The Growing Caldwell Family

The kids spent a fun week at Vacation Bible School at the local Methodist church. The theme was Surf Shack - surfing the wave of God's love! They had a blast! They enjoyed music all done in a surf theme talking about God's love and awesome ways. We didn't know if Sissy would know anyone there but her friend from St. B's, Allie, was there! Yay for seeing a familiar face! One of the highlights of Surf Shack was the Beach Bash party for families! We sang songs, heard Bible stories, grilled out, and the highlight was the water slides! The kids were beside themselves with excitement to try out all the slides! They had a great week and can't wait to go back next year!

Charlie recently became very interested in doing science experiments and making crafts. We researched an experiment he could do to make rice "dance" by using vinegar and baking soda in water to cause a reaction and make the rice bop around. He was pretty pleased with how it worked! He also had the idea to make his own mask using pipe cleaners and construction paper. He drew the shape and cut it out himself. I helped cut the eye holes for him. He was very happy with how it worked!

When we are at the beach, the kids love to listen for the tinkling music of the ice cream truck. We don't have an ice cream truck that comes around our neighborhood, but now we have our very own ice cream man! Charlie likes to get the ice cream cart and wheel it around to hand out ice cream! His ice cream is better than the ice cream truck's - it's free and there are no calories!

We had a laid back day going to church, having a tasty lunch, and of course, going to the American Girl Doll store!  We took Aaron for lunch at Scalini's and our crew was well behaved - a gift in itself. They can be so cute! Charlie asked for just a meatball and that is what he ate! Yep, Aaron is such a great guy that he agreed to take Sarah Graves to the AG store to get Lea's ears pierced! She was really excited to have it done and he loves her so much he agreed. After our trip to the mall we did some relaxing before going for dinner and grocery shopping. We definitely live an ordinary life! We had the restaurant all to ourselves which was nice so our crew could just be themselves. It was nice spending the day together and celebrating the great dad and uncle Aaron is for Sarah Graves, Charlie, and Olivia. We are very lucky to have him to love us all!

We had a fun Sunday afternoon playing in the sprinkler and painting. Olivia was hanging out with us and she enjoyed the fun! Livy was not impressed by the sprinkler play! Charlie thought it was fun! Sissy helped Olivia use a sponge to paint. Charlie loves to paint and spends time trying to get it just right. On this day he was painting a watermelon. The kids love all being together and if they could have it their way we would live all together on a compound!

After the dentist we took the kiddos to Costco. With 3 of them it is always an adventure!

The kids really like their dentist, Dr. Aaron. I am so glad that they don't resist going and we don't have the struggle that we used to have. We even let Aunt Nay and Livy come with us so she could see what it is like to go to the dentist! Everybody was all smiles with the news that their teeth are looking good!