Adventures of the Week

 We went out to Maymont early in the week. 

The boys insisted on wearing their football dresses jerseys.

 Taylor was happy to have some of her girl friends with her.  We ended up at the bottom of the hill with 2 adults, 6 kids and 2 double-strollers.  None of the kids wanted to walk back up, so we figured out how to fit 3 kids in each stroller.  They thought it was fun but I would like to have about died trying to get back up the hill. It was almost embarrassing how out of breath I was, but we made it!

 We also tried a little fingerpainting this week.

 Bryce tried whole-hand painting - much more fun!

 There was a little swinging.

 And even playing nicely together sometimes!!!

There is usually a battle for who gets to stand at the top and "drive".

 There were smiles,

 more smiles,

 and even more smiles!!

 Taylor loved getting to see Macy.  Macy handled her pretty well!

 We ended the week with a trip to the science museum.  The boys call it the "science kid museum" and wanted to know why we didn't see Sid the Science Kid there.

 The favorite attraction.

 A little building and balancing.

 Our best effort at making a track for the ball to roll down. 

Jason would not have been proud of my design, but it worked for the little guys.

 Playing a little checkers, or car tires.  Depends on how you look at it.

 Spotted on tv while going up the steps.

 Taking a moment to admire themselves on tv and try to figure out how it worked!



Odds and Ends

A flashback moment: Jason the ballerina making his internet debut.   Proof that childhood pictures always surface.  Chase will be sorry one day!

Ready for a field trip.  They decided on their own that they would wear hats and then asked me to take their picture before we left.  When all 3 are looking and smiling you can pretty well guess the picture was their idea!

 Oddly enough, the place we went that day was giving out cowboy hats. 

Chase was not interested in a picture this time!

Random picture of Taylor playing with her puppy. 

 I gave in to their request to paint this week.  It kept Taylor's attention for about 2 minutes, but the boys could have painted all day. 

 The artists and their masterpieces!

 Getting ready to head out to a birthday party.  Chase was at the door from the moment he woke up from his nap waiting to leave.  He was a little more than excited!

 Taylor with the birthday girl, Maggie.

 You can tell by Chase's grin that he is a Maggie fan too! 

Sweets, Football and a Tutu

 These kids don't like noise,

 but they sure like the milkshakes and smoothies that come as a result of it!

 We made our first batch of whoopie pies this week - the result of placing products at Taylor's eye-level in the store! They were pretty good. The kids were full of marshmallow fluff before we ever finished.

And it's finally football season.  If you need to find Dave, you know where he'll be! 
The kids will be bouncing around on the furniture somewhere nearby. 

Like I said.  Must have been a bad call or something?! 
When there's not a game on, check the backyard!

 Taylor will not be left out!  She will be sad to realize that she forgot to put a necklace on with her jersey!

 A brief moment of stillness to snap a picture at PaPa's birthday lunch.

 And then right back to football. 

 They had tons of fun, but their angles weren't always the best.  Just a few "ouches" but no injuries!

 The number #1 fan!

 Showing off their "football muscles".

 Ballet is good for football players, right?  Taylor got these outfits from the neighbor today and they quickly ditched the helmets for the tutus.

Somewhere there is a picture of me and Jason in similar attire.  We'll have to post them together when I get a copy.  The football skills quickly came back - this hug turned into a tackle in just seconds!!

Back in Action, Again!

The camera has been replaced, again.  Now if I can just make this one keep working a little longer than the last few.  I haven't spent much time figuring out the settings yet, but these are the first few pictures from last weekend.

 Taylor showing off her snail. 

 Chase ready for a boat ride.  He got this jersey on Saturday to replace his one that had gotten too small.  I had to peel it off of him on Monday to wash it.  It should fit him for a long time!

 Classic "cheese" faces!

 Pinecones and sticks made for good entertainment.

 Typical Taylor...yes, she was supposed to be on the other side of the fence. 

You can see her thoughts on the matter.   

 Dave trying to wrangle an escaped crab.  I think the poor thing would have fought harder if he knew he was about to be dropped in a pot of boiling water! The crab, not Dave :)

Safe to pose for a picture once the crab was gone.  Chase didn't trust it was all clear!