That Day The Cul de Sac Went to the Animals

And then one day the cul de sac went to the animals - the farm animals! The neighbor's grandson had his first birthday party at their house and it was a farm theme. The kids had a blast with the goats and bunnies and chickens and llamas and of course horses. The boys both rode the horse and held bunnies. It was a fun party!

Car Wash!

A little afternoon driveway car wash with paintbrushes. Just what every cozy coupe needs!

Are There Children Under All That Dirt??

There was A LOT of dirt involved in the 577 trip. Avery tripped and had mud all over her leg, The boys found every muddy spot on the paths to step in and then they dug for fossils in the limestone dust. A torrential downpour as we were leaving helped clean off a little of the surface layer, but a thorough scrubbing was required when we got home. 

What a bunch of goofballs...

Fun at the 577 Foundation

It was a beautiful June day to spend at the 577 Foundation with Cameryn and Avery! The kids really love the spitting bird water fountain (hours of getting wet entertainment) but Ben was resourceful and found teeny tiny tadpoles in the pond! He even caught one! We did not bring it home. 

Everyone loves to play find the fish in the lily pads inside the biodome. 

After applying an obsene amount of bug repellent, the kids ran around in the garden. They found the puppets, played on the musical instruments and were even so lovely as to walk down to the river in the swampy woods. This then required a tick check, but thank goodness none were found!

And if they weren't dirty enough, they went to dig for fossils and check out the honey bees. 

Taking Care of the Garden

Tending to his garden...That kids really does love to water plants. Always has.

And Then to the Butterfly House

After planting a butterfly garden, we decided to go see how the professionals do it. We headed for the Whitehouse butterfly house. Unfortunately, along the way, Nick got sick. Being troopers that we are, we powered through and after he seemed to be feeling better, continued on. Nick took 3 steps inside the butterfly house and had to turn right back around. Luckily (I guess), I just got him outside of the house before he threw up, again. But Ben and Grandma had a great time! I didn't really get any pictures because of the puker, but Ben took some with Grandma's phone. I'll take Nick back on a mommy and Nick day this fall ;)

Butterfly Gardening Time

Grandma and Grandpa came up for a short visit in June. Grandma and Ben had a good time adding plants to the butterfly garden. I had to run an errand and was giving strict instructions that while I was out I need to stop at the garden store and pick up: 3, maybe 4, milkweed plants; 6 marigold plants; 2, maybe 3, bags of soil and maybe another one or two butterfly plants. I more or less fulfilled the order and sent muddy out to get a plant'n! 

The Newest Additions to the Family

The Wolny family grew by four this summer. We got four tadpoles! They are our happy little friends. I have heard them have several names, but none seem to have stuck. I figured it was a good summer science experiment - watching the evolution of a frog. The boys love looking at them every morning and see if they have legs or have changed at all. 

A Friday Night in the 'Sac

Just another Friday night...chalk dust/paste hand prints all over the street, a pretty rainbow after a fast and hard rain and sleeping by the fire :)

Time For An Upgrade!

Poor Nick and his garage sale Cars bike...His bike failed him and the chain would not stay on, so we decided to upgrade him to a bigger bike. After some persuasion and discussion, he decided on the turtle green bike (16"). It's a little bit big, but he can definitely ride it, he just needs to learn how to stop, put his foot down and lean versus dumping it, every time he stops. He's getting better with practice, though. He can definitely go fast on this thing, though!