It seems like I have to do this alot... catch up. And each time I do I go on and on and on with lengthy stories and pictures. Well I do have a lot of pictures but I just don't think I can stand to write out the narratives that go with each.. So with a very visual post and less text, this should catch you up with us.
Elayna just does her own thing... and has her own style!!! And is as funny as ever.
The boys are enjoying their new DS's and when they are not fighting over the 'coolest' game, they enjoy sending each other messages and drawings when sitting next to each other!
Our little strawberry patch has, in the last 2 months produced over 65 lbs of strawberries. Our neighbors sure like us a lot! We still have a couple weeks to a month and I can only guess at how many strawberries we'll end up with.
We participated in a crazy 'junk' weekend and ended up with two scooters for the boys.. very cool
Tyler LOVES his...
Weston LOVES his...
They even wanted Daddy to LOVE them... so they gave him a turn.
Elayna wanted to LOVE them too - but they wouldn't give her a turn, so she had to make do.
They LOVED their scooters so much, they had to pose.
With any other mother, Elayna would be potty trained by now. But I am it, and they don't hire out potty training services so this is what we get. Naked girl eating cheetos, watching a movie and looking like she's posing for a magazine shoot.
Next time I'll set aside more than half a day. And I'll wait until after our busy travel filled summer - wisdom from the Dad!
Four hours later, still looking cute and still in Diapers!
Dinners are always a mix of frustration, anger and disregard.. It's a miracle are kids are gaining weight at all! Thanks to Dad and his inventive games and fun ways to play with food, our kids eat enough to survive!
John had Scout camp so I took the kids to my parents for the week. Off the hundreds of parks in their area we hit 3 that week and found a great one I would love to visit again.
First park was a simple playset in a forest... with great slides. Grandma was more than a little anxious when Elayna decided the big tall metal slide was her favorite!
But having just been in the car for 4 hours.. it was a great park and the kids were the best of friends. Afterward we went and got ice cream cones, and then I was their friend too. "I Love you Mom" was said with great frequency!
The park that was so incredible had a long foreign name so I can't remember it - but it was awesome! A huge acreage of property donated by a farming family long ago. So there was a huge field just for running and games, a great play set size appropriate for kids, a huge watch tower to climb up. A barn with the old equipment and carriages to explore. A little petting farm with animals to visit and horses that were more than willing to eat our apples!
Weston just couldn't resist running through the sprinklers "trying not to get wet"
He got just wet enough to be able to strut around and look like a professional soccer player, which he currently wants to be.
Then we headed to the animals and ended up at the horses - they loved our apples...
Weston wouldn't look at me for a picture (like always), Tyler just wanted to be silly...
and Elayna pulled off the little cow-girl look rather well!
then the kids realized the apples did look good and we only had one left... so they had to share. What's that all about!?
Then it was time to start heading back, but with one last attempt to get a fun (I'll rephrase, a nice and graphic) picture of the kids we stopped by a little farm house with great wood for a shot. Yet again, the pressures of war and artillery were more important than being still for a picture. So instead the boys tried to find a way to take all the wood off the little structure for weapons of war. Elayna wasn't so sure about the battle scenario, and I think just realized she finally had an un-compromised turn with the communal apple!
And boy was that apple good! smile.... CHEESE!
Well.. getting back to the car wasn't so easy. We had to go by way of the animals again.. then the barn with the wagons and then the Farm house (which was closed to tours - too bad) and the apple orchard. It was truly an all-American afternoon. While the boys climbed the apple trees my mom and I walked through the herb and flower gardens. It was great!
Monkey 1 -
Monkey 2 -
Monkey 3 just ran around trying to climb the trees and walk with mom and grandma!
Driving back to Grandma's house one day I saw this and just laughed, so I turned around and went back to get some pictures. I still think it's hilarious. And the fact that the horse kept looking at me with the "what you've never seen a horse before" look.. I still unabashedly took pictures of the funny steer. John says it's for roping practice, but I just imagine the horse being tied up to it and being walked around in circles by a cow!
