First Soccer Practice

after much anticipation and excitement, evan had his first soccer practice tuesday evening.  he was so excited that he put his cleats and shin guards on when he woke up from his nap (3pm) and practice wasn't until 6pm!

waiting his turn to dribble the ball around the cones



on his way to try to score a goal.  the coach's oldest son was helping out as the goalie, and e actually scored on him!  it was pretty funny watching this kid do a double take as the ball went right between his legs.

waiting in line to practice trying to score a goal.  don't be fooled...he looks super patient in this picture, but he was absolutely not patient.  he spent more time running up and down the line than he did waiting in his place.

playing defense in a mini game



and being evan.  the other kids were trying to score goals, and evan was running around with the cones on his head.  he is the only 3 year old on his team, so some of the waiting and being patient was a little difficult for this high energy kid.  but, once he focused on whatever skill they were supposed to be doing, he did a great job!



Buckles



they both really love buckles.  and old toys that have reappeared after being tucked away for a long time!



New Crayons from Old Crayons

Evan really likes unwrapping and breaking new crayons.  Typically, that means that we have a big bag of crayon pieces that don't really get used...until now!  We had a yucky raining morning this week, so we broke out the bag of crayon pieces.  I put E to work unwrapping the lucky ones that still had the paper one them, and I helped break them into smaller pieces.  Evan loaded up a mini muffin pan with the bits and pieces of crayons.

we popped them into the oven, and e monitored the melting process

once they were completely cooled, we had some brand new, uniquely colored crayons!  i thought they would be good for grace since they were chunky, but since she is working on cutting 6 new teeth, she just kept trying to make it a crayon teether.

Fun in August

we took lots of wagon rides in august....sometimes we took multiple in one day.  my back would be killing me, but they had a blast, so i guess it was worth the pain!  grace also rediscovered waving...she waves hi all the time. 

we've had play dates with our new friend Lyla and her Mommy.  Lyla is about 5 months older than Grace, so hopefully they will be best buds!

grace also has a love for shoes, but absolutely not on her feet (she feels they are attacking her and must come off immediately if she has shoes on her feet).  she prefers to crawl around with shoes on her hands.

and we played in the sprinkler again.  this time grace was awake, and she LOVED IT

she loved it so much that when evan tried to pull a mean older brother move, it backfired big time.  she turned the ball to spray her in her face.  initially she startled from the cold water, but then she stuck her tongue out and started trying to catch the water in her mouth!

Wagon Trip to the Zoo

Since Evan and Grace spent the last week or so hanging out with a bunch of other kids, I thought they might be a bit bored spending the whole day with me today.  So, we decided on a spur of the moment trip to the zoo this morning.  As you can tell from Evan's hair, we didn't waste any time getting ready and packed up to go!  This was our first trip to the zoo with the kids in the wagon.  It was great!!!  We were able to see a lot of the zoo since Evan is much happier riding in the wagon than he was in the stroller. 

sea lions were still a favorite

the dingos were very active! we were the only ones in this part of the zoo, so the kids were able to be up front and watch the action from the comfort of the wagon!

if you can't tell from her face, grace was a huge fan of the train!  evan spotted it from the sea lion exhibit, and he kept reminding me to not forget to stop at the train throughout our entire time in the Australian exhibit.  evan "drove" the train, and grace and i were passengers.  he even yelled "all aboard" before grace and i took our seats!  luckily, we were the only ones playing on the train this time around...no elbowing through grade schoolers to find a spot! 

brushing the goats.  e definitely remembered this from our last visit.  as soon as we made it through the farm, he sprinted over to the goats, let himself in, sprinted through the goats to get a brush and proceeded to chase the goats down to brush each one.  grace gave several goats some pats and even attempted to hug one around the neck.  she must not have remembered how the goats kept trying to eat her the last time we visited.

he's only 3, and he's already in the dog house!  when he spied this giant dog house, he immediately climbed in while yelling, "mommy, take my picture".

the kids tree house!  this was an overlook in the Indonesian exhibit that was for kids only...evan was a huge fan of the ramps going into and out of the overlook, and he did a few laps...sprinting because it is extremely hard to walk on anything that resembles a ramp when you are 3.

i have a feeling i will have tons of pictures of evan climbing on the various animal statues throughout the zoo.  he was a big fan and requested to have his picture taken on multiple this trip alone!

Fun at the Lake...Kids EVERYWHERE

Evan with his only guy cousin (of sorts...Will is my cousin's son).  Evan got some much needed boy bonding time at the lake!  Both boys love McQueen, motorcycles and monster trucks....therefore, both boys received some valuable lessons in sharing!

almost all of the great grandkids
L to R:  Lena (and/or) Audrey (they are identical twins...I can't even identify them up close) (3 months), Claire (9 months), Grace (13 months), Will (2), Elizabeth (3) and Evan (3)

Its a slam dunk for Grace

Blowing AND eating bubbles (gross)

Putting Great Grandma Shirley to work pushing the biggest kids!

Best Buds!  They conspired against me to keep sliding down the slide after I told them that they could go only one more time.

The younger set of Best Buds!!!  And, yes that is Mac & Cheese hanging out of Grace's mouth, clinging to her shirt, stuck in her hair and probably smashed in every nook and cranny around her.  Mac & Cheese is by far her favorite food, but she operates on the excess vs efficiency method when eating it. She will grab a huge handful and proceed to shove it in her mouth...typically 3/4 of the handful falls out.

Grace's Photo Shoot

Grace and I had a little photo shoot one day while E was taking his nap.  She was loving her bracelet and her new Nala.  And, of course the go to thing to keep her happy....reading books!

Family Comes to Town

The first weekend of August, Grandma G, Grandpa Marc and Aunt Mal came to visit and celebrate Grace's 1st birthday and Grandma G's birthday.  It was extremely hot, so we spent a lot of time inside.  It was nice to have family up, and I know the kids really enjoyed spending time with everyone!

Grandma G and Grandpa Marc gave Evan a sprinkler that conveniently matches his swim trunks!



opening some presents for Grace's birthday



kissing nala and simba's

Tillie and Sandbox Love

Grace has puppy love!  And, lucky for Grace, Tillie thinks that her "brother and sister" are OK too!  I never would have thought Tillie who barked for hours on end at new people when I first got her would have come this far...

she tolerates being poked repeatedly in the eyes...and non stop hitting/patting...i mean petting from grace

she gives her some love right back...

she even curls up right next to her on the floor...i'm not joking either.  grace laid down on the floor and tillie came over to snuggle up right next to her. 

tillie even tolerates a little bit of light wrestling with the kids!

fun in the sandbox!

Evan LOVES his sandbox, and we play with/in it most days while Grace is napping.  Grace likes the sand until she tires of me telling her she can't eat it.  Then, she bails and starts crawling all over the place

yes, she is definitely bending over to bite/lick/eat the sand off her bucket

evan can even manage a few minutes of self-play with his sandbox.  this make this momma happy!  because playing nonstop with a high energy 3 year old can really wear you out!

i love her long eyelashes!  notice the sand on her lips?  you would think after one bite she would not want more, but NOPE!  she just keeps trying to shove handfuls into her mouth

deep concentration...i love his long eyelashes too!  he uses them to his advantage when he is trying to pretend to be asleep

grace got confused when evan asked her if she wanted to play in his sandbox with him...