Park Time with Friends

We spent the morning at a local park with baby Christopher (who is not so much of a baby anymore!) and Noah. Above, Jonathan got the biggest kick out of holding Christopher in front of him and sliding down together. They did it at least ten times in a row! Below, the boys had fun spinning an old school "carousel" around and around until they all fell down dizzy!

Loose Park

I forgot to put this one up from the weekend! We spent some time at Loose Park on Saturday on the swings and in the Rose Garden.

PHS BBQ

Last night was the Pembroke Hill Back to School BBQ at the upper school. It was a beautiful night! We haven't gone for the past few years for various reasons but last night, the boys had a blast! Chris kind of just goes off with his friends and actually last night, so did Jonathan (only we have to keep a closer eye on him than on our big boy). And of course Jonathan ran into his favorite girl Zaira (above). It appears that Zaira has some competition though. Before she got there, J was playing with at least 5 other girls from Christopher's grade for an hour. He was thoroughly worn out when we got home!

Garden Keeps Giving

Here is J holding a freshly picked eggplant this morning. Also another zucchini and a cantaloupe!

And Holly sunning herself and getting a back scratch...

Ummm...

I went out to work in the garden this morning and noticed that one of my zucchini plants was falling over on its side. I assumed it was because of the rain storms we had on Monday but upon closer look, there was a super mega jumbo zucchini weighing it down! The other plant had a similar one as well. The zucchini on the left was 13 inches and we shared it with Tiffany (we already had another zucchini in the fridge). The one on the right measured in at 17 inches! I have no idea what we are going to make with it but wow...

Chris thought it would make a nice baseball bat...

Here it is compared to Christopher's arm...

Good thing we like zucchini!

First Days and Solar Eclipses

Now that our internet is back up and running... I can update the blog! 

We have had much excitement around here, especially for the boys! Yesterday was Christopher's first day of third grade! I remember starting this blog and thinking, "Yeah, I'll do it for the first year of his life." And now look at him!

He had a great first day, although it wasn't your typical first day because of the eclipse--more on that later. And today was Jonathan's first day! As I mentioned last week, J was looking forward to Mommy dropping him off and then getting the heck out. He didn't kick me out when I dropped him off, per se, but he went right in and got down to the business of playing so Mommy took a picture and departed. I mean, look at him. Is he ready or what? 

Yesterday, Chris was very tired at the end of his day and I'm assuming our little boy will be the same today... So I don't know if you heard but, there was a solar eclipse yesterday and once again, Kansas City seems to be the best place to live for us. Here is how it went... In the morning, we had some major storms that passed through with torrential rains and crazy lightning, which of course we drove through to get to Jonathan's return to My Gym. Also, this was the source of our lack of internet for the rest of the day. I was thinking, "Well, there goes the eclipse." Around 11:00, the clouds parted and the sun came out with barely a cloud in the sky! The beginning of the eclipse was 11:40. My mom and I went on our back patio and watched with our super cool official eclipse glasses. Jonathan checked it out for a second too but then was far more interested in his water table! I put J down for his nap at 12:30 and Mom and I just sat out and experienced the whole thing. We were like 99.9% totality and we didn't even have to drive anywhere! Plus a lot of people who went north had clouds and rain. What we had in our backyard was perfect! For the moment of the most darkness, our patio lights came on, the cicadas stopped their insane noise and the crickets started. Then all went back to normal about 2 minutes later. Then it started to cloud up again for the rest of the day. Talk about great timing. It was a great experience! The shadows on all the plants and trees in our backyard were so cool. Chris and all the kids at his school also got to check it out. They laid out towels on the field hockey field and watched the whole thing. What a great way to start his first day!

School Visits

This year, both of my boys got to visit classrooms for the coming school year! Christopher spent about 20 minutes this morning, picking out his clothes, putting gel in his hair, and packing his backpack with pictures and items to decorate his locker! He is very excited for all the new responsibilities that come with being a third grader...

Next, we visited Jonathan's new school. This morning, when I said we were going to visit his school today, J asked "Are you going to drop me off?" When I said no, he was NOT happy about it. "I want you to drop me off!" Well, I think we know where he stands on the whole "going to school" thing! He went in and got right down to the business of playing...

Amazingly, he left without tears. When we got home, Christopher was so excited to start being Jonathan's teacher that he spent an hour teaching him how to do a project about cows complete with drawing, coloring and cutting, reading stories and having circle time. It was swell for me because I could get our lunches ready in peace. I wish C discovered his love of teaching earlier in the summer!

Huge!

When we planted our garden in the spring, Chris planted a sunflower seed. On the package it said the sunflower would grow to be 6 feet tall. This gigantic flower, which has finally bloomed, is at least ten feet tall and the stem is so thick that we're not sure if we have the right tools to cut it down in the fall! It's a really cool flower! Wonder what the neighbors think...

You're a Good Dog

Happy 6th birthday to Double Balls! We love this sweet, funny, goofy girl!

Shelter Island 2017

We spent last week visiting family in Shelter Island. We all had a blast, especially the kids! They were all good and tired every night and I think Christopher is going to need a full week to recover from all the fun that went on! Above is a picture of the kids at Atlantic Beach in Amagansett. The waves were huge and the water was cold but the kids spent 4 full hours playing in the surf!

Here are the boys on the rental car shuttle...

Then having chocolate chip pancakes at a diner for lunch...

Here is Jonathan playing in the sand and the kids exploring for crabs...

On Sunday night, we went with the big kids to Shell Beach for a bonfire and s'mores!

We went out on Grandpa's boat...

And we did a lot of paddle boarding! Even Jonathan go in on the action!

And of course, a lot of ice cream was eaten...
                                            

Thrid Grade Bible Presentation

Today was the third grade Bible presentation at Old Mission. Each third grader received their very own, personalized Bible, with their names engraved on it and everything. Chris was very excited as were all the kids!

Through the Years

These are three pictures of the cousins in Shelter Island. The top one is from this year, the middle is from 2015 and the bottom one is from 2012.

Monster!

Okay, okay I promise I'll put up pictures from our trip very soon but in the meantime, here was some of the harvest waiting for us when we returned this afternoon...

And look at this beast of a zucchini! It could probably feed a small village!

Get Comfy

We've been giving Holly a little extra attention this past week or so. She's been feeling a little down and missing her sister. So this morning, I decided to sit down and brush her, which she loves. She especially loves to be brushed and scratched right above her tail. As I was brushing her there, she proceeded to sit down in my lap! It was so funny and she just stayed there until I was done. 

Yogis

Christopher took a trial children's yoga class yesterday with his friend Julian and loved it! This morning he was teaching Jonathan some of the poses he learned. Jonathan may or may not have been the easiest student to teach. That is up for debate!