Four Monkeys

The Martin boys spent the day with us today! Sam is getting so big now and always wants to be with the big boys - they don't always share his enthusiasm but for the most part they all played together really well today. This first picture is of the "boys only" clubhouse. The name of it, Wilver's Club, was decided very democratically since each of the boys wrote their pick for the name on separate sheets of paper and then Sam drew one out. Ben was the lucky guy whose top choice got picked - still don't know where the whole Wilver thing came from? Anyway, they had flashlights, construction trucks, an UNO game and who knows what else in there. Elliott is holding his nose in the picture cause when Sam crawled in for the picture I think they all decided on a new rule for the club - no boys with stinky diapers!

We also went to see Curious George at the library today. The boys (especially Ethan) watch Curious George daily and those are the books they go for first at the library. I think he reminds them of their own curious little selves that are always getting into trouble!

Happy Birthday Ben!

The boys and I took a belated birthday trip to the Science Center with Ben (and Sam and Vicki) today. Lots of hands-on fun for all the boys there, and, as you can see, they even got to build their own Gateway Arch (now that took a lot of Mommy help!). We ended up spending the entire day with them, which was so nice since we haven't been able to hang out with them for a while. That will all change since summer is here!

Favorite Quotes of the Day:

Ben: "Well, looks like it's time to head back to the Toyota!" (So impressed with his knowledge of makes/models of cars!)

Elliott: After arguing with Ethan about something, we hear Ben ask Elliott if he (Elliott) wants to go tell his mom (me). "I think I'd better just work it out with Ethan" says Elliott. (So it appears that they are listening when we tell them this 100 times a day - it just takes a few years for them to actually put it to use?)

Ethan: Out of the blue during dinner with the most serious tone, "Mom, now I want to go to Kindergarten cause I know how to skip." (this was the only thing we were told that Elliott needed to work on before he starts kindergarten this fall, so it seems that Ethan believes that this is actually the only thing you need to know to be able to go to Kindergarten)

It's Pool Time!!

Yes, it is warm enough to swim!! The boys are loving it, and I had to get this picture of Elliott lounging on the new "flip flop" float (try saying that really fast!!) that the boys picked out to play with at the pool this summer. The picture is just so Elliott!

DC Trip

We had the best time in DC! Since I'm not the history fanatic that my husband is, I was just looking forward to spending time with Brian's family and Brian and Katie and then finding some shopping and dining! But, to my surprise, I was really excited about seeing everything once we got there. In fact, I think the monuments and memorials might have been close to my favorite sights just because they provided so many photo opportunities. Never would have guessed!

Thanks to one of Beth's best friends, we got to stay at an awesome hotel that used to be the site for the inaugural balls! I think we hit almost everything we could....the Capitol, the Mall, the Smithsonian museums, the National Cathedral, Georgetown, National Archives, the International Spy Museum (okay, only Rick and Brian for that one), the exteriors of the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court (these were closed on the day we visited). Oh, and we became very familiar with the power lines and tree branches all over the city atop the Open Top Sightseeing Tour - funny at first, annoying later.

Anyway, we had a great time but were glad to get back and see the boys (and find out that we missed out on the 50 degree weather while we were gone....it's June already!!)