Of Playing, Denver, and First Day of School

Time to play catch up! Be warned, this will probably be long.

Playing: We've had a couple of home days lately (the day we left for Denver and today) and since we are gone so much, we have to take full advantage of home days. We did some finger print art, stolen from Sally's blog who got it from http://toddlerboredombusters.blogspot.com/. Check it out, some great ideas on there! I do think the gal's kids must be cleaner than mine though . . .here's Davis post stamping: Notice that even his elbow got in the act. He is a hands on boy. Here's his finished product:

Note the difference from Carter's artwork:


He was certainly more dainty about it, and he didn't like getting his hands dirty so . . .

His shirt took the brunt of it instead. We also spent some time harrassing the grasshoppers, my we love to catch bugs. Poor things never stand a chance. Actually I think Daddy freed him after we left mostly intact (one leg wasn't quite as good as before they caught him).

But oh how fun it is to ride your scooter (in the house) with your "hopper" hanging on the front! Almost as much fun as playing with the suit cases after we got home.

Only this one has a surprise inside:

The boys took turns zipping themselves inside and then being dragged around by brother (and daddy!). Why do I buy them toys again??

Today we also did some baking which meant we had to pull out our cooking gear. This is Davis.

And there's my Carter. Their favorite is cracking the eggs--I don't know if I would suggest eating anything they have helped with, I won't be held accountable for any shells you may find.

The next best thing is mixing. Today we were making Peanut Butter Monster cookies because I found a random bag of ingredients from the last time we made them hanging up in the mud room. Certainly the only reason the M&Ms were still around. I quite like these cookies because I can pretend they are mildly nutritious for the kiddos, there is 3 cups of peanut butter and 7 cups of oatmeal. It's like breakfast . . .right?

Then we went on a bike ride to the park which was slow going but the boys are exicted by their new found skill and that they can finally (a year after we bought them) reach the pedals.

And then they found another new skill while we played--they can climb the outside of the tube slide. I think we could have skipped this discovery--freaks me out! I let them each do it once and then insisted they only climb from the inside.

Look at me mom, take my picture!

Such fun, I really do like playing with those silly boys.



So, Wednesday last week we took off for a couple of days of visiting friends in Denver. We drove just to Grand Junction the first day and spent some time in the pool there. The boys were fairly good the first stretch but as expected, did not sleep well in the hotel. They just don't sleep well away from home (they don't sleep great at home for that matter). I ended up with both in my bed with me pretty much holding them down until they could stop moving enough to fall asleep just before midnight. And then I was roasting all night pinned between 2 little bodies who were up by 7:30 anyway. Oh well, back on the road. The first hour was pretty rotten but better from there out. We stopped in Vail and played at a lovely park. What a beautiful place to be--my mom loved it! The trip was just my mom and I and the boys by the way. Finally to Denver (Highlands Ranch) it was great to see my friend Kristina. We have been best friends since we were 4 and 5 and our parents are close too so it was fun to see Scott and Sue also and their lovely new home. I was especially excited to spend some time with Kris's kids. They have grown so much and are just so fun to be around. They are all gorgeous and better looking in person than in their photos plus their little personalities were fun to experience. The next day we went to see Sue's house, played, and took a drive up to Evergreen (gorgeous!) and saw some moose up close. The drive was mostly a venture to get the kids to take a little nap. That night the girls all went out to Cheesecake Factory while Sam and Scott, Kris's husband and dad watched the kids--what gems! It was a really enjoyable night of chatting and food and celebrating Kris becoming "old" before me (turning 30). Saturday we hit the outlets and though the kids were almost besides themselves and I lost my temper with them (no naps and poor night time sleep for a couple of days at this point) I did get some good deals so not a total wash. Then we went to the zoo and I finally pulled out my camera.

Davis feeding the lorikeets (sp?). This was very cool, you could hold a cup of nectar up to the birds and they would drink from your hands. We also got to throw meal worms out to the birds in the aviary house--yeah for cold bugs!

Monkey statue photo op

Carter

Davis--they aren't just looking cute, they were actually very well behaved. It was hot and busy but the kids did really well. I think they just finally got to do what they wanted to do.

Riding the train

Yeah for visiting a new zoo. It's always fun to see some animals we don't have at our zoo, we loved the lorikeets, the sea lions, the very close to us tiger (we do have one of those but he is hardly ever that close) and the lions. Then it was already time to head home.

Thanks Kris for having us, it was quick and my kids were cranky but it was still fun to have some girl time.


And a big thanks to Sam for being so great with the kids. Davis especially just loved him, look at his big smile. He called him, "other one Daddy". Now he changed it to "Uncle Daddy". He literally bawled as we drove away, he loved playing with all those boys. Carter was happy to be headed home, to each his own. The ride home was perfect. The kids were quiet watching movies and playing games (we adore our Leapsters by the way, Carter was playing Letter Factory the whole time and now can name almost all the letters and their sounds. And he is happy to be learning!) until they fell asleep around 10 and 11. I listened to "The Time Traveler's Wife" as we drove and that made it quite pleasant for me. My foot spasmed a few times but other than that, quite a pleasant time for an 8 hour drive. I was enjoying the book, but would caution readers there is some language and sexual content. I will finish listening/reading it tonight and then hope to go see the movie. We got home around 4 am and the boys went right to bed without a fuss. We even made it to church in the morning. Yea for me! It was a good prep for the 10 hours to Disney we will do next month.

And finally, the boys started preschool yesterday! Hooray! And it went well, I was so nervous. Carter was showing a lot of resistance to going but his teacher said he didn't fuss a bit. We read "The Kissing Hand" (thanks for the suggestion Janice!) and I think that helped. I still cried but what can I say, those are my bitty babies I was handing over. Their teacher really seems so awesome, like make me want to be a better parent awesome, but even with all the good parent reviews you just can't know for sure that after you leave they won't start using your children for cheap labor and beating them with a whip. It's unlikely but I've never left the kids with anyone besides family and the gym play room where I can check on them at any time. It's safe to say they didn't do that, Carter said he played with beans and a mouse puzzle and Davis said something about a hand and blue and yellow make green. Probably safe.

My silly boys just before we headed out. The lighting is bad, but I wanted to use the railing as a guide for how they are getting taller in the future.


Carter, thanks to Kari for the idea to hold the little paper.
And Davis

Both boys with super sweet Mrs. Daniels

And what I did after I dropped them off. I also did the grocery shopping, alone. Holy awesome quiet batman! It was delightful. I did miss them though, I couldn't wait for them to get out and then scooped them up and showered them with candies and toys I wasn't spared from buying at the store just because they weren't with me. What can I say? I'm hooked, I adore those naughty little boys.

I think that's about it. Oh except we are thinking about going to Lagoon on Labor Day and I am wondering if anyone wants to use my IHC discount. Throughout the labor day weekend I can get tickets for $22. Let me know if you want some!