back to the beach

once again, we packed our bags and headed to the beach

but this time

we remembered the one crucial element to double our fun

DADDY!

we got to the beach - and boy was instantly messy

we dug a big hole for girl - and she stayed in all day

the initial jump into the cold water is always a little shocking

she adjusted

and the ride home is always interesting

what do you do with a kid who is sleeping

and completely coated in sand?

spread out a towel - coat in powder - and put to bed

and at bedtime.. expect a big mess waiting for you

the kids brought Daddy to see their watertower

and we brought chalk

they had a gigumbus empty parking lot to draw all over...

and they hovered by the grass

next we went to see Lucy - and it was her birthday party!!

128 years young baby!

boy enjoyed the view of the watertowers

we took our eyes off boy for a second - and he bolted

only to make up for the escape with a nice pose

all lucy-ed out

next boy & daddy hit up the park

needless to say - boy needed a little cool-off time after he got home

girl learned how to pout this week

and had clams for the first time!

..a little stretchy...

and when we got home - all the chickens had escaped to welcome us home!

Hot Summer

Dan & I took an afternoon off from our lives & snuck away to Great Adventure

sadly - we had to miss the concert of the year so we could be home for dinner

yet another episode of "one of these guys is not like the other - one of these guys just doesn't belong..."

Trying to explain to girl the fine line between casual -

and not lady-like

one word: BLACKMAIL

you may say to yourself "I've seen this scenario before"

true - they're constantly naked

boy pondering a swim in his fancy blue underpants

Alex stopped by twice this weekend -

sadly - the second trip over didn't quite work out like planned

and after the series of unfortunate events...

the kids continued playing playdoh in silence

then had some berries

FLASH BACK

hay sitters


dinner insanity

Hanging out in the truck during hay

this was girl's first attempt at hucking apples with Daddy... the second try almost took Dan's nose off

high volume weekend

I don't mean high volume .. like a lot of stuff to do

I mean high volume.. like.. this was a very loud weekend

Started off - Saturday Morning

we drove up to one of the hay fields because they were recently mowed - and the hay guys had come over with the balers to make..

you guessed it -hay bales!

VERY EXCITING

...and very loud...

there was one tractor to brush the hay into rows

one tractor to make the bales

one tractor to put the bales in rows

and one truck full of estatic children

boy seemed very concerned there would be a tractor collision -

and was constantly yelling "WATCH OUT GUYS!"

by the end of everything - boy was pooped.. so girl drove us home

with boy napping - I thought I'd take the chance to figure out how to work the camera on my new phone.. also - to fully utilize the black-eyed-susans that have taken over the front flower bed

Daddy teaching boy a little baseball tough-love

Dan brought girl up to the main house to water flowers while MaryMary was away for the weekend...

and he was trying to show girl how to fling apples

When there is ever a thought of possible injury ...

err on the side of caution

Luckily - it was daddy who almost lost his nose.. not girl

Boy & I had a late night out .. so while he slept in on Sunday-

girl & I went out for sushi

she kept telling me "Mommy, we're like a bunch of teenagers"

"Teenage rockstars," I confirmed

came home & continued to play with the B&W feature

now- not only are these children very loud - they are endlessly full of energy
you would think all the running would slow them down a little...

noise noise noise

noise noise noise!

I figured out that I can make the dopey camera say "SAY CHEESE" a second before it takes a picture - but then I only get stunned faces

and most of the time there is too much background noise to hear it anyway

we tried playing baseball..


which just causes more noise