Hiking!

I like being outside, so today I dragged the whole family on a 2.7 mile hike. They did really well! The kids had a good time for most of it, and I only carried the baby for about half a mile!

The best part of the whole morning was seeing a dung beetle rolling a giant ball of dung across the trail.

 Here's a close-up:

That's a HUGE ball of dung!

More Baseball!

The little guy had an hour and a half of baseball practice on Saturday and he loved every minute of it. The funniest part was during the warm-ups: the coaches told a group of six year old boys to do "butt kicks." They thought that was the funniest thing in the world.

The baby enjoyed a cheeseburger. She also played at the playground by the field and had a nice time being outside.

 She dressed herself, by the way.

Saturday, in the park!

I figured the kids needed to get outside, so we walked to the neighborhood playground for a short play break this afternoon. It was pretty chilly, but they had a blast.

I am my mother's daughter

Because it was a warm and sunny January day, and because it will rain tomorrow, and because it will be cold on Monday, I made everyone spend this afternoon outside. (Hi Mom! Aren't you proud?) We went to the art museum. It has amazing trails as part of the city's greenways. There are sculptures, overlooks, a pond, and all sorts of other neat things.

At the end of our time there, the little guy said "I thought I'd hate it, but they had bathrooms when I needed one." He kills me!

Beautiful Falls, Beautiful Smile

We went camping over the weekend and stopped by a waterfall on Saturday evening. When the baby saw it, she said "Look! The water is falling!" Hahaha. Here's her gorgeous smile for the camera:

The little guy had a great time climbing on the rocks.

Eric and I got engaged in these woods (awww) and our first post-engagment picture was in front of this waterfall.

We were so young!

Perfect day for a picnic!

I packed our lunch and we walked it to the playground down the street-- it was a gorgeous day, and it was really fun to eat outside! We even brought Puppy (she sat very nicely on the stroller the entire time).

Because it was such a beautiful evening, we actually went back to the playground after dinner. The kids couldn't believe their luck! We'll have to do this more often through the summer.

Modern Kids

The baby was outside blowing bubbles, and the little dude was outside doing this:

Enjoying a beautiful day!

Sunny Days

We went for a walk on a trail around a local lake today (it was almost 60 degrees and it was SUNNY!!). The little guy worked on riding his bike. Here are the kids taking their bikes to the car:

Here's the little guy getting started with his daddy:

And here's me, taking my turn destroying my back by jogging hunched over (please know that the little guy has a helmet on underneath his hood):

I wish there was a "how to teach your kid to ride a bike" class that we could take-- I have no idea what I'm doing. He's getting better, though, and I think if we get a few more sunny weekend days under our belts he'll really go!

Mushrooms for Everyone!

Our yard is full of mushrooms-- all different colors-- sprouting all over the place. It kind of adds another dimension to the general "weed" theme we have going.

Anyway, the kids had a blast playing with mushrooms this evening.

They had a whole mushroom family going!

To the Park!

We went to the park tonight. The baby LOVES riding in the stroller (the little guy hated the stroller). As long as there are cheerios in the tray, she's happy. Even when she's not in the stroller, she always heads to it for a snack or drink.

Anyway, the little dude is getting to be pretty fast on his bike. After spending one too many evenings running behind him in work clothes and flip flops, I'm wearing tennis shoes on our 'walks' now so that I can keep up with him!

Nature on our porch

Last night I was letting Beau out after a fun couple days of this:

Swim Lessons!

and this:

K-Prep end of year celebration at the Kids' Museum!

and this:

Fun with daddy! She so fast she's blurry.

and something startled me. Up in the corner of our "porch," well, stoop might be a better word, was something big and dark. Big if at first you thought it was an insect. After catching my breath and a closer inspection it appeared to be a little fledgling. Here is what I saw:

I made Emily get out of bed and come down and check it out. We decided (correctly after reading angry posts from birders about LEAVING IT ALONE!) to leave it alone. After much googling for images of fledglings, we concluded it was a Carolina Wren. Emily was worried it was dead so I stared at it for a while trying to see if it was breathing, to no avail.

