Happy Birthday Nick!

One of Kyle's best friends from preschool, Nick just turned 5 and we were all invited to a birthday party at his house. It was a fun party with indoor and outdoor play. We were told for the children to be prepared to get wet and they definitely got soaked! Unfortunately Jason wasn't quite as prepared and decided to join in the fun. I had a change of clothes for Kyle and Max, but Jason had to stay wet till we got home! They played water games outside and everyone got a water shooter and they had a blast! They got snacks and birthday cookies and watched Nick open his presents. It was a fun morning!

Adventure Playground

Yesterday after Max's nap we decided to take an impromptu trip to Adventure Playground. We packed some food in the cooler and headed over to play. We haven't been there in quite awhile and it's one of the boys' favorite playgrounds. It's pretty hard for me to keep track of them both myself while we're there because it's so big and they're always headed in different directions it seems. So, since it was Sunday afternoon and all our errands for the day had been done, Jason suggested that we head over and the boys had a great time!

Blueberry picking

Last Thursday was an absolutely beautiful day! Finally felt like spring the first day in July! We decided to head over to Butler's Orchard to pick blueberries. This was our first time picking blueberries there. We found out when you arrive that you park and then ride a trolley (pulled by a tractor) over to the blueberry bushes. That was a fun surprise that the boys enjoyed! Then we were assigned our bushes and started picking. We had one huge bucket that we ended up filling about halfway - 3 1/2 lbs. of blueberries in all. Kyle worked very diligently and was very meticulous making sure to pick only the best blueberries. He and I collected 99.9 % of the blueberries that ended up in our bucket. Max managed to contribute a few, but mostly he ate and ate and ate. He actually sat himself down under the bush and just picked them right off and plopped them in his mouth. It was quite similar to our strawberry picking trip . . . Kyle collected lots of berries with me and Max ate them. We then rode the trolley back to our car where we payed and took them home. We ended up eating lots of them for lunches and snacks over the next couple days and they were absolutely delicious! We also made blueberry smoothies on Friday evening which we enjoyed during movie night. And Saturday morning Jason and Kyle made blueberry muffins - very tasty! So we got some good use out of them. If we weren't experiencing 100 degree days this week we'd head over and pick some more!

Strawberry Picking (a little late)

I forgot to post this a few weeks ago when we actually picked strawberries, but I just came across these pictures and wanted to share! I took the boys strawberry picking at Butler's Orchard one morning and they had a great time. Kyle wanted to only pick while we were there and save the eating for later. He filled one basket by himself and helped me with a second. Max, on the other hand, never had more than a few strawberries in his basket at once because he couldn't stop eating them! At one point he just plopped himself down in the middle of the row and had a "snack" while Kyle and I kept picking. We ended up with about 4 lbs. of strawberries and Max insisted on putting his basket of stems on the scale to be weighed as well :). We came home and made strawberry smoothies which we all enjoyed! We ate some for lunch the next couple of days and froze a pound - we still have yet to decide what we're going to do with those!

Splash Park

Today I took the boys to Splash Park. It's a super fun water park nearby. Kyle has been numerous times over the past couple years, but this was the first time Max got to experience it for himself. Kyle had a blast as always! Max was very timid at first. He always wanted to hold my hand or have me carry him. He would cry if he got splashed too much, which is strange to me because he loves splashing in the bathtub or spraying a water gun directly in his face. I guess it was just a little overwhelming for him since there was SO much water there! He did enjoy watching Kyle and I get wet and he ate lots of snacks and we watched Kyle run around like a little fish! Finally after almost two hours there Max started to warm up and I think the last half hour we were there he had a fabulous time! He got pretty brave and was very proud of himself. He started running under and in the water and being silly with Kyle.

Kings Dominion

We spent this past Saturday through Tuesday at Ma and Pa's house. They got us season passes to Kings Dominion so we spent Sunday and Monday at the park and had a great time! The weather was beautiful and the park wasn't too crowded. On Sunday Jason and I took Kyle. On Monday we all went - Ma, Pa, and Max, too! This was Kyle's second year and he loved it just as much as last year. His favorite rides are the roller coasters (he can ride three) and the log flume. He's definitely adventurous when it comes to rides! He even puts his hands up on the roller coasters. Max is a little adventurer as well even though he mostly stayed in the kiddie area. He was up for trying anything and just went right on every ride he saw and we suggested. After every ride was over he would immediately say "again" and often would get off the ride and instead of heading for the exit gate he would just climb on another car, plane, etc. ready to ride again. Fortunately it was not crowded at all so he was often able to do just that! He really wanted to ride a train (which is what he called the roller coasters) . . . as soon as he's tall enough I'm sure he'll be right in there with Kyle! It was fun riding rides, eating yummy food (like ice cream and funnel cakes) and playing games. I think we ended up bringing home about 8 stuffed animals! And we got some great pictures to commemorate the days!

Kyle's first trophy

Kyle received his first trophy today for playing his first season of t-ball. Kyle got to play on the Nationals this year. They were the last team to receive their trophies and Kyle was the last one on the team to receive his trophy. So after patiently waiting almost an hour he finally got his trophy and completed his introductory year of baseball. I'm not sure if baseball is in his future (at one point he mentioned that he's not sure if he wants to play again next year because it's too much hard work, but he likes going to the games) but he seemed to enjoy it for a season.