"How do babies come out?"

Travis asks me on regular intervals about whether I'm having anymore babies, how we know that we are all done, how they get in there in the first place, and how they get out!

So yesterday, Travis asked me the "how do babies come out?" question AGAIN! I gave him my standard "they cut them out" answer. He didn't buy it this time and kept pestering me...so I told him the truth!

To this Travis says, "EWWW, I'm sooo glad I'm not a girl!!" and Justin looks at me confused and says, "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?!"

They squirmed around a few seconds and then that was it...no more questions! I'm not looking forward to the day he calls me on the "how do they get in there" question!

Chuck E. Cheese Fun! (Yes, I did say fun!!)

I am not a fan of Chuck E. Cheese. It is crowded, dirty, the kids are pushy and the food isn't so good! So, I wasn't quite sure why I had offered to take the boys there yesterday morning. After all, they hadn't asked to go! Why would I willingly take them to a place I really dislike? Maybe it was because they always ask to go and we always say "No". Maybe it is because I have the need to fill their summer with activities they find fun so that they will have happy memories. Whatever the reason is, we went and we had....FUN!

We were the first ones there after they opened! This was great for many reasons! First, we had free reign of the entire place before anyone else showed up. Just me and the boys, playing games, laughing, and having fun! Second, the boys scored BIG on hundreds of free tickets. There were tickets coming out of all the games, tickets from employees play and game maintenance. The manager told the boys they were all theirs, "one of the perks of being the first one there". You should have seen the boys faces! They were like a couple of kids at Christmas!

We hung out until all our tokens were gone, all our tickets were counted, and all our prizes claimed! It was a great morning for the boys....and for me!

Happy in the elevated tunnel!

Not quite sure why the seatbelt was needed on this one!

Justin on a horse for the first time!

Dual car racing...of course!

Counting their tickets!

Summer Chores

With summer came summer chores. I love that the playroom stays clean and that the sliding door doesn't constantly have little smudged fingerprints on it, that I don't have to fight them to read or make their beds, but most of all I LOVE that they are emptying the dishwasher! It is the best chores I have ever given them! It is one of my least favorite things to do and they do it happily without complaint! Typically, I assist by putting things in cupboards as they stack items on the appropriate counters, but I think they enjoy more the challenge of trying to get everything put away themselves with the use of some climbing devices. Even Ryan gets involved. I no longer have to empty the dishwasher and I love it!!

A Tooth Lost...but never found!

This is the note Justin left for the tooth fairy after mysteriously loosing his loose tooth.

He fought hard to hold back the tears when the discovery was made while eating dinner at Chevy's. I am not sure whether he was going to cry over not noticing the loss of his tooth, the fact that he more than likely ate it, or the uncertainty of what the tooth fairy was going to do! Luckily, the tooth fairy didn't disappoint and left him the goods even without the tooth!

We LOVE the beach!!

We didn't have the best of conditions for our scheduled trip to Stinson Beach. It was suppose to be sunny and 80 degrees, instead it was cloudy and in the 50's! It was down right cold! It didn't stop us from having a great day. The boys are SO happy at the beach! They had a great time getting down into the sand to play, dig, and to bury themselves. Travis and Justin even ventured into the icy cold water to play. Ryan was all smiles all day. He loved filling his bucket with sand and building a sand castle with mom. He put his toes in the water too while safely holding his Daddy's hand. As the waves would come in, he would say "Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!" His favorite activity of the day, though, was chasing the sea gulls! He ran all over the beach chasing the birds. So happy all the time. I LOVE days like these!

Playing together in the sand

Travis and Justin braving the cold, cold water!

"I not cold!"

My nieces, Sam and Emily, relaxing under the shelter of the umbrella.

Getting wet!

"Oh my goodness!"

Building sand castles together

Justin just hanging out!

All of us! Do we look a little cold?

Samantha and Ryan

Stinson Beach

"I no cry in shower!"

Shower time with Ryan has lately been exhausting! He just doesn't want to do it! I just don't get it. He should know what to expect, it is something we do everyday! But lately it has been a full on battle. You would think that we are torturing him the way he sometimes screams as the water hits him and forget it if you try and put soap on his head! He cries about not wanting to get in the shower and then he cries about not wanting to get out!! I cringe every night when I say "Ok, Ryan. It is time for a shower". What kind of reaction will I get?

