Week O Fun

Barrett went on High Adventure with 2 of the Scouts this last week. They joined up with our old Newark friends in Washington DC early Monday morning to start their 185 mile bike trek. I'm literally amazed by some of the things he said he did...sacrifice upon sacrifice. He's awesome! 

So, while he was gone, I knew I had to entertain the boys with some adventures for the week. We went to pick blueberries at Fifer Orchards, plus ate apple cider donuts, swung on the horse swings, played bean bag toss, and boccie ball. They loved it! Way back in February, Barrett bought the boys these little Lego sets in case we needed them for the airplane. Well, they didn't and we'd been saving them for just the right moment. This was the perfect time! The boys played with them all afternoon, plus one morning and every so often now. 

One day we played Angry Birds outside with water balloons. Really, it just made for Angry Mom...filling up those silly water balloons was so aggravating! They drew piggies all over the drive way, then threw water balloons at them. They also played in the sprinkler with water guns. After dinner, we went to Byler's for ice cream. The boys were in heaven with those big scoops!

We also attempted playgroup at the park, but it was so hot all the kids just sat around under the trees. We just chilled the rest of that day...and played on the slip and slide.

The next day I had a Doctor's appointment. My sitter cancelled, so I bribed the boys that we'd do something really fun if they were good. So, that afternoon we went to Chuck E. Cheese to use up some tokens we'd been saving. They had a great time! An awesome friend surprised us after dinner with a fun little balloon game for the boys. She showed up at just the right time!

Friday, we met up with friends at a bounce house place. The boys had so much fun!! They didn't stop. Our friends left after about 2 hours and my boys kept going another whole hour!! I was starving and wished I brought lunch, but they were happy! I eventually talked them into going home for lunch. They keep asking if we can go back:) We picked up pizza that night and saw friends for a bit.

We spent our last day cleaning out Barrett's car, playing in the water, and trying to stay occupied. The boys were excited to see their daddy that night. They couldn't stop touching and talking to him. Tommy was fascinated with Barrett's beard and kept rubbing it. They called it his pirate beard and were sad when he shaved it off for church. We sure are glad he's back!!

 And, this is a little of what Barrett experienced throughout the week.

Beautiful Week

We had an exceptionally rare east coast June week. The weather was amazing!!


We tried out a new park with some friends on Monday and stayed about 3 1/2 hours.

Tuesday it rained a bit and we watched the cutest little 3 month old girl for about an hour. The boys were in heaven (and so was I)...we just couldn't get enough of her and can't wait 3 more months or so until we get our own!

Wednesday was our usual park day with friends where we lasted over 3 1/2 hours!!

Thursday was library day where the boys decorated crowns at story time. It was also Flag Day, so we read our library books and flag books, did a macaroni flag craft, and decorated flag cupcakes.

On Friday we met up with some friends at the new park again and lasted over 3 1/2 hours again!! We made a few stops on the way home, then came home to relax. Barrett got home and we ate, then went on a Father's Day adventure. The boys really wanted to go bowling, but it was such nice weather, we suggested taking Dad to the new park to fly kites and get a treat...this took no convincing, they were all for it!! We had an awesome evening flying kites...Tommy is hilarious because he runs around the entire time and looks up at his kite along the way. On the way to McDonald's for ice cream cones, we found a sign for snow cones, so ended up stopping there instead. It was a lovely evening (and they fell asleep on the way home!).

Tommy runs around when he flies a kite...it is pretty funny.

Saturday we went to the temple. It was such beautiful weather there too! Barrett usually takes the boys to a park, but they ended up enjoying the temple grounds, eating lunch under trees, and exploring. He told me some funny things Tommy said. "This made my dreams come true!" (when they were under the trees). He also told Barrett all about how he was going to make Cheetos ice cream. When they were in the Visitor's Center at one of the kiosks, he said something like, "I love President Monson! He's our prophet and I love him." Unfortunately, the boys fell asleep on the 15 minute drive to REI so Barrett could pick out a Father's Day gift. I sat in the car with them while they slept. Then, they wouldn't go to sleep that night and were up until 10:30!!!

Sunday was Father's Day. Damon was up before 6:00. I finally went down and had him make a poster for Barrett. We made orange julius and bran muffins for breakfast, went to church, had lunch, opened presents,  watched old family movies when the boys were tiny, and made dinner. We were also able to chat with our own wonderful dads.
It was a pretty wonderful week:)

Exciting News!

It has taken me awhile to scan these pictures. Aren't they cute?!! We are sooooo excited to be expecting again. The boys are soooo excited they are getting a baby sister!! She's due to come the end of September. Hooray!!

