Stuck inside

We are getting a little tired of being stuck inside. This spring/summer has been a wet one, and when it isn’t raining, it’s so buggy no one even wants to try going outside. Today, we pulled out the REALLY old favorites to make it through without inflicting any physical harm. We did enough of that in the morning. Ben started the day by pulling his dresser over on top of himself. Thankfully Nick was just a few steps away and pulled it off before any real damage was done.

While Ben made his own fun in the hallway …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… the big boys brought out the Play-doh. I’m honestly surprised any of it was still good. It’s been a long time since that box has come out of the closet.

In between downpours Mike and Nick ran a couple errands. One was to Toys R Us in search of some safety straps for the little boys’ dresser. They didn’t find the straps, but they did find Hungry, Hungry Hippo.

The old school game kept them entertained for at least 30 minutes before the emotional breakdowns started. Is it bedtime yet?

A picking we did go

Despite the weatherman’s dire predictions of rain all day, the sun pushed it’s way through the clouds about 8 a.m. and didn’t let the rain take over until late in the day. We took advantage of the nice morning (and Mike’s apparent ability to walk again) and headed for the local strawberry patch. The fields were full of mud (and a few moldy strawberries), but we managed to find about 5 pounds worth picking before the boys decided they had had enough. It’s really a good thing we don’t live in a time when you have to raise your own food to eat. I’m pretty sure we’d all starve.

We spent a few minutes saying hello to the animals (these goats were awfully mean to each other) …

… then headed over to the berry field.

Ben really didn’t care to do much picking, but he was happy to hold the little bucket for me. Until the leaves started itching his legs.

Hey, it isn’t exactly the kind of picture I want to blow up big for the wall, but at least they all look mildly happy. Ok, really, I’m just happy no one is crying. It might be because we promised McDonald’s if they were good. They were so good, in fact, we decided to brave the pool this afternoon. No pics there; the pool makes you get a pass to wear around your neck if you want to take pictures. It’s really not worth it. Suffice it to say, they had fun and for the first time we almost felt like having three kids was becoming manageable. Yep, it was a good day.

He likes it

Apparently, Ben really likes broccoli. After dinner tonight there were about six pieces left in the bowl. I was about to throw them away, and, as a joke, offered them up to Ben (who was already done eating and playing in the living room). He comes running into the kitchen and says “Yep. I wove (love) broccoli.” Sure enough, he does. He proceeded to eat the rest of the bowl. I don’t think I willingly touched broccoli until I was about 18 and that was in Chinese food only. I didn’t eat it as it’s own food until at least 20-something. I guess we are doing something right with this kid. It’s not much, but I’ll take it.

Star camper

Early this year I put all three boys on a wait list at a local daycare center. In six months, they managed to move backward on the list. I knew that Zander and Ben would be fine spending another summer with my aunt. I knew it would end in disaster for Nick. He’s older than everyone there, and he doesn’t play with toys so he has a hard time connecting with any of the kids there. On the last day of school Mike talked to the mother of one of Zander’s classmates. I don’t know how it came up, but she mentioned a camp-like program through the local rec center. I called on my way home from work and took Nick down to sign up before dinner. They only had one opening in two of the weeks offered, but we took it. A couple days later they called back (twice) offering Nick spots in five more weeks. Again, we took it. It’s only been a few days, but I can already tell this was a great decision. This week they went to the pool twice and the UNI rec center once. Even better, it’s CHEAP (well, in terms of daycare). And Nick loves it. Last summer we had to beg him to go to daycare, even on days when they were doing fun things, like the pool. He gets up super excited and ready to go every day.

Then today, he came home with this (pardon the picture – he actually came home with this yesterday, but I forgot to take a picture. That’s his still puffy, just rolled out of bed, mom get the camera out of my face face). I[m thinking we’ve found a solution to our summer care problem for the next couple of years. Hopefully if Zander goes next year it won’t ruin it for Nick.

And of course these hams can’t pass up getting their picture taken either.

Sleepover

Nick’s friend Zak asked him to sleep over at his dad’s house (about 10 minutes outside of town) after a baseball game this week. Being the overprotective mom that I am, I said no. I talked about it with Nick later, and turns out it was probably a good thing. He didn’t want to say no, but he was a little nervous about staying at someone else’s house, especially when it wasn’t just a few block from our house like Zak’s mom is.

