Summertime and the livin's easy

The girls have been having lots of fun playing in the water.  On Saturday, we went to a goodbye brunch for Marc, Shana, Grady and Reese Arnold.  Marc (call sign Pig) was Josh's BFF during his Qatar deployment.  They are leaving the Marine Corps and headed for civilian life back home in Ohio.  We were lame and didn't take any pictures of them, but we snapped a few of the girls playing in their water play area outside.

And here's a picture of Josh and Marc with the babies before they left for Qatar.

Side note: Pig gave Josh a pen with Big Love (his call sign) engraved on it as a going away present, which I thought was pretty darn thoughtful.  Apparently, Josh wrote Pig's name on his pen in Qatar so he wouldn't lose it.  So he returned the favor.

Later that weekend, we ran out and got the girls their own water play area.  As much as I would like to take them to the pool during the week, they are too crazy and it would be DANGER with a capital D.  So we have to wait until the weekends when daddy is home for pool-going.  Once I got this blown up (and almost passed out from oxygen deprivation), we had some fun.  We invited the Cromwells over and Gavin splashed around with them a bit. 

The Cromwells are also leaving us for Quantico, Virginia.  They've been two houses down for more than four years.  It is going to be a lonely neighborhood without them around.

Another side note: At some point during the day, Piper fell down, apparently while she was sticking out her tongue.  Her mouth was bleeding for a short time, and I took a glance in there, assessed the situation, and thought she was okay.  So we continued on with our day of playing in the water.  Josh came home, took a look at it and promptly took her to the E.R.  She did not end up needing stitches (they don't usually stitch tongues; good to know), but it is a good-sized gash.  She also bonked her head in the tub the night before and cut right above her eye.  So now she is hardcore with two bloody wounds.  And I feel like a negligent mom!