Hopscotch, Bricks & Coffee

I still have a few vacation posts to do – (and a bunch of others) but I’m going to take a break today and do a recent one.  These were taken today.

We had to go outside right away this morning because I forgot to water my plants for two nights in a row.  They were real thirsty!  I can’t even tell you the last time it rained here.  The kids love to play outside so we actually played in the front yard – which we haven’t done a whole lot this summer since they have been working on our road and I don’t want the kids in the front with all the crew and construction equipment. 

Another perk – the front yard was cooler then the backyard.  We reached 90s and humid again this week.

Mallory is very advanced in many things – however she lacks coordination.  : )  When she was in swimming lessons this summer she didn’t understand how to jump into the pool.  She would jump up (straight up) and then she would hit her bottom on the edge of pool… then she wouldn’t jump in again.  Don’t blame her – I am sure that hurt like none other.  Hopscotch was perfect in teach her how to jump forward!

The kids being cute!

I get stopped all the time for people to comment on how blonde Maxwell is and if I think he will stay that blonde.  I don’t really notice him being overly blonde… until I look at these pictures!  He is blonde… scratch that… he has neon white hair!

Max is showing me his rock and Mallory is posing for another picture.

Uh-oh!  Smashed his finger with his rock.

He eats dirt, sand, and side walk chalk!  I do feed him.  I do feed him good healthy foods.  Yet he feels the need to eat all these gross things.  That is purple side walk chalk on his chin.

Stealing my coffee! 

I do offer them plenty to drink – yet they feel the need to sneak into my coffee.

Mallory was in a picture mood this morning.  She gave me all kinds of shots! 

Hey boy!  Save that coffee for me!  I need that coffee!

Right after the above picture – Max dropped my coffee!  And Maggie came to the rescue and was cleaning it up for us!  I think everyone else got my coffee except me!

It took us about a year but we finally got our pillars finished on our front patio!

I got these perfect yellow chairs for $20!  And I almost didn’t get them because I thought $20 was too much!  I think I was suffering from insanity – because they are perfect on my front porch and $20 was such a good deal! 

Kids were starting to zone out on me.  Time to take them inside and refuel them!

Closer look at the pillars!  That plant is also getting out of control!  You can’t even see the yellow pot that it is in or the other plants that are in there! 

Once we get the sidewalk refinished it will all come full circle.  But for now – I’m totally digging this finished patio!  I can’t wait for fall and to decorate it for fall and for us to sit out here and hand out candy to the little trick or treaters!!

Thunder Bowl

One of the days on vacation we all packed up and went riding.  The guys on their dirt bikes.  The kids and I along with Auntie Steph in the RZR.  We left after breakfast and headed towards Thunder Bowl. 

Maxwell locked and loaded and ready!

Mallory locked and loaded and ready to go! 

They insisted on bring their blankets along!  You can about imagine how disgusting their blankets were by the end of the week!  It was so dusty and a few spots of mud. 

This was the first time that Steph and I were able to ride along on the guys off-roading adventures.  And we were quick to learn that we stop A LOT to check the map! 

We stopped.  and stopped some more.  and stopped again.

We saw this view a lot!  : )  Checking the map on the hood of our vehicle.  It was starting to get very funny to me when we would stop that I would have to muffle my giggles.

They had to clear it up and let me know that they do not check the map this frequently when it is just them.  They had to do it because of the RZR because it wasn’t allowed on all the trails so they were checking to see what trails I could be on.

We finally made it to our destination – Thunder Bowl!

When we arrived I headed for one of the trails to go up and I panicked and screamed and stopped and yelled – I CAN’T DO IT!  Then the boys found me at the bottom of the trail and encouraged me up it.  So I went up screaming and yelling the whole way.  Mallory is giggling and hooting and having the time of her life.  Well once you get to the top – you have to go back down!!!!  Ahh!!  Well there was this one hill that I refused to go up!  It looked massive!  It looked straight up steep!  No way!  Mally kept yelling – follow daddy momma!  I want to follow daddy up that big hill!

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch and you guessed it – check the map again!  ; )  The kids got to run around and burn off some energy before they got strapped back into the RZR for the long trek back home.

Maxwell must sample all dirt or sand!  You would think he would stop eating it – but he doesn’t!

Lunch time was over and we all got back into our vehicles and played on the trails again.  Before we would leave the guys really wanted me to concur my fear and go up the massive hill!  Jesse grabbed the video camera and went to the top to record my big hill!