We talked it over and decided to invite Zak to sleep over at our house instead. We went out to pick him up at his dad’s giving both Nick and me the chance to scope the place out. While Zak showed Nick around, I chatted with his dad and we both left feeling a lot more comfortable about the whole situation.

In an effort not to embarrass Nick too much, I kept the camera put away most of the night. But, I couldn’t help but snap at least a couple pictures.

The boys played hard, had a few rough patches with Zander and our neighbor girl, but generally had a good time. Nick struggled staying up as late as Zak, and finally at midnight I had to shut it down because I needed to go to bed. Nick was still up bright and early the next morning. Zak slept til 9:30. Just before lunch we took the boys back out to Zak’s house. They played in the rain, went to the pool, played some more, and then Nick finally (reluctantly) came home at about 9 p.m. He really wanted to stay, but we all knew he wouldn’t have made it much longer. He’s already planning the next sleepover! I’m just glad he’s found a friend to hang out with!

YMCA egg hunt

For the first time ever we decided to partake in a community Easter egg hunt. Now I remember why we don’t usually do these kind of things. They always seem to oversell the fun, and Nick can’t eat any of the haul. The Y offered a little fun zone and egg hunt tonight from 5-7 so we packed up the kids to go. Unfortunately, their advertising was a little incomplete. We got there right at 5 only to find out the actual egg hunt didn’t start until 6:30. Sure, there were little games, crafts, and snacks (Gross – cookies Nick couldn’t eat – the kids got to decorate their own and it was quite disgusting thinking about everything floating around in those cans of frosting. Made me glad we couldn’t partake), but not enough to keep my boys busy for an hour and a half.

The boys each tried to roll a plastic egg down the gym floor with their noses. I guess that’s fun.

I didn’t take pictures of the “Grand Prize Game” (Bozo-style), mostly because I was too busy trying to keep Zander from taking out somebody with a plastic egg and melting down when he didn’t make it in the last bucket. We stretched it out as much as we could (Nick pouted his way through some of it), and then FINALLY headed outside at 6:30. The big boys lined up in one area, Ben got to head off to the small kids playground for his own hunt. He found his daycare friend Chloe and then the chaos began.

You see, I think that during a kids Easter egg hunt the kids should find the eggs. Not all parents feel this way. It’s quite annoying. The boys each got a few jelly bean-filled eggs, and we went to McDonalds for dinner. Yep, we won’t be doing this again.

All these toys

And my kids would rather play with a box. Figures.

Life Cycles

Nick’s music program this year was all about life cycles. They sang about metamorphosis, predators and prey, offspring, seeds and adaptation. It was quite the cute little show, even if it did start at Zander’s bedtime. Nick, always and forever my back-row boy, spent a good chunk of time talking with the kid next to him. These two stood next to each other last year too, and the same thing happened then. As for the singing, the kids did a great job. I just wish they had more than one concert a year.

Wave to mom and dad! Get it out of your system now.

Chatty Cathies.

And our favorite little neighbor girl, and the one girl she is now taller than in the class. Yea Brianna!

Dress up

It’s been awhile since the boys have brought out the dress up clothes. Tonight, they made up for that. Mike is gone. The weather is crappy. We needed something different to do. This is what we found. I’m concerned that at least one child may regret this decision one day. I’ll let you decide which one.

I have no clue where he figured out he could do this, but he can. Nick tried. He failed. Guess this is a trick for little guys.

Animal adventure

Each year a local school brings a big animal show to town (well, big for our town). This was the first year they did it in April instead of the same weekend as our school fun fair, and we jumped at the chance to go. Barry Devoll, the host, is a local boy who has gone on to do quite well for himself. In high school he owned a magic shop on our Main Street. After graduation he got out of the magic business and got into the animal business. He now travels the world mixing magic and animal adventures into one pretty cool show.

Prior to the show the boys got up close and personal with a bird (they could have held a big snake or turtle, but they were scared of the snake) for a $10 picture.

        

 

We were among the first in the auditorium and got great seats right in front. That meant that our good buddy Dalton was the first little person chosen to go on stage with Barry. After a funny little exchange about Dalton’s age (Barry tried to get him to lie and say he was 8), Dalton helped Barry pull this little sugar glider from an “empty” pouch.

The show continued on with several animals and several ways our own kids could help save the planet.

                      

            

The show ended with this cute guy (the father of the little baby right above). He was not on any kind of leash, and I was certain he was going to escape into the crowd. He didn’t, of course. All in all, it wasn’t a bad show for $25 for the family. Everyone had a great time, and that is all I can ask for anymore.