Pretty Happy Funny Real ~ the backyard edition

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with Like Mother Like Daughter

{Pretty}

I found swimsuits for the little ones at Marshalls, which have lots of skin coverage for the sun AND these two sure do look adorable in them!  I didn't get great pictures but babies in the backyard itty bitty kiddy pool are one of my favorite things.

Bluejay is not wearing his octopus swim trunks because they were missing come swim time.  He is very interested in selecting his own clothes right now, which means he has several wardrobe changes each day and often decides to wear his swim trunks or top to coordinate with other items of clothing (like winter mittens, for example).

{Happy}

Chickadee has developed a very serious interest in books!  There are a few she particularly likes, and always picks out when it's book reading time, and wants to hear them read over and over and over and over and over (and over and over a few more times) again.  My Animal Friend is one of her current favorites.  As soon as you finish it, you have to start again at the beginning.  All of these Gyo Fujikawa books are from the collection of children's books my mom saved.  Did anyone else grow up with his books?  We have so many, and they are wonderful.  But I don't think I've ever seen them anywhere else.

{Funny}

I found this in my camera when I was downloading pictures for this post.  It is one of husband's favorite jokes.  And yes, it is still funny.  Almost as funny as posting it here, mwaaa ha ha ha!!!

Isn't he cute, though??

And since he is funny, here are some more... he got in the pool to distract Chickadee from the terrible, horribleness of having a swimsuit inflicted upon her.

I told you it was an itty bitty pool!

More often, though, this is what we see when we look at Daddy:

And in this case, the picture was taken by his budding photographer son:

{Real}

Not long ago, we slept every evening to the sound of several romantic frogs, singing gaily to potential mates, all night long.  No closed doors or double-paned windows could muffle their romance.  And clearly, all that frog noise was successful, because now there are hundreds and hundreds of very large tadpoles in our pond.  And this is a good thing, because frogs are needed, I understand their numbers are dwindling at the moment and they do lots of good, like eating mosquitos, for example.  But that many in a very small pond, it's just a little bit creepy.  

Being a nice mama, I squelched my qualms and caught one in a jar for the children to see at close quarters.

They decided to get close anyway, and Chickadee in particular, is most intrepid.  Numerous times I've caught her throwing a leg over those rocks to try to climb in the pond.  Having toddlers and a pond in the back yard is not the best combination.  But we've looked at many options of how to get rid of it and they are all problematic.  So for now, I am adding lifeguard duties to my other responsibilities.

Check out all the other wonderful {phfr} entries over at Like Mother Like Daughter.