Hope it's Beautiful...

Jason's Grandma (Jim's Mom) passed away on Friday evening, surrounded by her family. She had been in failing health for the past few months, but she had been declining over the past couple weeks. I'm glad we had a chance to visit with her and take the kids to see her. They colored her some pictures that we hung next to her bed.

Tonight, we saw a beautiful rainbow that seemed to rise and fall right in our backyard. The picture hardly does it justice. It was so vibrant.

I would like to believe the rainbow was a sign from Grandma, sharing a piece of her heaven, telling us that she no longer stuggles or hurts.

These next few days and weeks will be trying for Jim and the entire family. Calling hours will be Tuesday night, and services will be Wednesday. Please pray for peace and comfort during this difficult time.

Little Einsteins

We had a busy weekend here at the funny farm. Saturday, we took a trip down to Columbus to visit COSI. It's a science museum that has a lot of hands-on stuff for the kids to do. I have only great things to say about this place. Summer weekends are apparently the time to go, because it wasn't crowded at all, and the kids rarely had to wait to play with any of the exhibits.

We started off the day at the Electrostatic Generator. I had to be one of the demonstrators. When I touched the ball, my hair stood up. (Something to do with positive charges repelling from each other- I know, you're not here for a science lesson, so I digress). Anyways, then we made the charge jump from my hand to the next person, and it made lightning between our almost-touching hands. Then Kennedy lined up with alot of the other kids and they all held hands, and they got shocked when we touched hands again. Daddy was manning the diaper bag and the other kids, so we didn't get any pictures, but Dillon says this was his favorite part of the day.

We then went to see some of the exhibits. There was a space area, where we learned about rockets, shuttles, and the space station. There was an ocean exhibit where we learned about submarines and buoyancy. And there was a Life exhibit where we learned about how the body works. Then we went to the Gadgets exhibit where we played with gears, magnets, and electronics. Lastly, we went to the Kidspace, where there was a great big climber, some pretend houses, a pretend veterinary clinic and ambulance, a supermarket, and lots of ways to use up all the extra energy the kids had before the car ride home. There was also a great big water room that had a big water table to play at, another table with built-in chairs for babies to sit in and splash, and a tank with super squirt guns to shoot at waterwheels and other toys that collect and dump water.

The kids slept most of the way home, and all in all it was a great day. They are having a healthy body exhibit this fall, featuring the Sesame Street gang, so I'm sure we'll be heading back. A great place for kids, alot of fun for parents too. A real hit with our entire family.

Here's a few pictures from our fun trip. More at www.flickr.com/norchfamily

Reading X-rays

"Little Einstein"

Playing with the air tubes and balls

Sydney at the Water table

Kennedy plays on the climber at Kidspace

Add Water and...Splash!!

A GREAT night tonight! We took the kids over to Steve and Jane's house for a little pool action!

Kennedy took swimming lessons about 2 summers ago, but I'm sure very little of that stuck with her. She's generally safe around the pool as far as not jumping in without an adult and staying away from the edge.

Dillon, on the other hand, is like an accident waiting to happen. He spent the first hour and a half of the evening scared to even get slightly wet. He sat on the edge of the pool, insisting that he dangle his feet in the deep end rather than by the steps, and whining every time a droplet of water landed on or near him. "No, not me! Not mine hair! Not get me wet!! No, no, no!!"

Sydney enjoyed the water for about 5 minutes, then she decided that the berries and the grandparents looked alot more exciting. She chose to wrap up in her towel and sit with Grandma and Papa.

After about a half an hour of practice, Kennedy became confident enough to paddle around in a life jacket and innertube.

Kennedy enjoys paddling around

Jason then started to ease Dillon in to the pool a little at a time- first his feet, then up to his knees, back and forth from side to side, getting Dillon to focus more on how fast they were going rather than how deep he was in the water. Eventually, Dillon wanted to put on the life jacket and paddle around with the innertube. Then, he sat in the floating seahorse innertube and paddled himself around. He even splashed his own head!

Dillon in the deep end

Dillon paddles around on his seahorse

The night wouldn't have been complete without friends, so Marcus, Rex and Kylie came over, and Kiki, Olivia, Rocco and Steven stopped by.

Olivia enjoys swimming too!

Everyone had a great time, and we're looking forward to more evenings at the Cates' pool this summer! Thanks, Steve and Jane!!

The Kimble Kids

Missy was home this weekend with Audrey and Mallory. They went to Kennedy's dance recital on Saturday, spent Sunday with Grandma and Papa, and came over to play at our house this morning before heading back to Pemberville.

Pretty Ballerina

At lunch, we took all the kids to "Old McDonald's" for some chicken nuggets and playtime. We managed to get a picture of all the kids together, and believe it or not, they were all mostly looking at the camera. Wouldn't you know, some strange kid wanted to join in, and because I had to snap the picture so quick, the focus is a little off. Anyways, here's about the best I could get, so enjoy some fun pictures from our weekend!

The Gang's All Here!!

Could I just Honk your nose once, Audrey??

Even a place for the babies to play!

Funny Girls!!

Jason and I are taking the kids swimming tonight. And Kennedy and Dillon start Art, Gym and Swim tomorrow at the YMCA, and Vacation Bible School is starting next week, so look for more summer fun photos in the next few days. We're finding lots of ways to keep busy this summer, so visit often for updates!!