Thats A-M-O-R-E!

Grandma surprised the kids this morning when she knocked on the door (I did tell them a friend was coming over) but they were so excited when it was her! We kidnapped her for the whole day and took her shopping in Coeur D Alene and had lunch and then they showed off their skills in the back yard for her and capped it all off with a water fight (in which cooper did get one good direct shot of Grandma in!)


This is how we roll when we travel in style in the mini -van. Ready at any point for a spontaneous game of baseball of course.

We went to Tito's in Coeur D Alene for dinner and lets just say we all felt ill from eating too much! The kids even got to make their own pizzas and Jack was really good at it....

Cooper was really good at eating his toppings.

I think he thought it was a cool buffet with some of his favorite snack foods.

That kid cracks me up.

Jack trusted me to sample a piece of his pizza and it was pretty darn good. Definitely a good way to amuse the the kids when we took them out to dinner (which is a rare occasion!!!) and they loved it.

T-minus one day till road trip vacation starts. Pray for us :)

Hitting like Coach

Jack was showing me how he could "hit to the baseball guys like the coach did." 3 1/2 years old. I might bring him with me to hit fly balls to the girls next spring for softball practice.

Torture

I decided that today was going to be the start of working out regularly again for me...especially after this summer of a record number of hot dogs, lots of blended coffees and ice cream galore. What was I thinking? Technically I had not run outside since before I got pregnant with Jack. For those of you counting that is about 4 1/2 years ago. Running on the treadmill is not the same. Don't let anyone tell you differently. The pavement is not forgiving. It didn't like me. And to top it all off, there is not air conditioning but I was sabotaged with a glaring hot sun and drivers who honk. I know, I know it was my idea. What was I thinking? In order to go for a run, I had to have my two lead bricks along for the ride so I loaded them up and was treated with pushing 100+ pounds for the journey as well.

No matter how uptempo my music was or the fact that I should have been saying "this is great. this is the start to the new me." It was more like "Ugg. I hurt. I wonder if I can squeeze myself into the stroller and let the boys push me." Forget water boarding, make the terrorists run outside for 4 or 5 miles in the sun after not doing so for a long time. They would tell their national secrets after 10 minutes.

I came with back up to keep my prisoners happy and the bribe worked. So well, in fact that they were yelling "go go go go" super loud and saying things like "weeeeee" as we went down hill or "run mommy run." who needs a personal trainer?

We stopped for 20 minutes to throw rocks in the river (which the boys loved) and then headed back (I didn't). I know I am sounding pessimistic but I am convinced that muscle spasms in your legs are not normal. All in all, I must do it again so that I avoid having this initial feeling again soon. Day one down. I survived and am a little stronger. Go mommy go.

TROUBLE

How could a cozy coupe car be dangerous you say?

by giving tour rides around the backyard of course. I turn my head for a second and this is their idea.... TROUBLE.

airy oos

Doesn't a bike ride to Mary Lou's ice cream (or as the kids say, airy oos) on a beautiful summer's evening sound wonderful? We thought so too and started out on with the family on our little jaunt but then Flo's bicycle starting making really loud clunking sounds and malfunctioning majorly so we turned around before we got to the end of the neighborhood and decided that the driving might be the best way to avoid having to call for a ride back when we broke down half way there. I guess the bike is allowed a problem or two seeing as it is 16 years old. Yes friends, I am thinking a new one is in Flo's future.


Alas, we did make it safe and sound via the air conditioned car and were left to brainstorm other ways to work off the calories we consumed from the cones...but we will leave that to another day.

Although Cooper started out not covered in the special treat, he though it was better to wear it and get the goodness through osmosis the more we sat there.

Although we tired 3 different kinds, the consensus was that the huckleberry was by far the best and I was left to dream of a new deep freeze in my garage loaded to the brim with homemade huckleberry ice cream next summer.

Somehow the two pairs of sticky hands both ended up on my side of the booth by the end of the visit and I was left with a full belly of ice cream and little prints all over my shirt.

Yes, he could be yawning or perhaps singing or even sneezing but no. No, our littlest one was captured in the moment making the shrieking sound he makes to get attention (of a lone camera man, or nothing in particular) and it sounds a lot like a pterodactyl, so our departure was eminent after the patrons were subjected to that treat.

All in all: cheaper than baskin and robins, yummier than Dairy Queen and brought back memories of growing up here. We are coming back for sure.

HOT HOT HOT

We picked the lock at Aunt Connies place yesterday since they were at Priest Lake for the weekend and partook in some good old fashioned pool time with the boys. It was awesome! Lunch was poolside and I think we all had lazy grins plastered on our faces while we there there. So I decided, thats it, its official....we will save for a pool. With a pool everything would be rainbows and butterflies and summer giggles. Yep, I am adding that to our list of saving for: a house, college for 2 boys, retirement, Hawaii and a new purse (a girl can dream can't she?). Yep somewhere on that list!

Where oh where did my babies go?

I can see the stretch marks and extra "lovin" that are remnants of having my two tug boat children but apparently having babies in the house is a thing of the past. Where did the time go? Lately it seems like every day they test their bravery, vocabulary and my amazement with all the things they are discovering. Summer comes with so much play time outside, that it seems like we are moving from the time they wake up until I change them for bed, that they are constantly growing every day. STOP IT ALREADY! I have been enjoying being able to witness their little characters grow and see them become such pleasures to be around. I am so blessed to be able to be at home and raise them and it has been about 2 years exactly now that I have been at home with Jack first and now both of them and I can honestly say that I enjoy it so much more now than I did at first after seeing all the amazing things that they have taught me. Sorry for the gushy moment but it seems like my love for these two little ones has been overflowing lately and I wanted to make sure to write it down so that next time we are going through a "phase" I can re-read this day and remember that "this too shall pass."

Little trip up to Manito today for our little nature walk through the flower gardens. The boys found walking sticks and I was pleasantly surprised when they were used for walking rather than poking. cooper was sort of hunched over his and really looked like an 80 year old man with a cane!

A Sunday visit to the neighborhood sand and water pit...something about that combination that all kids love. Cooper played with the "play hard work hard" mentality and basically bathed in the mud for about 20 minutes and then declared 'all done.' Jack took more of a leisurely approach and dug around for about 15 minutes before he was jumping in the puddles and making moats and lakes and didn't want to leave.