Bowling Pin Jousting

The boys got an inflatable bowling set for their birthdays. It finally made a (brief) appearance last week. Well, bowling pins resemble jousting sticks and thus ensued a whack'm tournament. And of course, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. And that someone is ALWAYS Nick. Every. Single. Time. He took a seam to the head and got a scratch, so I took the bowling pins away. So, then....while I was sitting on the deck steps deflating the pins, Ben comes running up, 'Mom! Mom! Nick is bleeding!' Seriously, again?! Not even 5 minutes after getting the scratch on his forehead, he fell off the rings on the swingset, nose first, got a bloody nose and bit through his lower lip. It's not a Friday unless Nick bleeds profusely from his face. I'm getting quite good at getting blood out of clothes.

The All Boys Club

A typical summer evenings of just the boys (minus Austin). Their evening included bikes, bugs, dirt and sand. What more could boys ask for?!

The Worm.

Junior Firefighters To The Rescue!

As part of the Planes: Fire and Rescue theme, Meredith set up a super fun fire fighter obstacle course for the kids. The dads pulled them around in the wagon while the kids 'put out fires' with water guns and water balloons. They all had a blast, though there were some parental casualties! 

A Planes 2 Birthday Bash

After the garage sale, we headed to the park to help Rayce celebrate this second birthday and to say goodbye to Meredith and Andy before heading out west for at least a year. Rayce's party theme was the new Planes 2 movie, Planes: Fire and Rescue, which is very fitting since Meredith is doing just that in Idaho right now! They customized a wagon to look like a plane - the boys LOVED it! It was pretty awesome. The boys had a great time and it was nice to see everyone before they headed off to new adventures!

Goodbye Double Stroller

It was a sad day, but I sold the most awesomest double stroller in our garage sale this year. We hadn't used it in several months and really, we have grown out of it. It was time to let another family enjoy the awesomeness of the Baby Jogger City Select. I had lots of people show interest, but I believe it went to a good home. It sold with in two hours of opening my garage sale and I had several people come later in the day asking about it. Good bye City Select. You served us well for three years!

Our New Neighbors Have Arrived!

Our newest neighbors have arrived! This picture was taken 1.5 weeks ago. They barely fit in their nest now!

A Typical Summer Evening

Just a typical summer evening, hanging out in the driveway, riding bikes and enjoying friends!

A Boy and His Bike

Nick has a new, big boy bike! I got it at the neighborhood garage sale. I brought it home around 7pm. We extracted Nick from the bike around 9:30pm. At 8:30 the next morning, he woke up, went to the bathroom and said, "I'm going to ride my bike now". By noon he was asking to have the training wheels taken off (which, they were not). He is totally addicted to his bike. Which isn't a bad thing since it means he almost always has his helmet on outside and has served him well a few times when not on his bike. Oh, and it's a Lighting McQueen bike, so it matches his helmet! He is so proud. Best $20 garage sale buy!

A PSA From IronMan

A few personalized PSAs from IronMan, courtesy of Aunt Sarah who got to hang out with the big guy at work one day. It just also happened to be the day that Nick took the bike to the head, so we kept him occupied with pictures of IronMan while he was getting his stitches. Ben has quoted his IronMan message several times now. Yay for Aunt Sarah!

The Golf Gallery and Ball Retrieval Crew

Daddy's personal gallery and ball retrieval crew. 

Teeter Totter!

One of the hottest toys on the cul de sac - the homemade teeter totter courtesy of John! Austin and Nick are perfectly matched on it! I'll try to get a video of the predecessor. 

A Little Too Much Fun and Excitement

Someone had a little too much fun and excitement for one day (and no nap) and passed out cold at his picnic table at 7pm!