I am pretty obsessed with this summer, so far. We had another wonderful weekend of fun in the sun. The kids spent so much time in the water (pools, baths, and sprinklers) that I’m surprised their skin isn’t permanently wrinkled. They indulged in way more deserts than they are usually allowed, and enjoyed every bite. They’ve stayed up late to watch movies and eat fruit and corn on the cob. They spent a ton of time playing on playground equipment and just having a good time with each other. It is so much fun to watch them enjoy each other by playing tag and hide and seek. These are such simple things that kids do, but watching the fun through the eyes of your own children is nothing short of magical.

This afternoon, we went to a local grocery store that has a small animal farm / petting zoo out front. We greeted the sheep and chickens with lots of enthusiasm and high hopes for this adventure. When we got near the stationary cow that makes noise, both boys lost it and started screaming and shaking. They were yelling out “No cow! No cow! Go away!” We quickly walked on to the next area, which happened to be real live cows. The kids have seen real cows numerous times before at the Nature Center, but they were not at all interested this time. The giant fake cow ruined it for them. When we went inside later on, the kids were all in one shopping cart and Taylor pushed a button on yet another mechanical cow (that she loves) and Jackson flipped out. I caught part of his fit of screaming on video. I felt badly for him, but it was pretty funny and it will be amusing to show him some day when he’s older. He’s actually already watching it on my phone tonight and laughing at himself. He’s a good sport.

We had ice cream there, before dinner. That was such a big deal for Taylor and she keeps telling me how special it was to do that. It was quite an interesting experience. A woman walked up to us and told us what a beautiful family we had. She said she also had twins that were away at camp and she gifted us with a free ice cream coupon. It was so nice not to be bombarded with “twin questions” for once. As soon as we sat down, Jackson dropped his entire cup of ice cream, face down on the pavement. Joseph dropped his spoon into something nasty on the ground and threw a tantrum when Todd wouldn’t allow him to continue to use it. The replacement spoon just wasn’t right to him. We were in an outside tent-like area, so there were birds loudly chirping and flying overhead. Apparently, they were bugging Taylor more than the rest of us because she looked up and said “Mom! I told those birds to shut up!” Todd and I were both completely flabbergasted. It took a moment for me to compose myself (he was laughing silently and uncontrollably into his shirt for way too long) and discuss what she said and why she is not allowed to say it again. We generally don’t speak like that in front of the kids, but will definitely have to watch our words even more so now. The kids also got a new movie (a Disney one, believe it or not) that we discovered uses a lot of “not kind” words. We discussed it when the words were spoken on screen and reminded her that she is not to repeat them, or she will not get to watch the movie anymore.

With that said, Todd and I are off to round off the weekend of wholesome family fun by watching some more Orange is the New Black. Surely, there won’t be any unkind words on there.