Sturgis Falls!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Cedar Falls to celebrate Sturgis Falls, spend time with our family, and to say good-bye to our grandma's house.  I wish we would have had more time, but Saturday and Sunday went by quick and we had a lot to pack in!  First, we went to our grandma's house to help move some things out of it and get it ready to sell.  We are very thankful that we still have our grandma and she has her own apartment where we can still go and see her!  It was sad saying good-bye to the house, but it was also fun to remember and talk about all the good memories we have there!  It was even better that we could all do it together!  The boys got to spend some time with their cousins, so they were pretty happy about that!  Ben and Conner enjoyed making little Piper laugh and they love being around Marley who has no trouble keeping up with them!!!

 

We stayed at a hotel Saturday night so the kids got to swim and the adults got to hang out and reminisce a little... it was pretty nice!

On Sunday, we headed downtown to enjoy some music and food!  Conner and Marley made up their own little hugging game... it was pretty cute!

We went back to Grandma's house for a final good-bye.  I love this picture of Ben and Conner standing on the steps of the house where my grandparents raised their children!  Then we headed home to get ready for another busy summer week!

 

Saturday Baseball Game...

Saturday was a busy day for us!  We started with the boys' baseball game!  They get better each week and it is always entertaining to watch them!

 

Water Babies...

Ben and Conner had a fun morning playing outside in the sprinkler and the pool!  They do so love playing in the water!

 

Skates...

Ben and Conner took their skates outside today!  They've been using them in the basement, but Dad thought they should try them outside.  (Note: Dad's idea, not mine...) Anyway, the boys thought it was fun, but definitely a lot of work!  They had some close calls and finally Ben announced that was enough for today! 

 

Traps...

I'm not sure where this idea came from, but Ben has setting "traps" lately around the house.  At least, that's what he calls them.  I found him in the hallway yesterday after he had covered it with pillows, blankets, and a few miscellaneous toys.  I, of course, asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was making a trap for me...  Conner has joined in too and when I walked into his room last night, he had piled all of his toys up next to the toy basket and told  me that I couldn't move them because it was a trap...  I'm thinking they may have come up with a brilliant excuse to leave messes all over the house...

 

On another note, Conner drew this picture today and wanted me to take a photo of it!  He says it is a rocket-plane!  I think that's exactly what it looks like!

 

Bubble Fans!

Ben and Conner wanted their picture taken before swimming lessons this morning.  They did really good again today!  Just have to get them to put their whole head under the water!  It's going to take some convincing...

 

I needed to make a stop to pick up some pictures and the boys saw these bubble fans and thought they were pretty cool, so we spent a fair part of the morning blowing humongous bubbles!

Day 3...

Day 3 of swimming lessons went 100% better, I am pleased to report!  Might have had something to do with Nick being able to go with us, but I'll take it!  We ventured over to a park we hadn't been to yet and the boys loved it!  They were climbing all over the place and every time I asked if they needed help, the response was always something like, "I got this, Mom!"  Okay then...  Conner got pretty hot so we enjoyed the park for half an hour and then headed home to cool off.  We did have one casualty at the park, Conner's beloved Spiderman sunglasses were lost.  At some point, he took them off and when we went back later to see if they were still there, we couldn't find them.  Stinker was not happy...

 

Swimming Lessons!

Swimming lessons finally started this week!  If you have talked to Conner anytime in the last two months, he has certainly informed you that he is going to take swimming lessons!  So, yesterday was the first day.  Not a whole lot of swimming on the first day, so I'm not sure if Conner was very pleased.  After class, he really didn't talk about it much, but today that kid had a ball!  He learned his front float and back float and had a great time playing some games and singing a couple of songs!  Conner loves being in the water.  (Unfortunately, I think that is what led up to his huge melt down this morning after swimming lessons were over...)  Ben did great the first day.  He sat and listened much better than even I expected him to.  However, today was a different story.  He didn't want anything to do with the swim instructors and pretty much thought he should be able to do his own thing.  At one point, I was a little worried he might be the first kid to get kicked out of swimming lessons...  After a long talk, I know he will do better tomorrow:)  Yesterday , when we got home from the pool, the boys wanted to get their own pool out that we just got, so we filled it up and they splashed around for a while!

 

When we got home from lessons today, mean mommy said they couldn't use the pool at home because of their behavior at the swimming pool.  They weren't happy, but stood still long enough for me to get a picture before they continued to test my patience!  Today was just one of those days that I look forward to Nick getting home so much more!  Right now, he has the boys outside playing baseball so I can reclaim some sense of sanity before we do it all over again tomorrow!  God bless that man!  Let's hope tomorrow is a much, much better day at the swimming pool!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my husband Nick who is such a great dad to our kiddos!  They love you so much! We made some cards and gave Dad some presents.  Then the boys got to wash the van... one of Nick's favorite things!  Happy Father's Day to my own dad who is always there for us and our kids.  These boys love their Gramps so much!  Our boys are so lucky to have such a tremendous Dad, Gramps, and Papa!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Baseball!

On Friday night, we had the boys' first baseball game!  Conner and Ben both hit the coach's pitches on the first try!  It was pretty awesome to watch them!  They were really excited!  (Conner has the gray shorts and Ben has the blue shorts on!)  Watching them run the bases with their batting helmets on was one of the best sights!  The helmets are so big!

After the last batter on a team hits, everyone on a base runs home so that's why Conner and Ben ended up on home plate together.  While in the outfield, they also ended up together a lot... they tend to gravitate to each other!

Last Days...

Thursday was a perfect day to spend at the beach so that's where we spent most of our time!  The boys played games and even tried out a kayak that was just the right size for them!  It was a glorious last day of vacation spent in the sunshine listening to my kids laughing!

After spending the day in the sun, the boys were pretty spent so they enjoyed a snack and a movie for a while!  At this point, I don't know how these two are even still awake!

Friday morning, we packed up and headed home.  The boys snoozed for part of the ride, finally giving in to the exhaustion that comes at the end of a fun filled week.  We had a wonderful week full of all the things we love about vacation!  Thanks Mama and Papa for another great week!  Can't believe it's over already! The boys had so much fun!

Fishy Wednesday!

The boys spent a lot of time on Wednesday focusing on fish.  They were either catching, cooking, or eating it!  Ben and Conner are fishing so much better this year!  Watching them cast their line and catch a fish (mostly) by themselves is an awesome sight!

Conner and Ben helped Papa prepare the fish for dinner and then watched as Papa cooked them!

Conner took one nibble of breading on the fish, but refused to actually eat any of the fish.  I tried to get him to eat a piece that I called "chicken" but as soon as I got it close to his mouth, he frowned and told me it was fish.  He was not going to eat it!  Ben, on the other hand, loved the fish.  In fact, he ate so much, I eventually moved the pan away from him so he wouldn't eat it all!  He was very proud of himself!

We spent the rest of the night fishing.  Helping drive Dad's and Papa's boats was also a favorite!

This is one of my favorite pictures all week! Ben just kickin back...