This Last Week

Last week we decided we needed some s'mores. We all sat around our little BBQ with our roasters and s'mores fixings. Tommy just kept eating his marshmallows after five seconds of roasting. He sure loved his s'mores though! Actually, we all did.



We also had the opportunity to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Philadelphia. We didn't take our camera in, but we sure had fun. We sat up high on the grass...which was perfect with the boys! The music was amazing and the night turned out to be pretty beautiful for a summer night. We had plenty of snacks and luckily we had a pen in the backpack so we could draw with Damon. At intermission, the boys RAN up and down the steps and curbs. They were dripping in sweat by the time the choir started singing again. Good thing we had Tootsie Pops for them...those things lasted forever and kept them quiet. We ended up leaving before it was over. We were a little bummed, but we knew if we stayed, the boys would have ruined it anyway, plus there would have been tons of traffic. We were so glad we went and would do it again in a heartbeat! (If only they went on tour more than every other year and came near us more too!)

Our weekend didn't turn out as we had planned, but the boys were still able to get outside and run out some energy. Barrett took them to the park to run the soccer fields. Barrett told me that Tommy didn't stop running the entire time! We also came across Swiss Family Robinson and Polyanna on tv. The boys were actually pretty interested in those old classics! We were all pretty exhausted Sunday afternoon. Tommy was sitting between me and Barrett while we were watching a church movie when I realized they were both asleep. Damon and I thought it was super funny how Tommy's arm was propped up on Barrett when he fell asleep.



Yesterday I got a call from Barrett. He was running out of work and wanted to get off a little early so we could take the boys to the Killens Pond Waterpark. We went once last year and thought we'd try it out again. It was pretty fun. Tommy loved the froggy slides and the bubbles. Damon loved swimming with his dad in the big pool. I wish swimming lessons weren't so expensive because I think he'd really enjoy them! It was a pretty fun evening. As we were driving home, Barrett and I were thinking how different life is now that he's not in school. We NEVER had time or money to ever think of doing anything besides the normal every day life stuff. Between student loans and health insurance, we still don't have a lot of extra money, but it is nice to have a little more flexibility to do fun things and not have to worry about if that "fun" just doomed us to peanut butter and jelly for a week:)

First Day of SUMMER!!

We enjoyed the first day of summer by eating DQ ice cream cake at the library storytime. We also went to the mall for the boys to pick out some new pajamas...I'll have to get pictures of them wearing them...they look super cute! After lunch, we pulled out our new 5 dollar slip and slide! The boys loved it! Damon was a pro, Tommy was hilarious. He would start really far back, run super fast, stop when he got to the slip and slide, hop on, then wait for me to push/pull him down. They loved it! They also loved having popsicles afterward too!

Father's Day

I ordered the boys matching ties. I found this site called My Favorite Pal. I ordered them and had them in 2 or 3 days! Great service and the ties are pretty good quality and decently priced! Later I found their ad in Family Fun magazine. I felt pretty trendy!

The boys loved to have matching ties with their Daddy.





After church we opened presents. Earlier in the week, we colored and decorated ties to make a banner. (We also sent one to my dad) Barrett got camping chairs for the whole family, stuff for smores, flashlights, fancy chips, and candy.

We grilled cheeseburgers and had corn on the cob, baked beans, and mashed potatoes. We played games then had dessert...easy cheesecake in an oreo crust. Pretty good day. We love our dads!

Beach Vacation

Warning: tons of pictures and words that probably won't interest anyone but me:)

Barrett's boss chartered a sailboat to sail the Chesapeake for a week and he needed someone to stay at their beach house to take care of their dog and make sure their 20 year old didn't have wild parties. We agreed to go down Thursday night and leave early Sunday morning. It was super hectic getting packed up to get ready to go...plus we had to clean the church that night. The boys fell asleep on the way there...nice. Damon woke up and watched shows on the DVD player. When Tommy woke up, he walked out the bedroom door and said, "Wow, dis a bid (big) house! How we get here?!"

The boys became acquainted with Nelson and were fascinated by him the whole time. He is a really good dog and I found myself rubbing his head and tummy and letting him snuggle up to me on the couch (I'm not usually a dog person...I've decided all creatures are the same...give them an inch of attention and they'll take a mile and become your best friend)


We hopped in the car and drove down to see the Fenwick Island Lighthouse. It is only open Saturday and Sunday, and it was Friday. We enjoyed looking at it (I love lighthouses) and reading about it. The boys saw tons of pirate mini golf places which caused Damon to cry a good portion of the car ride back because we wouldn't go to one.

We went to the beach and enjoyed the sand and water. The boys dug a big hole. Earlier in the week, I taught Damon how to do head stands up against a wall. He tried it in the hole:)

Tommy was crying because...who knows, our kids cry when they don't get what they want. No telling what it was this time.



We went home and got cleaned up and ate snacks. The beach house is right behind the outlets, so we went to a few stores and let the boys pretend ride all the little rides outside the stores until dinner time. They loved it!



We went to eat at this amazing place called Bethany Blues. I have been dying for pulled pork/BBQ beef. I got a pulled pork sandwich...it was awesome. Barrett got ribs...awesome again. Damon loves restaurants because they give him things to color. Tommy loves to dip fries in ketchup. He also got some of Barrett's mac n cheese and boy was it cheesy!! It was all over his face, his clothes, and chair.

Tommy was falling asleep eating his dinner. He couldn't keep his head up any longer and had to rest it on Barrett's arm. I eventually picked him up and made him walk to go wash his hands...that woke him up!

