dirt and a patio

Nick took most of the week off to build us a patio, so the boys spent a lot of time doing this (while I spent most of the week sweeping dirt out of the house):

Penny enjoyed it too!

Here are a few pictures of the finished patio!

memorial day 2014

Here is some of the fun we had on Memorial Day! The boys got their first super soakers and they spent hours playing with them. Nick filled up the orange bucket with water and it took them a good half an hour to empty it.

We had a picnic dinner at the beach which included plenty of ball chasing and kite flying. We use a carabiner clip to hook the kite handle to the kids' pants so they don't lose it.

As we leave the beach, they always love to get out their crazies on the grass!

cruise ship

The boys are getting excited for the cruise ship we'll be on this summer. The other day, Elliott was talking about all the people who would be going with us, and when I mentioned Binny and Grampy, his eyes lit up and he immediately turned to Nick and said "Daddy, Grampy and Binny will be on our cruise ship!" Then he began singing this song:

goodnight magic

The boys have started playing this hilarious magic game where they take turns turning each other into different objects. It all started a few weeks ago when Nick and I noticed Elliott sitting sadly on the deck outside. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that Oliver had turned him into a log! It was all Nick and I could do to keep from laughing! So, I immediately broke out my magic skills, said "abracadabra, I turn you back into an Elliott" and poof, he was an Elliott once again. Well, Oliver came right back to him and turned him quickly into a log. So I turned him back into Elliott and this went on for some time with Elliott getting very frustrated. I finally taught him how to do magic on himself and he was very happy once he figured out that he could always turn himself back to Elliott regardless of what Oliver decided to turn him into.

They play this little game every few days and below is a clip of Elliott turning me into Daddy just before going to sleep.

beaches, ties and more!

Here are a few highlights from the past two weeks or so:

The kids love wearing their ties, especially when wearing their sun hats!

Elliott's preschool class took a trip to the beach during low tide. And yes, he even wore his tie! He thought filling up a bucket with wet sand was more interesting than examining the tide pool creatures.

Bike riding break

Short play date with Penny's friend Molly

 Scrubbing the deck:

 We take care of a lot of dogs:


 

Skype date with Jim and Cynthia while they are in Europe:
 

Robin Hood takes a walk:
 

Here they are trying to warm up after spending a few hours one evening playing outside with water:


And last but not least, here are a few videos of the boys to entertain you :)

 In this first one, Elliott sings the Itsy Bitsy Spider


Here the boys clean the deck for their dad. Oliver was so proud of his work!

 A conversation and brief singing of Run Baby Run with E

makeup

Today while cleaning out a closet I found a bunch of old makeup that i probably haven't touched in 10 years. The boys love to play with my old makeup so I threw it all in a box and let them go to town on our back deck. They probably entertained themselves for over an hour, and then I gave them slabs of flagstone to continue on with their art. This is what resulted:

And here's a video clip as well. I love when Oliver uses the mascara wand as a brush for some blush that he applies to his neck: