Summer…are you there?
This spring’s weather has been full of extremes but the few really warm days we have had these last couple weeks lead us to believe that this past weekend would be just warm enough to head to the beach near my parents’ lakehouse.
The day started off chillier than we expected so we attempted to convince the kids to try out the Gainesville Zoo instead and wait until the sun actually came out to try out the beach.
Much to our kids surprise there happened to be a train that would take kids on a ride all around the park grounds outside the zoo. Our train loving boys (and girl) opted for this adventure instead of the zoo. We ended up checking out the ginormous playground right behind the train station as well. What an unexpected treat. How have we been coming to Gainesville (well Kiowa) all these years and never been to this park??!!!
All aboard…
So much to climb…so little time!
! 
We finally gave in and once the temperature hit 73 and headed to the beach. I didn’t think the kids would want to put on their swimsuits but this NOT being my first rodeo, I had them in the car just in case. I shouldn’t have been surprised at all when Bree told me the water felt great and she wanted to swim. Bauer and Bennett quickly followed suit.
Sean was a trooper and donned his suit as well and I got to get by with just my shorts and t-shirt…SCORE! You can’t argue with a 6, 4 and 2 year old, but this mom is here to tell you that the water was COLD…
But the sand felt great and it turned out to be the perfect afternoon to remind ourselves how to sift for seashells and build a giant sand moat that would end up back in the water.
There was a brief moment (about 4 minutes long) that Sean and I were actually sitting together on the beach towel watching all three kids play right at the edge of the water. It was blissful. This is what you wait for…those short moments of time when you get to observe 3 very happy kids not needing anything from you. We both looked at each other and sighed 
PRE-SWIMSUITS
Those 4 blissful minutes of independent kiddos
Your four minutes are up….mom and dad are back in the game….
I’m still a team player without my swim suit on 
And then we were so hot we couldn’t even keep our shirts on…
What an amazing family day in Gainesville/Lake Kiowa! Looking forward to lots more unexpected adventures once summer finally gets here! Heard its supposed to be 35 tomorrow…what the what! Stay warm everyone!