When we got up this morning we were both relieved to see that the little fella was gone.

But, guess who's back tonight! It looks like our household just added one more creature. (Emily just asked if I thought we should get some worms for it. To which I replied with an eye roll.)

Jack and the Beanstalk?

Now that our pole-beans have sprouted, I totally understand Jack and the Beanstalk. Those suckers are rocketing up! The little guy and I go out most mornings to check on the garden. It's amazing how fast everything is growing-- every day there's something new.

I can't wait to start eating all this stuff!

Getting Better All the Time!

The baby still looks awful, but is doing SO much better. Hooray! After dinner, everyone headed out to check on the garden and play baseball in the yard (we're in a rut). The baby's feet are hurting her, so she sat in a little rocking chair to watch the game.

Even Beau came out with us to enjoy the evening. Ah, summertime.

Sounds of Silence

Sorry for the unexpected absence! We went to a baseball game Thursday night and brought the camera (but no memory card), and then I fell asleep at 8pm on Friday. It was glorious, especially since Eric let me sleep until 9:30am. Ahhhhh...

Anyway, we had a great baseball game going in the yard last night. The little guy was pretending to be Joey Votto and he hit one all the way into the poison ivy! (Basically a home run.)

The baby wandered around the yard with a spare bat and a soccer ball. Then she starting eating the soccer ball, so I had to take it away. Bleagh!

Let it snow!

Well, we got almost 2 inches of snow overnight, and everything shut down (snow day for everyone!). Eric's a big old wet blanket who doesn't like to play in the snow, so the kids and I bundled up and headed outside with our sleds.

The baby looked like she wanted to try it, but she started crying about 1/3 of the way down the hill. I stopped the sled and we got out (then she went inside to warm up). In her defense, this was one serious hill.

The little guy, on the other hand, had a blast! We ended up sledding with a bunch of kids on our street. It was so much fun-- even the parents were taking turns going down the hill.

The best part about the snow here is that it should all melt tomorrow. It'll even be sunny and back in the 50s this weekend, just the way I like it.

O Christmas Tree!

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather today and picked out a Christmas tree.

The little guy had a blast! There was SO MUCH ROOM TO RUN!!!

There were so many trees! We ended up finding a nice one that fits perfectly in our house. Running around at the tree farm has it benefits, too… here's what the kids looked like when we got home.

Asleep.

And sleeping.

This and That

The baby played outside while I raked about half the yard today. At the halfway point, she got a bit fussy and I was plumb tuckered out so we called it a day.

Eric and the little guy got home mid-afternoon, so the little dude and I made some brownies from his new cookbook. I tweaked the recipe a bit (due to lacking ingredients) and am not sure they taste the way they should, but they are delicious! Here's the proud chef posing with his creation!

A Walk in the Woods

Another thing we did on our trip to Gatlinburg was go for a short hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! 

We managed to get a reasonable family picture by a really pretty waterfall. He insisted on standing over there by himself, which makes him look like both a ghost and an outcast.

The little guy really liked the hike. He kept running ahead on the trail. He's getting so big!

The baby looked around a lot and then took a nice nap in the carrier.

All in all it was a successful morning.

Spring Sprung!

It looks like spring is here! Yay! We ate dinner outside tonight and then went for a nice walk. The little guy likes to walk to the high school, so we went there and around the block before bedtime. I got my usual photo of the boys...

... and my typical self portrait...

... but this time Eric took one of me and the kids, too! This was right after the little guy put his arm around my leg and said "Mommy, I'll always be right here." I think I got a little something in my eye when he said that. (Twerp.)

Watery?

It was warm outside again today, so we went for a three mile walk before dinner. The little guy walked almost the entire way! He probably ran a whole mile... which is good. It wears him out.

At one point, he stopped near a creek and said "Water? You are looking water-y!" A little bit later, he stopped and said to some grass "What do you think you're doing in the family?" He's a nutcase.

Anyway, here is a photo of the kids in a pillow-fort. It was the boy's idea to invite his little sister in to play with him. She wasn't really a fan.

And here's a picture of her cuddling with me during tummy-time.