Well after that I wish they would of recorded some of the other ones because the other ones we were climbing were WAY worse!  They were narrow, there were ruts, it was steep, it was far more scarier then this hill that I was afraid of.  But of course no record of me doing those.  Next year!  : ) 

P.S.  The last night on vacation – The guys bought ANOTHER map!  : )  This was the ultimate map!  The map they had been dreaming and wanting the whole vacation!  And we were leaving that night!  However, Jerry busted out the map around the campfire that night and got some good map reading in before we left!  ; )

They sleep anywhere!

Jesse and I took the kids out in the RZR one afternoon on vacation for a little ride.  They love it!  You mention the word RZR and Mally starts jumping up and down and Maxwell is nodding his head and saying “yeah”.

The kids have to be in their car seats and they have to wear bicycle helmets and they really need their sunglasses because it is so dusty.

Max had a hard time keeping his glasses on his eyes! 

I took some pictures of the kind of trails we were on.

Getting narrower.

Um… I don’t think there is a trail anymore!

And I look back and this is what I see.  Mallory hanging over sleeping!  Max with leg up on the rail sleeping!  All while we are bumping up and down these trials.

It must have been so soothing to them because when we would hop in the RZR to go for a ride they would always fall asleep!  I felt horrible for Mallory because her seat was straight up and down so she couldn’t find a good spot for her head and it was constantly bobbing until she would fall over and then she would sleep bent over.  She never once complained or got mad about it!  She is such a tough kid!  Max on the other hand, who had the lazy boy lounger, wasn’t shy about letting us know if things got uncomfortable for him.  ; ) 

Flying Kites & Beach Day

Our third day of vacation… our first and only day (I think) of getting to sleep past 6am!  Max didn’t understand that vacation was for sleeping in.  Jesse rolled over at 8am and let out a yell.  His neck muscle had locked up – think charlie-horse times 10 that doesn’t let up.  I had thrown in our heat pack and got him started on a heat – ice (which a frozen margarita pouch works perfectly) rotation.  His neck muscle has locked up before and it took about three days to get it back.  This wasn’t something he wanted to happen at the very beginning of his vacation!

It was beach day.  Mally really wanted to fly her kite at the beach and today was going to be the day.  Jesse said he would attempt to come with us – or I would drop him off at the ER and take the kids while he was getting help.  ; ) 

We loaded the truck.  I drove.  We stopped at the pharmacy for Jesse to get some pain killers.  Hunted down some coffee and took the kids to the park to swing to see how Jesse would do.  He wasn’t good.  He was in a lot of pain!  We drove to the hospital and found an urgent care.  He went in – the kids and I sat in the parking lot and waited.  Thankfully I had the DVD players in there from the drive up to Michigan.  That they watched a movie and ate snacks and I read a book on my phone.  They were little patient rock stars waiting for their Daddy!  Jesse came out over an hour later with a prescription for a muscle relaxer.  We went to fill it and got some lunch and then headed for the beach.

While on our way to the beach Max fell asleep.  Jesse stayed in the truck with him while Mallory and I went to fly kites.

It took me a bit to get this kite up in the air and not come crashing down on nearby people!  And for a middle of the week day the beach was full of people!

She flew it for about 5.7 seconds and was DONE!  Really?!  She wanted to go play in the water!

We walked.  She wanted to swim, but I wouldn’t let her in her clothes.  I thought we might be able to come back anther day with swim gear.

She thought she could catch the seagulls.  Oh silly girl!

Mallory is getting so tall and lean!  Her shorts have recently become way too big for her!  Her pants are way too short and when you find them long enough they are way too big in the waist.  Her little shorts kept slipping down

I took a video of her making a “snow angel”.  : )

She Thinks We’re Just Fishing…

I don’t know if the quality of this picture will show up on your screen but – there is a drool drip and a water drip!  He is in a major drool phase right now!

He squatted here and picked up sand and dropped sand for quite some time.

Then sat down and played.

And these two fished with hunks of left over steak.  Had a hard time finding worms.  Jesse went out in the woods for about 20 minutes and came back empty handed.  Worms are scarce around these parts, I guess.  ; )

The fish were big fans of the steak!  They were catching lots of little guys!

Vacation!!

We went back to the cabin on 16 Mile Lake up in the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan.  The kids could not get enough of playing in this sand.

Max’s shoes still have sand in them.  I can not get it out!  I still have sand in my truck I noticed this weekend when I moved Mallory’s car seat!

Building a sand castle with Maxwell around is almost impossible!  He things it is a perfect spot to sit!

Leave it to Daddy’s to teach them to throw things out into the water!  Throwing the dump truck out there.  Then Mally starts throwing it and going to get it.  Then Max starts throwing it and won’t go get it – so I have to go out in that mucky yucky water!  Towards the end of the week Max started getting a little more braver with the water and going out in it.

Mally likes to fish.  No idea where she got this because neither Jesse nor I grew up fishing, but she likes to sit there and reel it in over and over and over.