A Maze' N Farm

Some friends of ours invited us along for a day trip to the A Maze' N Farm by Eden Valley. It was the perfect day. The kids all had a great time and the weather was about perfect. It was overcast and only sprinkled a bit. There weren't a lot of people there since it was a Monday so it made the day so nice.

Jake and Ben got to bottle feed some of the goats, Jake road the pony, we did the train ride (not really that great), played with kitties, bunnies, and puppies, jumped in the bouncer, feed the goats lots of corn, had lunch and lots of other things too. Jake and Ethan spent some time in the maze - I think about 40 minutes, I was just starting to think they'd need help getting out! The two of them also played some mini golf - it was Jake's first time so Ethan helped him out. He must have been a good coach because Jake got a hole in one on one if the first holes.
Here is Ben on his way to the slide. The first time he went down he was a little surprised. It was really fast and he's fairly small for the lanes, so he turned it in, but he did great.

Jake coming down the slide. His first run was totally opposite Ben's - he picked a super SLOW lane and had to get up and walk the rest of the way!

Yes, even I gave the slide a try.

The little ones patiently waiting....

I think this was Jake 's first horse ride, well, maybe he was on one of our horses when we had them. I can't remember.

Ben with a whole group of kids playing the duck race. It was pretty neat. Each person had a water pump and the moving water sent the duck to the other side.

Jake the golf star.

Ethan and Jake - they were pretty good buddies that day.
Ben and his bunny friend. I didn't like them quite as much, they kept scratching me.

Feeding the goats.

I think her name was Annie. I just thought she was pretty cool looking. :)

This little guy was using the strollers as mountains and the little ones thought it was pretty cool.

Jake's First Loose Tooth

Jake has a loose tooth!

Oh and is he excited about it. I wasn't expecting it quite yet. On Tuesday we were sitting together on the couch chatting and I caught a glimpse of his bottom teeth. They just seemed to look different to me - kind of crooked. I touched the one that seemed out of place and it was loose. Boy it would have been fun to catch his facial expression when I told him. It is actually kind of fun to see the tooth cycle, Sam is just getting the ones that Jake is starting to lose.

A Little Bit about the Boys

Everyone is doing great and really enjoying summer. It has been fun for me to be home with them the last few weeks and enjoy the time with them. We've been picking beans, picking beans, did I mention, we've been picking beans? This is the first year we managed to get them to grow (we had some technical issues the last 2 years) and they are doing great. The rest of the garden is coming along too. We've also found time to be with friends, play in the pool, play some catch and soon we'll be tackling a few projects in the house (I'm still trying to think of ways to make it fun for the boys, hummm....).

Sam is busy busy. He crawled up the stairs a few times and even managed to go down a few the right way. He loves to crawl up the step stools that we have by the bathroom sinks and is pulling himself up next to everything. We are in the stage where he constantly wants to be doing something. Still only two teeth but it looks like the others are near. He also really like to crawl up on the couch when we take the cushions off. I remember Ben doing the exact same thing and loving it!

Ben has really taken a liking to playing ball. We play catch with a big ball, he likes to play kick ball and yesterday we practiced with a glove and tennis ball. Right now he enjoys all the ball sports much more than Jake does, never know if that will stick or not. Ben has also gotten very brave and very good in the lake. He figured out how to swim with his life jacket on and loves it. He's in constant motion, when I'm on my toes it works out because he's always willing to help me do things, when I'm not paying attention, he's constantly in trouble. We're working on that.

Jake has become a very very good bike rider. We bought him a nice bike this spring and it came with training wheels. I made him take them off because I knew he could ride his bike without them. Then one day, they were back on (he had done that himself). A few weeks ago I decided the training wheels had to go. He was mad but once I adjusted his seat (it was way too low) and he gave it a try, he changed his tune. He did awesome and even impressed himself I think. He's taken to it well and now we are just waiting for that first bad wipe out - it's coming because he's pretty crazy on it sometimes.

All about Uncles

It's only been two weeks since my last post but lots has happened. That's how summer goes I guess.

First off, my brothers were home for a visit and it sure was wonderful having them home. We celebrated our Great Uncle Urban's 90th birthday on July 17th and both Mike and Ryan decided to come home for it. We even managed to sneak in the family pictures that we've been trying to take for a year. Jake and Ben enjoyed having them home too, they had lots of water time with them and cousin Gabe. Whenever they are home it makes me wish that they both lived closer!

