J's Big Hit

Dancing in the outfield

Evie was "ready nigh-nigh"

Officially Summer

21st Century Camping

"The Water Wheel"

"The Flippity Dippity"

Proof that he really does like it!

I believe Daddy called this one "The Colon Cleanser." Nice.

This girl played pool tea party for a solid 3.5 hours.

Cheers Daddy!

Just a spot of tea for Uncle Tyler...

Recent Stuff

I've started keeping track of the funny things Julian says. I think age three delivers some of the best quotes you'll hear in a day. Some recent gems include:

"Mama, do you mind if I wipe snot on the couch?"

After explaining we might not do all the fun things at the zoo since some cost money...
"But the BANK has money!"  (Why didn't I think of that?)

To me, out of nowhere: "Thank you for making this beautiful house!" 

"I want to go back to my house and never, never see other people again."  (Who hasn't felt that way before?)

"Hey, I just realized I could be a doctor!"  

"My Daddy is a great man. I love him very much."  

"Hey Mama, I want the red bike!" (I ask if he can use the one we already have out instead.) "Well that is a great idea, but...I want the red one."

He has a lot to say and it varies from adorable, funny, to completely inappropriate. You never quite know what you're going to get when he opens his mouth. It's kinda great.

Dreaming up all those great soundbites.

Miss Evie is doing it all herself these days -- she is quite independent. She gets mad if you try to hold her hand when she's busy go-going. She is positively incensed if you put her in a shopping cart. Girl has places to go, people to wave at, and she'll be darned if she's going to be slowed down by some controlling adult.

But there are some pluses to her new autonomy. For instance, she's climbing up into the van and into her carseat by herself these days. That might not seem like a huge deal, but believe me, it is. When Momma's got her arms full and all I have to do is get both doors open, unload my stuff in the car, and I've got two kids sitting and waiting in their seats to be buckled in...well, that's just awesome.

What's not awesome is when said kids are climbing over the seats like mountain goats, honking the horn, simultaneously turning on the hazards, blinker, and wipers, and just generally turning the van into an obstacle course. But we're about 50/50, so I'll take what I can get.

 Being Kitties

 

Julian started tee-ball this week and is pretty excited about it. He gets to play on the same team as his cousin Cam and has Uncle Kyle for a coach. We had our first practice Monday night and it was a goat rodeo, as you can imagine. Trying to wrangle and instruct a team of 3- and 4-year-olds requires a lot of patience and a lot of repeating yourself. Mitch jumped in to help out and even with three coaches, I felt a little sorry for them.

 I will say though, both Julian and Cam listened and followed directions very well. They worked on catching grounders, hitting the ball, and (everyone's favorite) running the bases.

Got his eye on the ball!

For her part, Evie was a bit miffed she wasn't allowed out on the field with the boys. She carried a glove around, just waiting to be asked to join in. But she was willing to keep busy running around and playing in the volleyball sand instead.

 Who's gonna be the one to break the news to her?

 Harumph.

 

This is her little "maybe-not-gonna-listen-maybe-gonna-run-laughing-in-the-other-direction" face.

 Mimi's always good for some entertainment!

J was practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation of his next tee-ball practice. I think he's most pumped about being a part of a team.  He keeps asking me, "What does team mean?"

Speaking of questions, J has had some great ones lately. He has some really good scientific explorations in his head that I'll admit I sometimes I don't know the answer to.

"Mama, how does the light turn on?"
"Why does the light bulb get hot?" 
"Yeah, but how does the energy come out?"

"What makes tape sticky?"

"Do geese like chocolate?"

Sometimes I can only answer with, "Good question buddy, I don't know. We'll have to Google that."

Bike Shop

One of our most recent conversations was about babies and how they come out. Well, after hearing Aunt Amanda's simple explanation to Cam, I followed the same route. Told him how they gave Mommy medicine so I couldn't feel anything and then cut my tummy open to take him out. I showed him my scar and answered a million and one more questions about the whole thing.

My best friend Jenny just had her baby last week and Julian's first question after seeing a picture of the new little one was: "What color was the knife they used?"

His second comment was: "Can I see all the blood the baby was swimming in?"

Yikes. That one I can explain...

That was from another discussion about what it's like inside a mommy's tummy for a baby. I said it was kind of like swimming and he asked what color it was in there. Well, I said red because of the blood inside the mommy's body. So he translated that into babies swim in blood. Amazingly, no nightmares about this yet.

(Warning: rough segue ahead.)

And speaking of swimming (told you)...my kids are loving the water this summer. Evie especially is such a little water baby. First, I got a water table for the backyard.

Then Daddy set up a little pool at the end of the slide.

But he dreams big and suddenly the sprinkler was zip-tied to the top of the swing set, spraying down  the slide. Then Aunt Anne got us a bigger pool.

Our backyard is pretty much a redneck water park. The kids have been soaking wet by 10am nearly every warm day. But thankfully, after lots of work, Grandma and Papa's pool is finally ready for the summer. I'm sure we'll be spending most of our summer swimming whenever we can.

Next week, we're heading on an adventure to the UP. Mitch is presenting at a conference in Marquette and we get to tag along. This will be our longest drive yet with the kids, but thankfully, we're breaking the 8-hour drive into two days. We'll stay halfway at a bridgeside hotel in Mackinaw and then at a little cottage right on Lake Superior. I'm sure I'll snap a couple pics here and there (read: 2,000 or so).