The air is blinking!

Yes, the air IS blinking! Blinking with lightning bugs. Cori is the world's best lightning bug catcher. She has her little bug net and she zooms through the grass in her bare feet. Every time she catches one she yells, "Mommy i got it! I got it!" We put them in a tupperware container and watch them blinkity blink. Oh to be young and excited over lightning bugs!

Daddy and Cori have been going over to the Ostendorf pool for swimming. Mommy has another week before she can be in the water. Drat! Whose idea was this to have surgery during summer anyway??

Tried camping in the back yard last night. Unfortunately, our neighbors (two doors down) were have a pretty loud outdoor birthday party. We tried and tried to put Cori to bed in the tent but the noise was bothering her. Finally she told Adam that she just couldn't sleep with all the noise. Next thing you know, i hear Cori hollering from inside the tent, "Well i guess camping is over!" She was pretty mad. Neighbors kept at it til after 2:30 am. So no one slept in the tent. Boo Hiss In my younger days i would have done one of two things. #1 joined them. #2 yelled across the fence for them to shut up. Last night i just wanted to call the cops! Must be getting old.

Swimming and Swimming

We've been doing quite a bit of swimming around here. As the weather permits, we have been making the very long 1 and 1/2 block trek to the Piqua Pool. Cori nearly vibrates with excitement when we are getting ready to go. I don't get much actual swimming in. My job is to constantly be nearby in case Cori's floatation vest suddenly stops working and to be at the end of the water slide to "catch" Cori when she comes down. Usually that means getting splashed to death while she is have a WONDERFUL time! Now if the weather would only cooperate a little more.

I have surgery on Tuesday the 15th of June so i don't know when i will be able to take her to the pool again. Hopefully, Adam will take her.

Oh and p.s. Hennin has been stuck in a tree for 3 days. Send help!!

The Hennin Report

Cori has a friend. His name is Hennin. He lives a rather interesting life. Yesterday he was fishing. Today he is at a ball game in blue pants with a blue shirt. Hennin gets to do a lot of stuff that Cori either wishes she could do, or stuff that she is not allowed to do. Oh, did i mention that Hennin is imaginary? Prior, we thought his name was Himmen. We were wrong!
Yes, Cori has an imaginary friend. She doesn't play with him or ask us to make him lunch or to make room for him in the car. But every day we get the "Hennin Report". We get to hear all about what her friend is up to.
I am not concerned at all. Most of what i have read has indicated that imaginary friends are healthy and helpful. I know that i had an imaginary friend when i was Cori's age. Actually, i had an entire imaginary family. They lived in the climbing tree in my front yard. The tree even had bedrooms, a living room and kitchen. I loved that tree and my tree family.
My niece, Erin had a couple of imaginary friends. The one i remember the most was named Robin. Poor Robin. I was always sitting on him! My other niece, Molly, even had a friend who was a can of chicken noodle soup for a little while. Yes, an actual can of chicken noodle soup!
We will keep an eye on Hennin. He could become rather useful. Yesterday, Hennin was fishing, i have a feeling that Cori would like to go too. She really enjoyed that last summer. If Hennin is at the ball game, i have no doubt it is because Cori wanted to go watch her Grandpa's team play softball. We didn't go and she was pretty upset about it.
I am thinking that Hennin could bring some insight to what Cori would like to be doing. I know, i know, i could just ask Cori what she wants to do, but keeping track of Hennin seems like so much fun!

First Day at the Big Pool

My whole extended family was pretty busy this weekend with their own things and Adam had to work, sooooooooooo, Cori and i went to the Piqua Pool today. Little did i know that the pool was nearly not even opened this year. WHAT?! I guess the City Manager was complaining that Piqua (like every other town in the country) is losing money. Apparently, the pool hasn't turned a profit in the last 5 years. Hmmm, you mean since Troy opened it's amazing municipal water park 5 years ago, the Piqua Pool (23 years old) has been losing money? Go figure!
But our ever community conscious council members over-ruled the city manager and the pool opened on schedule. I figure those city council members were thinking that the kids who normally go to the pool would be terrorizing the neighborhoods if the pool was closed and they didn't want that to happen.
It was a beautiful day for a trip to the pool. Did i mention the pool is a block and half from our house? For $5.50 Cori and i had all the water fun we could handle! The pool has 3 water slides. One for tots like Cori, one for older children and the Eviscerator (Ice Age 2 reference) for the adventurous. For now i have convinced Cori to stay with the tot slide. We will see if she has graduated to the larger slide by the end of the summer. Ain't no way i am taking her down the HUGE slide. Maybe Adam will do that for her.
Cori is such a social butterfly. She says "Hi" to every kid she passes. It doesn't matter what age they are. If they are breathing they are fair game for Cori to introduce herself to. She even tries to make conversation with the adults. At one point i felt bad for the lifeguard who was assigned to the area of the kiddie slide. I had to tell Cori that the lifeguard was busy watching the water for potential drowning victims and didn't have time to listen to her stories or play her game of 5million questions. Shy she ain't!
If the weather holds out, we are going back tomorrow. Cori wants Daddy to go with us. Should be a good time!

What???

Tonight Cori put on her best pouty face and announced rather loudly the following: "Mommy doesn't love me. Daddy doesn't love me. Shelby doesn't love me. Nobody loves me!" She then drug her feet to her room with her chin upon her chest and slammed the door. Adam and i both said, "What??" A minute later the door to her room flew open and she ran out hollering, "Everybody loves me! YAY!!" She is 3. I thought insanity didn't show up until much later.

Yesterday morning she came into our bedroom at 7am and announced that it was now time to go swimming. What??

And earlier today Cori told me that her friend Himmen and his pet rhinoceros were coming over for dinner and we needed to have peanut butter and jelly, carrots and dip and jello. WHAT??

She must be Adam's kid.

And so it begins!

Summer officially starts the first day Cori is in a pool. So i guess that means that yesterday, summer started. Cori and i went to K-Mart and picked out a little pool. It amazes me what $9 can buy. I am sure it was made in China and full of lead and tainted baby milk but hey, it was $9 what do you expect?

We were filling it up when Adam arrived home from work just in time to save us from droopy pool side disaster! By 6:30 we were adding some hot water and Cori was swimming. The water was freezing and her lips started turning blue but she was having a blast! It was 90 degrees outside so i am guessing the cold water felt good. Can't wait til the Piqua pool opens and she can really swim!

1....2.....

I was putting Cori down for her nap today as usual, and i read her a story, as usual. I have to stop at 1 story and be firm about it or Cori sets out to demonstrate the old addage, "give an inch, they take a mile." While she knows she gets one and one story only, this doesn't stop her from asking for two once in a while. When she asked today, i said, "No Cori, it is naptime." to which she replied, "Don't make me count to 3 Mommy."

I know that my Mother is laughing her head off somewhere as she reads this and is thinking that payback is a ..... well, you know what it is.