There is a park in the development of the beach house, so we stopped off and let the boys play forever. We were the only ones there and it was a pretty nice night. When we got back to the house, we took the dog out to do his business, then he pulled us down the street for a walk. I had to yell to the boys to hurry up and catch up with me. I ended up coming back early with Tommy who thought it was fun to run away from us and into the street. Damon was fascinated with how many times Nelson had to use the bathroom and was proud that he was able to hold the leash all by himself! We put the boys to bed, then talked with the son of Barrett's boss. Barrett and I were both falling asleep watching tv, so we went to bed by 10:00 on vacation!! Boo on us.

Saturday morning we got packed up for a fun day. We went to the Rehoboth boardwalk to walk around and go to Funland. Unfortunately, Funland didn't open until 1 pm. We bought Dolle's salt water taffy and some fudge and had a little snack. Of course 2 pieces wasn't good enough for the boys, so they cried...again. We walked back to the car with crying kids.

The boys found these free maps of the beach areas. They were both walking down the sidewalk looking at their maps. It was really cute...see all the pictures?!



We headed over to a state park beach and had a great time. Damon got really brave and played in the water with Barrett. Tommy tolerated it for a little bit, but preferred to hold my hand and a rake in the other and play in the water and sand. When we ate lunch, the boys thought it was fun to lay down while they ate.




After a couple hours and a lot of beach fun, we went back to get cleaned up. The boys watched some shows while we planned out the rest of the evening. We decided to go back to the Rehoboth boardwalk and get dinner at Subway, then head over to Funland. While looking for a parking spot, Tommy fell asleep, so he cried all the way out of the car until we reached food. Damon pounded an entire 6 inch sub...he sure was hungry! We all loved Funland. I was afraid the boys would be a little hesitant about the rides, but they were fine! They loved all the rides.






Tommy loved this ride. There was a kid behind him encouraging him to shoot him back. Tommy would put his little eye to the gun like it had a scope...it was hilarious.
Barrett really wanted to go on this free-fall ride with Damon. I wasn't too sure, but they did it. Damon had a scared look the first time it fell, then a huge grin every other time! They ended up going on the ride again later. He looks so grown up here!


We got ice cream then headed home. Tommy fell asleep on the way home, but Damon stayed awake. He had seen this Batcave at the outlets and we promised him we'd stop so he could see it. I hopped out of the car with him to check it out...he loved it. He even tried to pretend he was fighting bad guys!

The next morning we packed up early and headed home for church and Father's Day!! We had a great little 2 day vacation!

Flag Day

Tuesday was Flag Day! Tommy and I put little Grand Old Flags in the grass lining the sidewalk. Then the boys painted. I had seen on the website No Time For Flashcards, ideas for flags and such. We put tape on a piece of paper to form the stripes. The boys used poof balls (old ones that we weren't using anymore and had been washed) to dip in red paint and dab on their paper. They got a little red, but liked it. They are getting really fast at finishing projects that seem to take forever to set up! I think I'm going to use my mother-in-law's suggestion and buy a tablecloth that can be wiped down and put away...taping newspaper to the table is driving me crazy! So, while the paint was drying, we made a flag treat: graham cracker with frosting and mini blue m&ms and Twizzler's pull and peel for the stripes. We also found our Wee Sing America CD...we've missed listening to it! We read the 4 flag/patriotic books that I have and talked about the colors on the flag and what they represent. Then they put star stickers on blue paper and glued it on our flags. I had Damon decorate a letter "F" to look like a flag. He did an excellent job coloring and writing the word "FLAG." I haven't done much with the boys lately in projects, school, playing, etc. I forgot how much fun it is...but for some reason the day went longer...even with something planned!! For dinner, I thought it would be fun to have waffles with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream to look like tasty flags. Well, I told the boys the idea then realized my waffle iron doesn't make squares...we improvised and had them anyway. They sure were tasty! We love a reason to celebrate...Hooray for Flag Day!

Museums, Cars, and Books

After visiting the Natural History Museum last week, Damon came home and starting making his own museum. He drew pictures of animals and dinosaur bones on display, cut them out, and taped them to the wall. He then drew fossils and taped it to a box. He was trying to figure out how to make a box to go over it so people couldn't touch the fossils. I pulled out a page protector sheet and found some magnifying glasses for him to use. He then made us all come to his museum and bossed us around.

Saturday was a novelty...we didn't have anything we HAD to do! We loaded the van up with some boxes from the garage to take to the recycle bins and planned to go to Sam's Club afterwards. Well, the van wouldn't start! Barrett finagled his car up on the grass next to the van to jump it. The boys were super excited and wanted to be in on all the action with the jumper cables sparking everywhere...they were quickly banned to the stairs to watch. We all piled in and drove through a nearby development's community yard sale. When we got home and turned off the car, it wouldn't start back up. Barrett remembered we have a warranty on our battery, so he called up the Honda place. We switched the carseats over and ventured over to get it taken care of. We got sandwiches and went to the park. Unfortunately I had taken the boys there the day before, so they were a little bored, plus it was kinda warm. We picked the car back up and went home to wash them both. The boys loved it. Then, they started spraying Dad...they loved that too! I told Barrett I was so grateful the car battery died when it did and not when we had visitors here and were travelling all over the place! That would have been bad.






We love the book by Mo Willems, "The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog." We've probably read it 1,000 times and probably have checked it out from the library for a total of 20 or so weeks. One night we realized the boys can recite it by memory...it is funny. Of course they didn't do such great readings when I was filming. Tommy is usually hilarious...I've cried laughing at times! Make sure you pause the playlist on the right first.