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!

Woodland Park Zoo

Last week Granny Kat's daughter, Jesica, was up from California with her kids, Elias and Alina. The boys love spending hanging out with their cousins, so we tried to spend as much time with them as possible. While they were here we spent a day at the Woodland Park Zoo. We got there a little bit before they did, so we wandered around the family farm, the bug building, and the habitat playground (which the kids loved, since I never let them play in there).

After meeting up with everybody, we headed off to see the rest of the animals together. We visited the Northern Trails exhibits and Sawyer got to see his first bear up close. I wasn't sure if he was going to even notice the animals, or that they were something out of the ordinary. But right when his eyes locked on the bear, they almost popped right out of his little head. He threw his hand up, started pointing at it and babbling up a storm. It was so cute. After the Northern Trails we went to feed the birds in the Willawong Station. Sawyer held his little stick of food out the entire time. He eventually got one to land on his stick. He was in absolute awe of the birds.

The rest of the day was a lot of fun. Most of the animals were out for viewing, which is always a plus. The kids all had a great time together. Until the last 5 minutes when my boys had a meltdown when it was time to leave. I could have done without the screaming and crying in the van as we drove away. But all in all, it was a good day at the zoo.

I am the Walrus

Coo-coo-ka-choo

My little dinky guy

I can't get enough of this kid. The cheeks, the hair, the eyes....I'm in love.

Little builders

Yesterday Chris took the boys to Lowe's to do one of their kids building workshops. I've always wanted to sign the boys up for one of these and I finally got around to it a few weeks ago. They had so much fun and we've already signed them up for the next one in a couple of more weeks.

For their first workshop they made wooden UFOs. They were each given a kit with all of the supplies they needed which included the wood, nails, stickers, and even a little light to put on the top. You push it down and it glows bright red. They were given little hammers to complete the job and they both did a really great. Along with their UFOs they brought home a certificate of completion and a patch. I think they usually give out work aprons to the kids, and I'm assuming that the patches are for that. So hopefully next time they'll each get one to start collecting the patches on. Maybe if we get them into enough of these workshops, then next summer they'll be ready to build me a new deck! Oh, if only......

Brandon's birthday campout

This year Brandon's birthday happened to be right in the middle of 5 very hectic weeks for us. So his party had to wait until the end of June. We gave him a few different options of how he could celebrate. He decided on having an overnight campout in our backyard. The plan was to invite some friends over, put up a tent in the backyard, BBQ some hot dogs and have a sleepover. When I actually sat down to plan it (which was less than a week before it took place, whoops) I started to panic. I wasn't sure how I was going to fill all of the hours before the kids finally went to sleep. Pin the tail on the donkey isn't exactly a game for a bunch of 9 year olds.

Everything worked out great though, like Chris always tells me it will. My dad agreed to drop the trampoline off at our house so that we would have it for the party. Chris got home only about an hour before the party started though, so getting it put together on time was impossible. Once he started he quickly realized that it was going to be a two man job. Lucky for us, one of the fathers dropping off his boys offered up some help. And 2 short hours later (gulp) we had ourselves a trampoline!!

While the guys were putting it together I worked on dinner. A couple of months ago at a garage sale I got a brand new slider patty maker. So I made a couple dozen of the mini burgers on the grill along with some hot dogs. After the boys scarfed down the food, they took turns in groups on the trampoline. After they were burned out on that for a little bit the older kids went into the house to play some games on the Wii that I had rented earlier in the day. While they did that Logan and Ian (another 5 year old) took advantage of the older boys' absence and claimed the trampoline for themselves.

Later on in the night Grandpa Jerry and Granny Kat came over to see if their gift was a hit and to share in the cake with us. After the candles were blown out, the cake was cut, and the gifts were open, we headed back outside. But not before handing out the gift bags to the boys. I made hobo sticks to try and stick to the "campout" theme. Each sack contained a squirt gun, mini binoculars, a glowstick, and a s'mores kit. I thought it was a great idea, until the kids were standing in the livingroom holding them over there shoulders and almost poking each other's eyes out. Then I made them all unwrap the sacks and take the sticks outside.

We lit the fire pit so the boys could roast their marshmallows, but they all had other ideas in mind. They spent the remainder of the night chasing each other through the trees and bushes and hanging out in the treehouse with their glowsticks. They FINALLY started asking to go to bed shortly before midnight. So we got everybody changed into their pajamas and set up everybody's sleeping bags. All of the boys slept together in the large tent, and Chris stayed across the yard in the smaller one. He said he didn't hear a peep from them after we zipped them in. They were pooped.

The boys all woke up at about 8:00, right in time for pancakes and bacon. When they finished eating they headed back out the trampoline. All still in their jammies. Parents started arriving at 9:00 and the fun had to come to an end. It was a great birthday party.

Boing!! Boing!!

For Brandon's birthday this year Grandpa Jerry and Granny Kat got him a trampoline. Since it was put together two weeks ago, the boys have spent countless hours out there bouncing and flipping through the air. The day after they got it, Logan woke up in the morning, came out of his room, rubbing his little tired eyes and the first thing he said was "Can we go play on the trampoline?"