sometimes

Sometimes Krew stays in his jammies until 4:00 in the afternoon.  Sometimes he wants me to take pictures of him when I'm trying to take pictures of my friend's newborn baby.  And sometimes I do take a picture of him and sometimes it looks like this:

This little boy makes me happy every day!

fair time!

A few weeks ago was library morning at the fair.  All the kids who participated in the reading program who read more than 8 hours got a free pass to the fair, and the library puts on a bunch of activities there for the kids.  This is the first summer that we went, and we had a great time!

There were lots of hands-on science exhibits for the kids to try.

This one they had to see which kind of milk made more bubbles.  Skim milk won!

We all thought it was cool that this horse was named Nemo, so we had to get a picture with him!

The most exciting thing we did there, I don't even have a picture of.  There were duck races at the fair.  There was a "track" set up with four lanes of water for the ducks to swim down, to see which one was the fastest.  Well, Kade got picked to go put a duck in the race.  All the kids had to have a parent help them, so Kade and I were in the duck race!  I got to hold a very wiggly duck for several minutes until all the ducks were ready and they blew the whistle.  Our duck was super fast at the beginning, got about 3/4 of the way down the track, and stopped.  So, we didn't win, but it was fun all the same!

One of the commercial vendors was selling nitrogen frozen ice cream.  I'd heard about it but never tried it.  So, we got some and it was so smooth and creamy.  Krew definitely approved!

hamburger parade

Not too far from where we live, there is a small town that claims to be where hamburgers were invented. (I wonder how many little towns claim the same thing...)  Anyway, every summer they have a hamburger festival and a hamburger parade.  We went to the parade the first summer we moved here, and we decided it was time to check it out again.  We met some friends there and enjoyed the perfect summer weather and the abundance of free candy!

 I guess at this age it's cool to flash peace signs when you get your photo taken.

 ...and at this age, I guess it's cool to point at the camera.

 These two are pretty cute friends.  I think they make a cute couple, don't you?

 At one point, Krew became scared of something in the parade, and decided to hide behind me.  Lately, whenever he is scared of something, he says (quietly), "Mommy, I so scared monsters."  Even if it's not monsters he's scared of.  Actually, he also says this a lot whenever he has to do something he doesn't want to, like lay down for a diaper change, or when I set him down when he wants to be held, so several times each day!  I happen to think it's pretty cute!

hi-yaa!

The twins did three weeks of summer school this year.  While some kids have to take "summer school" because they struggled during the school year, most kids here get to take fun (free!) classes during the summer.  We signed the boys up for a writing class and martial arts.  When the writing class was canceled a few weeks before it was supposed to start, they were instead enrolled in Fun With Fairy Tales.  It was also supposed to be a writing class.  It was not.  It was kinda a waste of time, but the boys didn't complain (except for when they learned that they were going to have to watch Tangled at the end of the class.  Heaven forbid they watch a movie with a princess in it.  Sheesh!)

Overall they were really happy that they chose to do summer school, and they really liked their martial arts class.  On the last day, all the parents were invited to come and see what they had learned.

 I was most impressed with how they stretched!  Not because of any flexibility talent, but because as they did their warm-ups, they counted to four in lots of different languages!  They can now count to four in English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, American Samoan, Hmong, French, and Russian!  It was really cool to watch and listen.

 After they warmed up, they demonstrated all the punches, kicks, blocks, and combinations they had learned.

 Then, one by one, their instructor presented them each with their white belt, trophy, and certificate.

 Way to go boys!  I'm so proud of you!

 You should definitely not try to pick a fight with these two any time soon!  

sail away!

 A few weeks ago, we were able to go sailing with an awesome couple from church.  It had been raining most of that day, but by the time we were ready to set sail, it had cleared up and it was gorgeous weather.

 Of course the boys were all fascinated by everything!  The water, the ropes, the sails, the bathroom, the seats in the back, climbing on the front, the pelicans in the water, the steering wheel, the gauges and switches and knobs, etc.

 We had a yummy dinner, and enjoyed being together.  Krew got a little restless in the middle of our trip, but then he calmed down and enjoyed the rest.

 We turned around simply based on how far out we were and what time we wanted to be back so we could get the kids to bed.  It's a good thing that we didn't turn around ten minutes later!  As we were coming back in, this storm started building and following us.  It kept getting darker, and closer.  We we about 5-10 minutes out when it started raining, and the wind picked up a lot just as we were pulling into the dock.  It sure made for an exciting trip!

 Check out the storm behind my cute boys!

it's a zoo day!

Last week, we met some friends at the zoo!  Krew hadn't been to the zoo since before he turned one, and I just knew that he was going to love it!  And he did!

 Kade got to feed the giraffe.

 Krew loved the giraffe until he got close to it.  Then he decided that he didn't like the giraffe so well.  Although he did still like the giraffe that was  a ways away from the fence!

So, Krew and I have been reading this book at night called, "Looking for a Moose."  It's the book he requests most nights before bed.  Because of that book, I think it is safe to say that a moose is his favorite animal.  So, when he saw this real life moose at the zoo, he could not believe it, wanted to stay and watch it much longer than any of the other kids were interested, and hasn't stopped talking about it since.

Seriously, I cannot get a good picture of all 3 of them at the same time!!

underwater fun

Kade and Ky love to swim!  They would do it every day if they could.  Unfortunately, that's not possible, and other than one crazy hot week, it's been a fairly cool summer, which leaves few chances to hit the pool. However, one Saturday in July, they went to a swimming birthday party in the morning, and we all went to a pool party with a few people Bart knows from work, in the evening.  They both told me several times that it was the "best day ever!"

These pictures were taken with an iPhone with a cool underwater case (that does not belong to us!).  It's fun to see what my kids look like under water!

firetrucks, firetrucks, and more firetrucks!

 Last week we did something really fun.  The company that makes a lot of the firetrucks all over the world is not too far from where we live.  They were celebrating 100 years and had a fun family event.  It started with a firetruck parade.  There were so many different kinds of firetrucks, and they just kept coming!

 This yellow firetruck is one they just made and will be sending to Hawaii.  There were also a bunch that were ready to go to China, all across the U.S., and a few that because all the writing was in a foreign language, we weren't sure where they we headed!

 We got to see inside the factory and see firetrucks in all stages of completion.  It was pretty fascinating!

 Krew loved being up in the firetruck!  Somewhere I have a picture of Kade and Ky in a firetruck at about this same age.

 As we were walking out, Bart saw the governor there, talking to people and posing for pictures.  So, of course he wanted a picture taken with him.
On the way home, we stopped off at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Krew likes their cow.

 Then, we all went to the farm where grandpa and Sadie have some cows.  Krew really liked this part.  He's talked about it a lot since then.  We even drove past a farm a few days ago, and he could smell the cows.  So, he had to tell us all about this trip to the farm, all over again!