you were in a boat. Ross thought this was so much fun. I could tell by his giggles. After "riding the waves", we walked along the pier and the girls hung out hoping to get wet from the lake waves.

Finally, the sprayers came on and off the children went, except for Ava. Alex and Anna ran straight to the middle of it all, Ross started on the outer sprayers but it did not take him long to get right to middle, Ashlyn must have gotten sunscreen in her eyes because she needed the wet towel and kept rubbing her eyes and Ava stayed by Allison's side. She did not want to get wet. Squealing, giggling and running was the twenty minute episode. When the water went off, they laid in the middle part and looked for it. Here is the fun they had during round one.




The sprayers went off and we thought we would wind things up and head to the bakery. The girls had other things in mind, like going back to the pier and getting wet again and going to ride the "scary ride" - known as the floating docks. So, we piddled around some more until the sprayers came back on and let them enjoy this running, splashing and squealing freedom once more. (It was funny because Jennifer had the girls out in the center singing "America" and as they finished the water came on - they thought it was because of them.)

We ended the day by going to the bakery and getting cookies. The poor men in there trying to have a business meeting probably had to put their thoughts on hold for the 20 minutes we sat in there with giggly girls and strolling toddlers. It was back to the car, back to the buckling and back on the road.

The afternoon was amazing and will be one that we remember for years to come. We love each other and we love that our kids love each other. We truly would not have it any other way.