Summer Fun, part 3

Bouncing a beach ball on a picnic cloth at Teetertots storytime.

With the help of lots of big siblings, because it's summer and they're out of school.

Yes, Robin is wearing a clip-on tie on top of a tank top

Taking a train ride with my boys

Choo choo!

This was on the 4th of July!  We were undecided about what we wanted to do until the last minute, when we decided to head out to a nearby park where they have lots of festivities.  The train and petting zoo were open, but the other festivities didn't start for a few hours.

Robin getting squashed by a giant monkey foot (the inflatable wasn't open for business yet)

After the train, we went home for lunch and naps, and then headed back out to the same place with a picnic dinner, games, and fireworks!

Pulling the wagon loaded with all our gear

Robin, bouncing and sliding

Liam insisted that he didn't want to bounce--he didn't want to go into those scary structures that kept moving!  But as Robin was using up all the tickets we purchased, Liam suddenly had a change of heart.  So we bought a few more, so he could bounce, too.  He mostly stayed by the doors/windows, though.

A family shot, as the sun set and the fireworks were about to start

Boom!  The fireworks began!

And Liam HATED them!  Normally, I'm the one he runs to when he's upset or hurt, and he ran to me initially. But then after just a moment of me hugging him, he cried out for Dada and wormed his way into Dean's lap.  Dean helped Liam cover his ears, and Liam kept his eyes closed for the rest of the show.  He did NOT like fireworks!  Well, he's still little.  In another year or two, hopefully he'll enjoy them, as Robin has begun to do.

Some fireworks pics

Yay!  It's over!

Both boys were very, very tired by the night--and they knew that they were tired.  Well, what can you expect when they're normally in bed about a half hour before the fireworks started?  That's what happens when those special holidays roll around.  We used the wagon to haul them on the way back (instead of our gear) and eventually got them safely and soundly into bed.  What a full holiday!

And just two days later...
Happy 10th Anniversary to Us!!!

Summer Fun, part 2

Robin requested that I make a Lego Scooby Doo.  Here was the result.

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This was Robin's first t-ball practice

Hitting the ball

Fielding as pitcher

Robin the astronaut

I love getting height pictures of the boys in front of the dinosaurs at the museum

Uncovering dinosaur fossils

The museum had a new kinetics display in the kids area, and we played with making a ramp for the balls

Friends playing in the sand

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Liam watching from the vantage point of his bike

Finally getting his feet wet - literally

Enjoying lunch at the park.  Liam got so wet playing in the sand that I had to change him into his swim trunks to be in dry clothes!

Friends, hiding in the cubby hole inside the library

Taking a train ride downtown

They love trains!

We met some friends there for a street music festival.

Didn't really get any shots of kids watching music, but they had fun running around too

Robin's first t-ball game.  Their jerseys hadn't arrived yet, so they were just supposed to wear a dark color.  Since the Rockies must sponsor the YMCA in some way (the league is called Junior Rockies) it seemed a good opportunity to dress Robin in his Rockies shirt.

Todd Helton, batting for the Tiger Possum Rockies (yes, that's his team's name.)

Run!!!

Go Tiger Possum Rockies!

Robin made a Lego model of Little Tug, a tug boat from a book we got from the library

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Here's a picture Robin drew, of a person hitting a baseball.  And the holes in the paper are first, second, and third bases.

We have a book called "Goodnight Zoo," which says "hello" to a whole slew of animals, from morning 'til night.

We decided we'd make our own "Goodnight Zoo" book, and so we trekked off to the zoo to get pictures of the animals.

I'd been hoping to get the boys in the foreground each time, but that proved problematic as many animals were just too far away.

It was hot, so we saw the Rhino getting water.

Robin's as tall as an emperor penguin

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The baby orangutan climbing here is close to Liam's age.  It's been fun to watch her grow.

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I love Liam's expression here.  He looks rather cross-eyed

The elephant got water, too

We only covered about half the zoo, so we had to plan another trip for later, in July.

We took our playgroup to another park one day.

It was a really fun and awesome place, but unfortunately it's just too far from home to do regularly.

It was also quite crowded, probably because it was so cool.