The Day the Sandbox Met Water

This is, of course, only the beginning of the fun that day. The boys then moved on to the hose under the deck, where they created a huge mud puddle, found "fishing poles" (aka sticks), and fished in their muddy hole. The afternoon ended with 3 wet, dirty, and extremely happy little boys.

I. LOVE. SUMMER.

Still Loving Summer. Here are more pictures.

Well, it's going quickly, but luckily it's still early in July.
Since I last blogged, we've been busy enjoying the sunshine and summertime even more.

We celebrated Dew Days in Farmington (where we won the chocolate chip cookie contest, and where Marshall won the tricycle race), we attended VBS at church, celebrated 2 very special birthdays, and visited Valleyfair a few more times. We've also been doing LOTS of reading, movie watching, and playing outside. And, of course, fireworks!

Here are the pictures, since I am too exhausted to think of anything else to write.

Marshall, after taking 1st place in the tricycle race.

Brady and Logan's birthday party.

Someone has been busy making Rainbow Loom bracelets.

At Valleyfair (for the 6th time so far this summer)

Farmington Art Park, playing on huge chairs.

Picnic at MN Zoo

Meeting some new friends at the Big Bugs exhibit at the MN Zoo

More Bugs

Flying airplanes on a windy day last week.

Monkeys at the park

Chef Marshall was running the playground restaurant

Making music at the splash pad

Splashing at Kelley Park in Apple Valley

Flying big airplanes again. SO fun!!

My favorite thing to do in the summer is anything with my family. I have been enjoying my boys so much that I don't want to stop playing to clean the house or make dinner each day--it's awesome.

I have also come to realize how much it warms my heart to see others fully know and enjoy my boys by spending lots and lots of time getting to really know them and enjoy who they are. After all, the only thing that the boys really want is someone who'll take the time to sit down (or run around like a crazy person) and just play with them. Exhausting as it may be, they grow up so quickly and we can't miss a moment or else it's gone.

Summer's Here!

I am LOVING summer and the unlimited time it gives me to spend with my boys. I have waited 9 months for this, so I'm not going to give up a moment in the day to blog.

So far, we have played in the sprinklers, pools, and with water balloons. We have been to Valleyfair a few times with our season passes, we have been to many parks and had a number of picnics.

We have joined the library's summer reading program and attended 2 art classes and one magic show. Along with that, we have read 1 1/2 chapter books so far and several smaller books. We are also reading from our devotional book every day at lunch time.

We have been camping, playing with neighborhood friends, visiting with family, and spending lots of time outside.

On the rainy days, we've played all of our board games, pulled out the playdoh, learned how to play Solitaire with real cards, and built a campground out of blocks. Logan also made himself a kite the other day.

We have also started to celebrate our summer birthdays--Brady turned 9 last Friday and Logan will be 7 tomorrow!! Their party is coming up on Saturday and they are very excited.

The boys have only been out of school for 2 weeks, so I can only imagine what we'll find to do in the next 2 months.
We will definitely be visiting the Big Bugs exhibit at the MN Zoo, and next week we'll be going to VBS at church.

Here are the pictures.

 

Swimming in the backyard with friends.

Brady and Marshall ran through all 3 of our sprinklers while Logan was at a friend's house
 

Cooling off

Swimming at Stoney Creek Campground

Playing pool basketball at Stoney Creek.

Waiting for the train ride at Stoney Creek Campground.

"Watering" the fire pit

Hands full of water balloons (we filled up about 50 of them)

Brady turned 9 years old on June 13!

We still like picnics

Spring has finally arrived! Actually, today even feels a bit more like summer and the pools are already up and warming in the bright sunshine.

We have also started to picnic again--one of my favorite summer past times.
I don't plan on posting pics of every picnic we take this year, nor do I plan on counting them, as we have done in the past.
But, since it's just the start and has so far been mostly Marshall and I, I wanted to share some of our "first" picnic pictures with you.

Indoor picnic at Edinborough Park on May 13th

MN Zoo on May 18th

Picnic on the deck at our house on May 20th.

Front yard on May 22

On the deck on May 28

Picnic at Dakota Estates Park in Farmington today, May 29.

 



I know we also ate dinner outside on Friday, May 23, to kick off the holiday weekend.
I love eating outside with the warm sunshine and warm winds. I also love not having to sweep the kitchen floor or wipe down the table when we are done ;)

Here are a couple other fun pictures from the past few weeks.