Then we went home and had ice cream. I daily routine. Good thing it was only a week long visit. I don't think I could have handled having any more ice cream! And Elayna still wont eat chocolate or anything with chocolate, so she gets the bowls of ice cream and the boys get the chocolate and nut covered ice cream bars!
and that's what we think of that!
We also had the random chance of going to the circus. And since it was free I felt obligated to support them by buying the severely overpriced toys and treats so my kids could have the 'circus' experience. Grandma and Grandpa were there too, grandma was the cotton candy holder and picture taker so I could enjoy the kids and the circus!
All the goodies to complete a circus visit.. the cotton candy, popcorn and toys
Grandma and Grandpa trying to feed cotton candy to Elayna
boys enjoying their swords
and that's what we all thought of the cotton candy.. after spending more than I should have on that, none of the kids would even try it. (Good for them!) We eventually gave it away to another family who enjoyed very much - especially since they didn't have to pay for it!
Elayna ate the popcorn quite quickly with Grandpa helping her take bites when her hands were occupied with popcorn for the next bite. It was like a conveyor belt!
The popcorn did eventually run out though and Elayna decided she did want a toy... At least that's what I thought until she started using her butterfly like a sword.. But it's the only toy that made it through the weekend!
The boys sat like boys and were constantly entertained and awed.
Elayna sat like a girl.... when she sat. Otherwise she was all over the place!
We watched animals do funny things...
We watched Elayna do funny things...
made better since she looked like a street urchin an was in desperate need of a bath!
Weston did get excited, and show it, for the motor bikes in the cage ....
"This is soooo cool"
but come on... who wouldn't think this was cool? 4 dirt bikes in the cage all going at the same time!
Elayna LOVED the elephants and just couldn't look at them enough...
They were pretty cool though!
All in all is was very cool and we saw a lot of really cool and unbelievable feats of the human and animalbody... I loved just being there to enjoy it with the kids and I would definitely go to the circus again - it really did make me smile!
After a week of fun and lots of ice cream... the boys even got the shoot Grandpa's pellet rifle.... We headed home and our 4 hour drive turned into 6 because we got stopped at the ferry both ways. After we crossed we found we had just hit the very start of the Kingston 4th of July parade and spent the next hour watching that.
The boys were so sad they didn't get more than a couple of treats. But they just weren't getting it so I didn't feel to bad about it until we were driving again and Weston asked why he didn't get very much candy. (Truth be told it was because there were a few kids next to the boys that were like starving animals who pounced and grabbed anything that fell to the ground within 5 feet of them). I explained that at paraded when you want candy you can't wait for people to hand it to you, you have to do what the other kids do and just grab it.
Weston was quiet for a short second then asked "But is that appropriate to have grabby hands" (I call it grabby hands when kids/people grab without regard for anything - acting like they'll die if they don't get it NOW!)
I felt a little ashamed for teaching a double standard so I back tracked and said that it wasn't appropriate even if everyone was doing it. So we decided that from now on - we go to parades to see the floats and funny looking people. And then we will go and get the kids a really good and big treat that they want! Then we all win!
Saturday was slow since we didn't make it home till almost 4:oo, so we had Thai food take out and watched Indiana Jones and had root beer with the kids - a nice American evening. I had great ambition to get the kids all dressed up in patriotic garb and get a cute picture taken... I'll just let you guess at how well that went!
Sunday, Weston did invite some friends over (without us knowing) so we did get in a couple fireworks that night.. But all in all I'm grateful for our country and our freedom, but I'm glad the holiday is over!
Well that's our update over the last few months... it's long. But hey - it's over now!
Next up is Elayna's birthday which may take a day or so to post..
Read more...
Eventually we did get her in the dress and we made it to church. By the time we got home, it was late, and that is rough for a little birthday girl. We tried to have a quick dinner and dessert so she could open the rest of her presents before bed, it still took longer than we hoped, but it did turn out well.
