Roman was SO excited to get to go to VBS with his big brothers this week! Here he is with Jonas and his crew leader.
Author: Jodi
Peach Picking
The boys and I met MeMe and PaPa at Pratt’s Orchard this morning to do some peach picking…what a treat!!!
Feeding the Turtles…
Feeding the ducks turned into feeding the turtles at a small local pond we like to visit. Â The ducks were not into our stale bread for some reason this time around, and then out of nowhere…a whole bale of turtles swam up to us in a feeding frenzy. Â It was so cool!!!
Hermie Herm…
Tom and I brought back a bag full of seashells we collected on the beach in Cape Charles. It has been sitting on the kitchen counter…sand and all…since we got back on Sunday night.
Xander and Roman sometimes like to take daytime baths, so I thought it might be fun for them to wash the seashells off while they were washing themselves in the bathtub. Â Once they started soaking, I ran downstairs to grab some towels to throw in the laundry. Â I was quickly followed by Xander who was screaming and crying unintelligibly. Â When I followed him to the bathroom, I asked him to try to calm down and tell me why he was crying…he just pointed to the bathtub. Lo and behold…a hermit crab was peeking out of his shell and skittering around the tub. Â Xander eventually started laughing about it and was excited to have a hermit crab as a pet. Â He named him Hermie Herm.
Music City Star…
This afternoon my dear and inspiring cousin, Heather, invited the boys and I to join her and her sweet children, Val and Annabella, on our greatest adventure of the summer!!!
We met up and rode the Music City Star, Nashville’s commuter train, downtown to play at the Cumberland Park Sprayground and back. Taking Heather’s advice, we backpacked it up, and it worked great (so well, in fact, that I’m going to look more into this kids-carrying-their-own-gear thing). Â I think I was even more excited about the train ride than the boys (which is saying a lot because they were super excited). They had fun playing at the spayground with their cousins, while Heather and I enjoyed catching up.
One of the things that makes traveling so interesting is the unexpected. The bus that carries people to the last train out of downtown was caught in car accident traffic, so we had to sit and wait for that traffic to clear and for the bus to arrive before we could head back home. Â The kids were all restless and hungry but ended up either entertaining each other or being entertained by other kids. Â We finally made it back to the station and enjoyed more time to play and catch up over pizza with Heather, Val, and Annabella at their house before heading home for the evening.
We’re looking forward to our next adventure together!!!
Cape Charles
Tom and I were so excited for our trip to Cape Charles, VA to celebrate his best friend Jim’s 40th birthday!!!  We are so grateful to Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Kaitlyn for coming down to stay with the boys so we could go. We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones…hanging out at the beach, going on boating adventures, enjoying good food together, and  listening to music and laughing on the back porch.  It was good times.  We love you, Jim!!!
Mr. Rich’s Super Science Show…
The boys and I all thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Rich’s Super Science Show at the library this morning!!! Â He made four little kids’ shoes light up at the same time, sent mini electric shocks out to brave volunteers, gave anyone who wanted one a bubble brain, created a giant bubble, and made cotton candy for all of the little people. What an educational entertainer!
Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Kaitlyn…
We are so grateful that Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Kaitlyn came in town to watch the boys for us so we could go to Cape Charles, VA to celebrate Tom’s best friend Jim’s 40th birthday!!! Â They are already having a good time hanging out…
Happy 4th of July…
We ended up having a two day celebration of the Fourth of July due to the rain! Â Uncle Kerry came out for s’mores on the fourth and a little bit of neighborhood firework watching. Â Tom even busted out the sparklers leftover from our wedding! Â We had so much fun playing with them that it sparked a creative idea in Uncle Kerry’s photographer’s mind…he came back the next night for more neighborhood and city firework watching from our neighbor’s yard, and we had a BLAST experimenting with different, creative photographic scenes with sparklers and a delayed camera exposure after the big boys went to bed. Â Among the winners were…a tornado, a flower, a city skyline, and names in varying combinations…my favorite part was watching Uncle Kerry’s robotic, dance like movements while he was mid-creation.
Bowling with Xander…
Xander and I had some special time together and went bowling this afternoon…what fun! Â (We were all going to go as a family, but the bookends…Jonas and Roman…trumped that with their morning shenanigans.) Â We decided to bowl in the mini lanes, as they are quieter and more kid-sized. Â Xander had bumpers, and I did not. Being the excellent game player that he is, he beat me the first game and we tied the second game. Â HeHe!
Crockett Park…
We went to Crockett Park this morning, which is one of the boys’ favorites. Â We ended up on the empty ball fields most of the time…just hanging out. Â Here they are running the bases and showing off their names in the sand while marching to the beat of their own drummers.
Monster Truck Ride…
The boys and I had the unique opportunity to take a ride on a monster truck this morning! Â We went to a birthday party for one of Xander’s best friends from preschool, and his dad works on monster trucks for a living. Â How cool is that! Â I was probably more excited than the boys…especially thinking that I finally got to do something Tom hasn’t done yet…ha!
Blueberry Picking…
The boys and I went to Golden Bell Farm this morning just down the road for some blueberry picking this morning in celebration of Xander’s 5th birthday!
What Did I Just Say?!?…
Yes…I did. All of these things actually came out of my mouth in response to things my boys were doing…fun times.
“Let’s not frisbee the Cool Whip top.”
“You may not have a bat in the van.”
“Get the fly swatter out of the spaghetti sauce.”
“You did not pour Crunchy Nuggets down the vent.”
“Get out of the dryer.”
“Get off of the van.”
(Notice there are no exclamation points because…well, they just do crazy stuff like this all the time…i.e. Jonas.)
The Funny Things They Say…
ROMAN
“Mommy, gorillas like to sleep naked.”
“Didn’t you know dolphins say EEEast?”
“This is the yummiest kind of protein I ever tasted.”
“My cheese stick is like ow ow somebody bit me!”
“Did you ask the rain to water our plants?”
XANDER
“I’m the king of blue.”
“Mom, is God always in your tummy?”
“I bet the heart is called a heart because heart means love and God loves you.”
“Mom, when are you going to inconvenient toot?”
JONAS
“Isn’t it so cool how there are just 26 letters but you can make a gazillion words?”
“Mom, can you tell Xander what a line of symmetry means?”
Pool Time…
We have REALLY enjoyed having this wonderful pool right down the street from us this summer!!! Â What a blessing.
Grocery Shopping with Roman…
Roman and I did a little bit of grocery shopping after dropping Jonas and Xander off at VBS this morning. Â He loved giving his Ah-Ah a ride and pushing a Roman-sized cart.
VBS Brothers…
Jonas and Xander are having a BLAST this week at VBS at our church!!!
Fishing…
MeMe and PaPa bought the boys fishing poles a little while ago, and they were SO excited to put them to good use today!!!
After a worm search at every gas station in town, Tom ended up digging some up from our very own backyard. He’s been working on a water feature, so there were several hanging out in the mud. Â While he was working on that, sweet little Xander puckered up and started crying because he realized the worms that Daddy found were going to have to go on the hook and were eventually going to die so we could catch a fish (he’s so much like his Mommy). Â He recovered and had fun fishing with the best of them. Â We didn’t catch anything, but we had fun trying…
Fire Department Fun…
We enjoyed running around in the water from the fire hose at the fire department this afternoon with Firefighter Tom and a slew of other moms and kids from our moms’ group. Â I didn’t snap many pictures but here’s a few…
