Scavenger hunt

So today the boys were getting bored and started picking at each other and fighting. That's a pretty common occurance around here. With the end of summer quickly approaching they've been getting more and more antsy as the day wears on. So when I couldn't take any more of little boys screaming through the house and whining about each other, I had a genius idea. I grabbed a piece of paper and started writing down a list of ten things for them to find outside on a scavenger hunt. I gave them my camera and told them to take pictures of their treasures and check off the list as they went along. They LOVED the idea. They agreed to let Brandon be in charge of the list and Logan the camera, and off they went.

In about 20 minutes they found all but two things on the list. They were so excited to show me the pictures of their treasures. And can I just point out, that with the exception of the last picture, which I snapped myself, Logan took all of these photos. He LOVES to take pictures. I think I might have a little protege on my hands.

1. A red rock (more of a rock with reddish on it, but it works)

2. Five red berries

3. A stick shaped like a Y

4. A shell. I was thinking more along the lines of a shell from a nut, but they found......a shell.

5. Heart shaped rock

6. A yellow leaf

7. A face (Brandon made sure to point out that it was a vampire face)

8. Ten potato bugs. This was one they didn't complete. They searched for some, but gave up after about 30 seconds and decided against that one all together.

9. A blue flower. This was the other item that they had trouble with. They found every other color of flower, but no luck with a blue one.

10. A snake. Now I have to admit that I honestly didn't expect them to find a snake. I just put it on the list in hopes that they would search for awhile and it would cause them to spend more time outside working together. But much to my surprise........they found one, right on our front walkway.

I'm so proud of the boys for doing such a great job working together. I think we're going to have to do this more often. They had a lot of fun and were very proud of themselves.

Movie Night

The other night while Daddy was out with a friend, we had a movie night. I let the boys stay up late with Auntie and me to watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We made some popcorn (complete with peanut M&Ms), laid out blankets, pillows, and stuffed critters, and kicked back. The movie was really funny. Brandon wants to give the books a try now. When it was finally over at nearly 10:00pm the boys were more than ready for bed. It was a relaxing night.

Mud Mountain Dam

Here it is, the end of the summer, and I've barely posted anything! We've done a lot this summer and I've been too exhausted to update this thing with all of our adventures. So I'm going with the "better late than never" way of thinking and posting some of these a bit late.

One of new "it" spots that we discovered this summer is Mud Mountain Dam Park. Each time we've gone there hasn't been a ton of people which is always a plus since I can't stand large crowds of people. They have a wading pool for the kids, a huge playground, each of the picnic tables is sheltered and comes with NICE covered grills, and most importantly....the bathrooms are clean!! It's a very well kept park. It's a little out of the way for most (out past Enumclaw on the way to Mt Rainier). In my opinion though, totally worth the extra drive.

A couple of weeks ago we headed up to the park to have a picnic with some friends. When we got there it was absolutly deserted. Not another car in sight. That was due to the fact that it was about 60 degrees outside. We were expecting warmer weather. After eating our lunch as fast as we could, the boys all went over to the playground to try and warm up their little bodies. The pool was still locked and we didn't expect it to open since it was so chilly out. But after awhile the maintenance team unlocked the gate, turned on the fountain, and Logan immediatly started asking to change into his swim shorts. I didn't actually think they would want to get in the icy water, but my kids were first to change and jump in. They're nuts!! 

Usually Sawyer loves playing in the wading pool with the boys. But on this day, the cold temperatures were a bit too much for him to handle. He absolutly didn't want to get in that thing. Brandon picked him up and tried to walk him out to the middle, and Sawyer had his little feet digging into Brandon so he couldn't put him down. It was hilarious.

I finally dunked him in, but he wasn't too happy about it.

We ended up staying at the park for a couple of hours and the boys enjoyed themselves, despite the weather. I'm hoping that we can get up there at least one more time before the kids go back to school.

Ride em' comboy!

Chris always gets so "rough and tumble" with the boys. Being boys, they of course love it. Even though he's been doing it since Brandon was a baby, it still makes me nervous. Whether he's running around the house with two boys on his back, tossing kids as high as they'll go, or bouncing them six feet into the air on the trampoline, he can always put them into fits of crazy laughter. Though my heart has a hard time not beating out of my chest at seeing my kids on the verge of breaking bones, they love it and can't get enough. Sawyer is no exception. He loves riding the bull (AKA Daddy's shoulders). Chris bends this way and that way and Sawyer just screams and giggles in delight. I don't know where he finds the energy to play so rough with them. Three minutes of giving piggy back rides and I'm done. Thank goodness for Daddy!