8/28/13

Superheroes

There is captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and The Invisible Lady.  Hmm, should I tell Bug she isn't actually invisible when she takes her clothes off.

Today

We headed out to explore a new place.
There was rock hounding, mud throwing, rock chucking, pretending.  Fun.
I found an agate while sitting next to this beauty.
He was experimenting with force and circumference of mud splats.
They were all hunting for the perfect rock specimen.  The hard pack was the place to look today.
Checking out the breaking point of dried mud.

Taking in the beauty of it all.

This is where we spent 2 hours of our morning.

8/24/13

Race Day

We stumbled upon a kids race near our house.  They all ran 1km and received a ribbon and prize at the end.  There was a mountain bike component that we opted out of this year.  The twins said they really want to try that next year, though.
And they are off.
Even bug ran- with a little help from Dad.
We eventually caught up to LBB.  He was having some trouble on the slippery trail.  A volunteer helped him out until we caught up.  He was a trooper.  He was also first in line to get his ribbon.
At the finish line.  Beefcake wished he hadn't wore that sweater.
 
All with ribbons and prizes.  Builder ran the 1.3km trail in 9:40. Animal ran it in 9:10.  LBB took 13:10. And bug was carried around at13:40.  They all had a blast and asked to do it again.

8/23/13

Around Here

What to do with all those boxes?  houses and tunnels.  We've been fighting an extremely mucusy virus.  So there has been plenty of afternoon naps.  I even got caught sleeping on the job.

We have been doing some coloring.
And lots of reading.  There has also been biking, hiking, library visits, park play, and gaming.

8/21/13

Awesomeness

This is right up there with skiing with all of them by myself last year.  
When I was in the middle of changing all those poopy diapers, I would dream of this.  Now it is here and it is everything I dreamed.

8/20/13

Exploring

Found a new place to explore just 5 min from our house.
We saw frogs and fish.
Do you see the small frog in Builder's hand?
And another.
That's not a Popsicle. Rather, a cattail.  He tells me it's very rare.
The little fuzz on my back is sick BW.  She really did not want to be out and about.  After a couple days in the house, it was necessary.
Run, run.  This guy does nothing slow.  He likes things fast and crazy.
Things to add to his nature collection: cattail and pine cone seed.
"What kind of scat is that?" I ponder aloud. "You silly, mom.  Look at it.  There is wood.  It's beaver." Responds animal.  Ah, of course it is.
Me.  Content.
Lots of frogs. LBB content.
Happiness all around.
I got to hold hands with all of them and snuggle with BW on my back.  A successful exploration. We'll be back.

8/10/13

Day at the Fair

Just me and the twins.  It was weird spending time sitting and really watching the shows.  The attention span of 7 year olds is very different than a 2 year old.  We had a nice relaxing day.  
This was their favorite ride.

There were too many cars to really get going and make a hit, but they still had huge smiles.  I think this was their first solo driving experience.  Hopefully not a foreshadow. 
They were so big - riding all by themselves.  And yet they were just too small to ride the real gut busters.
We even watched some barrel racing, highland dancing, and gymnastics.  They discovered that they really don't like cotton candy, too.

8/9/13

View

This is my amended view from the kitchen window.  We found a bunch of treated beams on our property.  One even had some swing hooks attached.  So we set it up.  We even have neighbors with kids the same age as the younger 2.
It only took LBB a few days to figure out how to climb up the top.  Beefcake told me not to give the kids any ideas.  He, he.  I knew they would do me proud.  They have already mastered climbing the pear tree.

Art Class

There is a wonderful gallery here with some kids programming.  The kids love it.

And so does Dad.  The gallery runs a family workshop every Sunday.
This week was pastel Northern Lights and painted sky rocks.  I mean, who doesn't love painting rocks.

And there is even a play room for kids to go when they are done, but others are not quite finished their masterpiece.  The bonus is I found out about this place and purchased a half price membership on their sale day before we moved.  They even run home school days through the school year. And They have an open space where we can drop in and art whenever we want.  All this for $35.  Awesome.

8/7/13

River

We finally found a gorgeous rock hounding spot.
I heard a lot of, 'CRYSTALS!' 'We are gonna be rich.'  

The had a blast breaking the rocks and discovering all the crystals inside.  They carried home 2 buckets of rocks - for their collection. Ya know.
She of course stayed close to the food and staked out the prime rock throwing spot.

Gorgeous.  We will likely be back for more exploring soon.