Logan's last track meet (he's in red).

Chef Marshall making M&M cookies to share with friends.

Logan receiving his track award.

Boys at the MN Zoo

Logan, at his school's Animal Science Fair yesterday. His animal was a Cobra!

Playing at the park today.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Life at our House

Our family is in the process of dealing with change. Most of the time I resist change, but I am trying hard to embrace the changes ahead.
One change that I am having no trouble embracing at all is the change of the seasons and the warmer weather. Although it has been slow, I just can't get enough of the warm sunshine!!

Here is a peak at what life has been like at our house over the past couple of weeks...

Brady, at his 3rd track meet (with coach Daddy in the background).

Logan at his "Grand Day" celebration for Grandparents at school.

Brady, at the Farmington Art Show (his work was chosen to be on display!).

Marshall, practicing fine motor and color skills with cotton balls and a clothes pin.

Cup stacking

Practicing more fine motor skills using marbles.

 



Logan is also participating in track and field this year, although I have yet to get a good picture of him. Hopefully it will be warmer out this weekend, so I can take my hand out of my pocket to snap one :).

Breaking The Rules

Yesterday as I woke up, I quickly realized how busy the day would become. Brady had a dentist appointment at 8:30, which meant that I had to bring all 3 boys along. It also meant that Brady and Logan would be late to school, so I brought along the school's phone number, to let them know.

We rushed through breakfast, getting dressed, and brushing teeth. I packed up lunches, grabbed backpacks, and stuffed 3 tired boys into the van and off we went. It was wet, hazy, and humid outside, much different than the day before, our wonderful Easter sunshine and warmth., but I knew the forecast was for a wonderful, warm and sunny day. And I didn't want my boys to miss out on it.

As we pulled into the dentist, Marshall still eating his cereal, I asked the boys if they wanted to just skip school for the day. And, once the cheering subsided, I called the school to let them know that the boys would not be there. I was actually allowing my children to miss a day of school only for the purpose of enjoying a beautiful spring day--and it felt GREAT to have the power to do it :).

The appointment was quick, and had we not been taking the day off school, we would have only been about 20 minutes late. I didn't care, though, because upon returning home, we discovered that Daddy was also taking the day off of work--just to enjoy the weather with us.

The boys started the day by playing in the basement and driving buses around.
By 10am, the sun broke out and the day turned warmer.
We were quickly outside and Marshall was riding his tricycle down the sidewalk and around the lake. Brady and Logan were on their new electric scooters in a flash too! (Both boys decided to spend a potion of their savings on electric scooters last weekend, and they have not regretted their decision for a moment).

We made a short trip across town to buy a bike for Marshall from a Craigslist ad, and then returned home in time to meet a couple of ladies who were purchasing items that we had posted on Craigslist (we ended up $2 ahead between what we bought and what we sold).

Next, Marshall tried out his new bike and Peter attempted to help a lady install a car seat into her car, while I packed picnic lunches out of leftover Easter salads and buns.

We took our lunch across town to one of our favorite new playgrounds, which happens to be located at the best park for blocking the wind while you eat :). We ate lunch, played on the playground, and then walked on the wooden boardwalk across the street to another park. We played again and climbed the big rock there.

Pine Knoll Park, first picnic of the season

Get ready to be dizzy!

Vermillion Grove Park, giant rock



At the top of the rock, Vermillion Grove Park

Next up, Peter grabbed some gas for the car, while I unpacked lunch, switched the laundry, and gave the big boys back their new scooters to ride. Peter and I tossed the football around some, and then he pitched the ball to Brady while I fielded it (boy, can that boy hit the ball!). Logan rode his bike to a friend's house for awhile, and Marshall took a break from the sun to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse.

Once the laundry was folded and put away, we ate dinner, and then headed out for a family walk around the neighborhood. The big boys took their scooters again and our very tired Marshall opted for a ride in the stroller this time around. We walked to another park, looked for the ducks, ran into some friends, and then came home.

To end our wonderful day off, we got into our jammies and watched an episode of The Price Is Right that we had recorded from earlier in the day.

The 2 things that I learned today were these:
1. I LOVE warm weather and sunshine.
2. I can't wait for summer days with my boys home all day!