Caitlin & Margaux

Here's a great video of the girls riding on the roller coaster (that Caitlin would never before willingly ride on until this year).

Even Cody is brave on this ride.

Front yard fun!

You know how sometimes kids get bored doing the same old things again and again? Mine have started to think that the backyard is boring, but for some reason, the front yard is SO FUN! I think it has to do with my safety concerns (no fences, busy street, etc.), the hose and that awesome spraying thingy on the end of it!

Cody just loves to get wet - the wetter the better. Caitlin doesn't mind obliging him in this way. Unfortunately, Cody wants to hold the hose as often as he wants to run under its spray!

Here's Cody finally figuring out that you have to hold the bottom of the nozzle to get it to spray!

HA, HA - take that Cait-o! (She loves this game as much as Cody does!)

This picture was the one just before the one where he actually got the hose to spray. He couldn't figure out that he had to hold the bottom to make the water come out! Caitlin WAS trying to help him before she got all cheeky for this photo.

Uh-oh! We've been hanging out at home, no excuses sadly.

It's been SO LONG between posts...again. I get into real ruts where I just don't feel that I have anything to blog about and don't have any pictures of recent events. I will try harder, I promise. I know how nice it is to see the kiddos change through photos, especially when you can't see them in person!

Oh yeah! Here's a cute photo of our little plum thief! She stands on her hind legs on the fence and bites the plums off. Sometimes she is able to get the ones off the ground on the neighbor's side. It's quite amusing. If we catch her in the act, I'll take some photos of that too!

Here are some photos of the kiddos just hangin' out!

Here are the two munchkins in the backyard sharing (gasp!) the swing! They are so cute when they play together. Caitlin acts just like a little Mommy/best friend. It's so great to see!

It was EXTREMELY hot here not too long ago and the kiddos had to cool off by running around in their bathing suits or else just shorts and t-shirts. Here you see they had been wet and needed towels, but found ways to play inside the house to try to stay out of the HEAT.

Here's Cody getting really good on his little bike. This was a great deal at a yard sale for $2.00!!! $2.00!!!! How can people afford to NOT yardsale?

We think Cody loves the doggies just as much as Caitlin did when she was his age. Caitlin shares Casey reluctantly with him and constantly tells him that he and Daddy share ABBY.

This is one of my favorite photos! They were using all of the track to make one big train track to play on. Didn't they do a great job? I was impressed, especially since they actually put it together, TOGETHER! What a great pair of kiddos!

While the Daddy's away...

the kiddos will make BROWNIES (and funny faces)!

I can't understand why it's so hard to find SOMEONE to LICK THE SPOON!

More sights and tastes of summer...

We went and picked blackberries today. Cody, of course, ate his fair share out of our containers. I don't think he understands what "picking blackberries" means yet. I have a LOT of battle wounds (though minor surface cuts, they really STING) as I kept trying to pick the big, juicy bunch of berries that were waaaaay back in those thorny vines. Yow! Anyway, look at the loot we got out of it in our jars of freezer jam!

My Dad would be so proud...

Here is Brian's first attempt (actually not quite, but it sounds better as this was a success) at making soup. He was inspired by my Dad just whipping soup up when he came to visit last Thanksgiving. He thinks making soup is so simple that he could do it in a flash. So, he decided he loved the recipe from the Olive Garden (Supa Toscana I think) and bought all the ingredients and VOILA! Here is his masterpiece! (Wish you were here to taste it Dad!)

Sure is low in calories! (Yep, full on whipping cream in this here 10,000 calories a bowl soup!)

NEW FENCE - Yeah!

Uncle Deacon (what a guy!) came all the way up from Florence to help us build a fence (and some minor business of his own in Vancouver - hee, hee). He brought Tommy and they nailed out this fence in two days. That's not how long it takes, actually, but we did have to yard sale and go pick up some vehicles and eat and chat (and all that). Doesn't it look great? We decided to take the existing fence line and move it to be flush with the front of the house on the Eastern side, and flush with the neighbor's fence on the West side. Much more privacy and now room to have a full-sun garden! Plus, our back/side yards seem HUGE now! Yeah! This is the new fence line on the left side of the house. We had to cut back that huge blue flowered monstrosity to fit the fence line behind it. Behind this fence we can probably make a raised bed garden next spring!

Here's the rear view of the same fence. Doesn't it look great? Deacon really did it up right for us!

Here's the right side of the house. We brought this fence line out to match our neighbor's. Too bad the yard behind this is full of rocks and weeds. I've spent some time trying to clear it out, but we have more work to do.

Here's the back side!

What do you think? Isn't it grand?

Here's to Sam!

Brian wanted a Mohawk as he has never had one. He decided on this, his week off, to shave his head (or at least closely cut it), but wanted to have his little streak of rebelliousness immortalized in this photo. Ha, ha! So, here he is (don't tell him I published it)!

Oaks Park...

We love this place, been taking the kid/kids there for about 4 years. For $6 you can ride all the rides your tired kids can handle. If you get there on time at 9:30am, the lines are very minimal and you can jump on the roller coaster about 5 times straight. There's nothing like a guarantee your kiddos will sleep a solid two hours for naptime after this.

Here is the "Frogger." Mainly for little kiddos, but an adult can ride in that middle spot. Caitlin and Cody both seem to really like this, and there's hardly ever any line!

Here's Cody on the airplane. Caitlin was with me, Cody was with Daddy, and Daddy had the camera. Hence these two photos of Cody without his sister.

Cody really likes to ride the carousel. He likes frogs and can say "frog" so on it he rides - a win-win situation.

Here's the gang riding the big slide! Caitlin has really started to appreciate more and more of the rides. Cody is just a thrill-seeker. Makes me worry about his older years. They both (and we do too) have tons of fun at this place!