daddy time.

Rick is on Plastic Surgery this month, which means we have been seeing a whole lot more of him. Hooray! One of the most fun parts about this busy General Surgery residency year is that the rare evening or weekend that he is home feels like a huge celebration. 

We have gotten some good projects done together. A couple of weekends ago we finally built Everett a twin bed instead of his little toddler sized one. He let the kids color the wood first! We have gotten good at building beds... we bought the wood in the morning, Rick made it in the afternoon, and I upholstered it before Everett went to bed.

Wow, got enough screens? Rick also has a lot of reading to do while he's at home, plus he should be starting to study for Step 3.

The kids found a pack of water balloons and had fun doing that with their dad.

A couple of Saturdays ago, as soon as the kids woke up we went over to O.P. Schnabel park for a family bike ride/walk along the trails. Everett lasted a long time on his little bike!

The boys have always wanted to see the deer I tell them about after my early Saturday morning runs, and we did get to see some! (You can see one in the distance here.)

We spotted a park just off the trail and played for a bit.

The girl is a good climber! She totally embarrassed a 2 1/2-year-old boy at a different playground today by scaling a little rock wall while he tried and failed.

And last Saturday, our neighborhood pool opened one last time. Too bad it closes long before the heat leaves! This was a big summer for the boys: they both learned to swim and to ride new bikes (a two-wheeler for Carson, and the balance bike for Everett.)

Whenever Faye climbs out of the pool, she takes a minute to observe the water dripping off her swimsuit. Lovely!

Faye is getting a little uptight here because she realizes Rick is about to leave. (I think he was on call this weekend? I can't remember why he's wearing his uniform.)