Hide and Seek

We went downtown one night last weekend since the weather was so pleasant. I have never walked around the new courthouse, but love the rest of downtown with its old brick buildings (my favorite thing about Dover). Barrett told the boys they could play hide-and-seek while pregnant mom just sat and watched. We even walked over to the oldest church to look at the cemetery...so fascinating. Anyway, it was such a beautiful evening and the boys had a great time playing hide-and-seek in the corridors and pillars.

 This is Tommy counting while Damon and Dad were hiding.

Damon's turn counting.

Second Tooth...Gone, FINALLY!

Damon FINALLY lost his second tooth. You can barely tell because his big tooth was already half way in just waiting for that little guy to move out of his way! I sure hope we don't have this much drama the next time...boy!

Beach Vacation

It is kind of sad to have your only planned "get away summer vacation" at the beginning of the summer. Barrett's boss and wife went on their annual sailboating trip, so we got to use their beach house for a few days. Luckily Barrett was able to take Friday off, so we packed up early and headed off. The clouds were dark and it started raining a bit on our way down there. We unloaded the car then did a little shopping at the outlets. Damon needed a new swim shirt and Barrett is in dire need of some work clothes. I took Damon to 4 stores before he finally decided what swim shirt he wanted...he is getting very particular about his clothing and actually likes to shop for himself. The weather cleared, but was a little windy and a little chilly. Not many people were at the beach. It was such a wonderful, fun time at the beach. The boys loved playing in the sand. Damon was loving finding crab parts and skeletons and shells. We found huge shells this time and since there were a handful of people at the beach, it made it more enjoyable to search for them. Tommy begged his daddy to bury him in the sand:)

 Damon found the outside of a horse shoe crab...it was pretty awesome.

 Tommy discovered he loved playing in the waves!

 After the beach, we went back to the house and got cleaned up, then went to the Rehoboth boardwalk. The weather wasn't great and sprinkled a little, plus it isn't quite the beach tourist season, so we got rock star parking with no crowds! We've lived in Delaware almost 8 years and have only eaten Grotto's pizza once...so we thought it was he perfect time to eat there with the fam. 

 While walking along the boardwalk, Tommy discovered this ride on toy and loved it. We had a hard time getting him off...we don't ever put money in those things either! We had to stop for taffy at Dollie's and found  they let you pick your own pieces. We don't remember that from last year, but sure loved it!! We got lots of our favorites and even wished we bought more:)

 We headed over to Funland and had a great time. It was not crowded at all and the boys never had to wait for a ride. They would run from one ride to the next!

 We found that Tommy was tall enough to ride the scary (in my opinion) drop ride. He hopped right on with Barrett and Damon and loved it!! I was a little worried that he would lose his dinner because he ate so much, but he was fine:)

Tommy was the only kid on this boat ride and was getting kind of bored, so he started rocking his boat. The  foreign girl running the ride kept laughing at him.

The next day was cold and rainy in the morning. Actually, it was pretty stormy that night with tons of thunder and lightning! We hit the outlets again to focus on Barrett's work wardrobe and found a few items. After lunch, Damon and Barrett went swimming in the freezing pool while Tommy and I played at the park. Then we headed over to the beach. There were more people than the day before, but not too crowded. After we got cleaned up, we went to eat at Bethany Blues. The food was absolutely delicious. As long as Tommy had ketchup, he was stuffing his face. Damon ate then spent the rest of the time drawing in the kid menu (he remembered it from last year!!!). The boys watched a movie and fell asleep. We sure wished we could have stayed a few days longer. It is always so fun to be down at the beach!

May Birthday

Barrett's birthday was this week. Our boys were more excited than the birthday boy. Tommy woke up before 6:00 to tell his dad Happy Birthday and request the materials to make him a card. Then, he set the table for his birthday breakfast. Barrett finally convinced him to watch Curious George. I eventually woke up and had Tommy help me put up the streamers and birthday sign the boys made. Then we made orange julius and muffins for breakfast. The boys were pretty bummed that dad had to go to work instead of playing. By 4:00 I couldn't contain them any longer. They brought all the presents down and put up another birthday sign and called Barrett to see if he was coming home soon. When he got home, they made him open presents...before eating. They were soooo excited for him. We ate dinner then played dad's new game of Jenga (Tommy was miraculously really good at it!), then had cake. Barrett said it was one of the funnest birthdays he's had...because the boys were so excited for him. There are a lot of things in life that kids make better:)

 Birthday boy

 Tommy watching his dad open presents...so excited!

 Birthday loot...Dad got a new shirt that Damon helped me pick out...he had to put it on right away.

 We decided to get 2 slices of cake from the german bakery...delicious!