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!!)

Strawberries!!!

Last year there were no strawberries (or peaches or any other fresh homegrown fruit) up here because of a late freeze, so we missed out on strawberry picking. So I was so excited that we got to go this year. This was over in Belleville at Eckert's - if you have the chance to go, it's a really fun place. They take you over to the patch on a tractor-pulled wagon and there's a cute country store filled with fresh fruits, veggies, jams, jellies, and what looked to be very very high calorie high fat baked goods (the boys and I were especially impressed with these). There's a restaurant, too, but we didn't venture in there.

Anyway, we made out with about 5 pounds of freshly picked strawberries, apple butter, blueberry preserves, and a bottle of water (it was hot in the strawberry patch). So we've had strawberries on waffles and strawberry shortcake tonight - which the boys said they didn't want any of (we can't figure out what's WRONG with them!)

I'm working on the pictures from DC, but there are so many of them that it's taking me longer than I thought it would. We had a great time, though!

budding photographer

Elliott has been interested in taking pictures for a couple of years now. After we got our new camera (my baby), I let him take the old one every once in a while and take pictures. Then I got a new smaller camera last year and decided a few months ago that Elliott could have the old old camera. So he takes it places and loves to take pictures. A couple of years ago all his images included half of his thumb, were crooked, blurry, etc. But he's really improved! He took this picture on our way home from Champaign the other day and I was quite impressed with what he captured! It definitely could use some Photoshop, but I think it's really good for a 5 year old!

It' nice outside!

I'm sure I'm going to regret saying this cause it seems like every time I think winter and the nasty part of spring is over, it just all comes back again! But I really think we're done with the yucky weather for a while. Anyway, we've been enjoying it at the zoo, helping Amber move, and canoeing with Jeremy (and that was all in one weekend!) I must say the boys really loved the canoe! The picture of Jeremy looking back was him telling me that Ethan had just said "I almost felled in..that was fun!" Just gotta say that I did my best with the swim lessons for the poor boy!