Surprisingly, yesterday he got in and out of the shower without so much as a complaint! I was so proud of him, so as he was going to bed I told him "thank you for being a good boy in the shower" and he says to me, "I no cry in the shower. You take a picture of me no cry in the shower". So tonight I used that as my leverage. Here he is after a very calm and tear free shower experience!

Forts seem to be the theme!

Last night it was a fort to sleep in, today it was a fort to play in! What fun! The boys had a great time playing with their friends, Andrew and Amanda, in their awesome fort made of old boxes. This fort came complete with front door, beds, a backyard and a dining table! Yes! They ate dinner in there too! It looks more like a fortress to me!

He NEEDED a fort!

Justin is one who will not go to bed unless Travis is going to bed too! Not because he doesn't want to miss out on anything but because Travis is his security. He feels safe in his room when his brother is in there sleeping too. So when Travis had a sleepover at a friends house last night, I knew Justin was going to ask for something. It started with,"Will you sleep with me for the whole night in my bed?" Well, that wasn't going to happen! He immediately moved onto to NEEDING a fort in my room. I suggested he just sleep with me. Jeff was gone and so I figured that was pretty special but he wasn't buying it. He needed the fort! So I built him one the best I could considering there was no furniture to attach the sheets too. He suggested I just nail them into the wall! HA! He was perfectly happy snuggling into bed on the floor next to his mommy and under the safety of his fort!

Splash Park!

Today we went to Morse Park in Elk Grove. It is a great park! There are areas for big kids, little kids and all the in-betweens. There is even a great little splash park with dumping coconut buckets, water spraying fish, and a palm tree that is sure to get the kids wet. We were lucky enough to be able to tag along with a friend of ours and her kids. The boys all had a great time running around the park, jumping, climbing and even getting wet! Thanks Shelby for introducing us to something new!

The boys!

They boys and cute little Avary!

Ryan climbing the big rope!

What fun!

Travis being blasted!

Holding on for dear life!

Travis, Justin and Jackson getting a little exercise!

Ryan getting wet!

Locked Out....AGAIN!!

Seriously, you'd think we would learn! AGAIN, Ryan locked me out of the house today! For those of you not familiar, Ryan locked me out of the house once before and that incident ended with the sledge hammering of my door by the fire department!!

This time wasn't nearly as exciting, but still we were locked out. We had all been outside swimming when Ryan decided he was all done, so he went inside to watch a movie. Apparently, he was unable to open the sliding door when he wanted to come back outside so he thought it was locked and started pushing buttons. Well, it wasn't locked but he managed to get it locked and was unable to unlock it! Luckily, Jeff was home working in the office so after a phone call to his office (which he didn't answer!), I went and knocked on his window. He let us in and all was well! I suppose we need to always have an alternate entrance into the house when Ryan is inside and we are not!

Ryan inside and the rest of us locked outside!

Lovin' Summer

I love summer break! I love having the kids at home, I love that they get to spend quality time with their friends, I love hanging out by the pool. Although it is not always sunshine and happiness when they are home all the time, for the most part it is wonderful! Today was just another reminder of why we LOVE summer.

My boys and their best friends, Andrew and Amanda, enjoying a treat poolside!

Justin just relaxing!

Amanda and Andrew soaking up the sun!

Travis and Ryan serious about their Push-ups!

Sprinkler Fun!

Because we have the pool, is not very often we the we play in the sprinklers, but today Ryan was being such a good helper while I was doing yard work that I thought maybe he would like to cool off in the sprinklers. Honestly, it was my way of allowing him some fun but still allowing me to get the yard work done. He was hesitant at first and didn't want to get wet, but once Justin showed him how it was done there was no stopping him. He loved it!! It didn't take long until Travis joined in on the fun too.

Ryan jumping through the sprinkler. He had a blast!

Cutie pie!

Justin doing "butterfly stroke" through the sprinkler!

The boys!

Justin having fun!

Jeff and I even joined in and played in the sprinkler! Thankfully there isn't any pictures of that! Needless to say, this didn't allow me to get any yard work done. I was too busy watching the kids have fun!

Slip and Slide Fun!

The kids had a great time Slip-n-Sliding with their friends!

Travis with his rockstar moves!

The whole gang!