No tricks, just treats.

An 'army guy' and Buzz Lightyear this year. Together they conquered trick or treating. No red wagon waiting with mom to pull the tired legs. No walking them up to every door to ring the bell. They're growing up! Which is rewarding, but a little sad at the same time.

The boys.

Exploring around Power's Bluff with sticks.

Posing.

And finding nooks that make secret hiding places.

1 mile

Austin's school had a one mile fun run on Friday. I thought this was an awesome idea! The entire school participated and ran a 1 mile course around the school. Luckily it was a half day for me at school myself, so I picked up Ethan and we went to Austin's school. I didn't know the course, or where to stand for pictures, so I parked near the start (got rockstar parking!) and it turned out to be great. We got to watch him start, and take another loop past us, then watched him finish. Overall he was 6th place (the 4-5-6th graders had a 1 minute delay), ended up winning 5th place for boys, so he earned a medal. He loves to run!!

Today.

Summer is dwindling down...or rather summer vacation is dwindling. The weather here hasn't been all that 'summery'. We finally took the boat out yesterday, and had a blast driving up and down the river and watching the kids play at a sandbar.

Today was a stay-at-home day. I got out a little blow-up pool my mom gave me concealed in a plastic bag, and gave it to the kids. Michael helped them inflate it with the air compressor, and got it set up for them. He even went to the house with my watering can several times to get some hot water to warm up the cold water that the hose was putting out into the pool. The kids had fun splashing with that, then one disappeared and reappeared with water balloons. So, guess what I did? Filled water balloons. They loved launching them at each other, but I noticed from my chair a safe distance away that most bounced off each other then broke in the grass.

Ethan learned to ride on two wheels! I had him practicing on a little bike first, by taking the training wheels off then lowering the seat down as low as it would go. I had him just sit on the seat and use his feet on the ground to move him to work on balance. Then he practiced a few very short pedaling runs with Michael holding onto his seat, not going very far. The next day I took him in the front lawn and had him practice in the grass. I figured it'd be a soft and gravel-free landing when/if he fell, and the cushioning of the grass would make balancing easier. Success! Today I had him go on our gravel road, with a bigger bike (the one Austin learned to ride on last summer - age 6!) and he did great. We even road to the end of our road and back. Next step: teach him to start himself.

Summer Snippets [July]

Scootering....an Eagle...a grasshopper.

Life's a Beach!

Handsome Young Man

At the age of 7:

The Kitty Kat

Naturally as the snow is melting, the boys are taking to riding the Kitty Kat snowmobile! They got a few days of riding it in the front yard...the snow is on its way out. (Yay!)

Austin is so serious....trying hard not to smile.

Here's Ethan, like his brother. He likes to go fast, though!

My little monster!

Light.

Cute Simon kitty....late last night on my bedside table, enjoying a bit of warmth and light from my lamp.

Tree.