Big Birch Lake sunset.

Cousin Gabe, being himself. I didn't get a picture of the fish. He was using the landing net, telling me a fish might swim in it. Of course, I was telling him that would never happen. He threw the net onto the dock and guess what jumped out. A fish! Guess aunts are wrong sometimes.

Uncle Mike giving Jake a motorcycle ride. They are awesome, he used to give them to me when I was a kid.

Ben getting his ride. It took him a bit to warm up, but after that it was all giggles.

Uncle Mike and Ben giving Jake a ride. That's how Jake likes it.

Uncle Ry, Gabe and Jake. Out fishing I guess.

This was Jake's idea (he's full of them!). Hook up a rope behind the paddleboat and pull 'tubers'.

Great Uncle Urban, or to my kids, Great Great Uncle Urban. This is my favorite picture, notice how he's sitting in his chair? Did I mention he's 90?

We had some threatening weather while we were at the birthday party. It rained and hailed a bit but everything was fine. Not everyone nearby was as lucky.

The new paddle boat

We've been spending some time out at Big Birch Lake. Jake has wanted a paddle boat since last summer when he spent the day at Jeske's cabin playing with Jacob. They had a blast with it. He had the chance to play with it again when we visited with Amber, Jacob and Gavin a few weeks ago. I've been on the hunt for a used one but it turns out that they aren't that easy to find. Well.... I finally found a nice used one. Friday night Grandma, Ben, Jake and I went to pick it up by Alex. Not only did we find the place easily, got the boat loaded successfully but Jake caught a frog! The couple that were selling the boat were great. She went in the house and got Jake a container and put some holes in it and now we have a pet frog! :) Great. It isn't so bad I guess, but I already had to go on a frog hunt in the garage because he got out. We have him in the fish aquarium now - seems to be containing him.

The boys could hardly wait so we took the paddle boat out to Big Birch on Sunday. It was a super fun day. We paddled around some, the boys played in it and they swam a ton! Ben all of a sudden loves the water and swims all over with his life jacket on. They both had a blast and Curt got to enough some time with them.

Since we got home from the lake yesterday Ben has been asking to go back because he wants to swim. They were super all day, went to WalMart without any fighting and everyone took a good nap, so we went back tonight. It was absolutely gorgeous at the lake. Still water, warm sun and very little boat traffic. The boys swam, played with the paddle boat, swam some more, had a boat ride and had popcorn with Grandma and Grandpa. Wow, who could ask for anything more.

I almost forgot to mention that Sam LOVED the water. It is the first time he really had a chance to get in and check it out and he really liked it. First it was just his feet, then he figured out he could splash with his hands and pretty soon he was Ok with sitting in the water and playing (and eating rocks!).

Some photos from the lake..

Enjoying a boat ride.
Here Jake was busy filling the boat with water. Still not sure why but he thought it was pretty funny.
Ben figuring out how to swim around. He had soooo much fun.

What a dude.

Swimming some more - learning that both his arms and legs work to swim, first he just kicked.

Sitting on the step with Grandma.

Having a great time.


Mom and the boys cruising around between the docks. Ben pedaled with me a bunch - he's really good at it (not sure how - can you see how he has to sit?). Sam even got to come along, he couldn't stand it anymore watching from the dock. Jake was busy in the back manning the anchor.

Jake and the Dentist

Last Thursday Jake had an appliance put in his mouth to correct his cross bite. I wasn't sure how it was going to go but he did great. He was very brave about the whole thing and really did good afterward too. The dentist told him that he could eat ice cream for the next few days and if he didn't want any meat that would be Ok (this of course made it a little better :) ). The only time he had some discomfort was the first day about 8 hours after they put it in. He's still learning how to talk with it in and once in a while we have to remind him to swallow, otherwise he hasn't even complained about it!

Motherhood

Being a mom is one of the best things in my life. My boys are energetic, smart, funny, silly, inquisitive, sassy, loving, and well pretty much awesome. Their hugs, kisses and giggles can never be replaced. The smiles, the questions and even the tears are things I want to see and hear. Watching brothers play and learn together is amazing. Seeing how they can help each other one minute and fight the next is almost as amazing. I am looking forward to every moment that I get to share with them.

Friday was my last day of work. Curt and I have decided that my most important job right now is trying to be the best mom to my boys. We are all pretty excited about it and are enjoying our time together already!