One Crazy Weekend!

Richard jumped on this to help Sean hold it & Linc thought it already done - just climb on behind Grandpa! Of course the big brother had to try too!

Whoah - we survived one crazy & wonderful weekend!

Grandpa and Grandma arrived on Thursday night to our house of baking - I do feel rather victorious in making the cake for Carter's birthday but did put in about 4 hours of baking in the morning & another 3 hours of decorating that night, and I'm not even sure that he ate a piece of it! I guess it was more for me than him!

On Friday Carter got to go on a big adventure with Grandma and Grandpa (and Lincoln in tow, so I could get ready ALL alone!) to do some birthday shopping. He got big boy golf clubs - like the real deal, he's super excited for Sean to take him out just as soon as we can find some time for that - he keeps talking about it! He also got to go to Toys R Us and pick out a few trucks and he thought that was fun & has since asked if we were taking him back - I think the words I'd like to say are XXXX, No! (by the way that was not the dirty word, you all think it was). Anyway, to say the least he thought he was the king of the day which continued into his birthday party. We had about 25 of our friends to play at a local church rec room with ping-pong, air hockey, pool tables and a full gym to play in including roller blading which Carter tried and thinks he wants to try again. He was really excited that all of his friends came for his party - thanks for coming everyone, it really meant a lot to him and us too!

On Saturday our adventures continued with the purchase of a swing set thanks to Grandma's persistence convincing Sean and Grandpa's help, of course. I'd like to say I was a big help but I was a bit more on damage control for the boys! They want to be such big helpers but often don't know how to help. We have a swing set that is about 90% complete thanks to Grandpa's labor and Grandma's instruction & a few finishing touches for Sean to complete this week. Thanks G & G and Mimi & Papa for the fun swing set - the boys are so excited as am I to have another way to entertain them - I'm sure there are many hours of fun in our future in our backyard.

We are getting back in the groove today in time for Carter's actual birthday & the start of preschool on Tuesday as well as Lincoln's first day of Mother's Day Out on Thursday. I'm both excited and apprehensive about how the little man will do being that he's spent most all of his days as my little sidekick!

What's Goin' On

Carter caught 6 fish in about 15 min. on Saturday - he throws them back just like a baseball, I'm sure the fish appreciate this!

Linc likes to think that clothing is optional

This is our new beloved neighbor, Ms. Kitty - we visit her each day and are delighted to sometimes find her in our yard (all of use except the cat-hating daddy that is)

"Napping" on the boat

This is how I found Lincoln the other day when he wasn't feeling well - watching Rachel Ray for about 30 min. - he doesn't watch t.v. so it was interesting to see him watching RR of all things

The boys call this skiing

If you don't finish your dinner at dinner, daddy may just take you out of the car & leave you in your car seat

Carter playing with his new builders hat

We've kept busy this week with boating, swimming with some friends and a few play dates. We are gearing up for the big 4 that is coming our way next week - Carter is pretty excited about being 4. I'm pretty anxious about making a monster cake but am hopeful that it will turn out just the way that I want it to. The boys and I have had either colds or allergies this week - we are on the mend but not quiet 100% yet either, although everyone slept all night last night so that is a big step forward. We are looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa this week and Mimi and Papa next week - I should know better than to tell the boys that we have company coming or that anything is happening in the future because our countdown time is still a little difficult to understand and Carter gets made at me often saying but you said it was 5 days, now you say 3 - you were lying....need to work on the calendar with him I guess! The boys have been playing "camping" the last few days which basically consists of getting into the drawer of hardware type supplies, packing up and sitting in the tent and then usually fighting over space!

Our outdoor adventures

We've been busy playing - the boys are obsessed now with frisbies - we've been playing for a few days and Carter is getting relatively good at it (maybe better than I am, and I'm pretty sure that Sean would second that!). We also went on a little adventure looking for a lake to go boating at this weekend, we found some not to go to but didn't find THE ONE we are looking for! Lincoln did enjoying throwing sticks & dirt into the lake, however, so it wasn't a total loss. I also attempted kite flying with the boys & after an unsuccessful attempt in the back yard thought I'd take them to the park to try - it wasn't so great to be honest with you, Buzz Lightyear (Carter's kite) leaked air so he kind of flopped from the start. I could, however, get Mickey in the air just fine but couldn't manage to keep him there and everytime I tried to hand him off he would nose dive. Sean did inform me that he is a master kite handler (since he and Michael had stunt kites when they were kids) so we will be putting his skills to the test and keep you informed on that.

It has been, A 3 Martini kind of morning at our house, lots of little annoyances such as pretzels in my dishsoap and such but now that the boys are napping we can start over (and hopefully not counting more martinis to be had). Instead of making martinis for lunch, which was very tempting, I had some ice cream with A&W topping which hit the spot and made me remember being little and going to Creston for A&W - let me tell you, Sonic just doesn't have it compared to the old A&W, but I guess Sonic will be the boys A&W memory but it certainly isn't the same (I mean let's start with the metal tray, real frosty mugs and much, much better ice cream). It was so good as was the memory that Carter and I had a second bowl of ice cream, and that my friends is how to conquer a 3 martini morning!

Little Fishermen

Here are a few pictures from our most recent fishing trip - Carter only got 1 fish, but had a turtle chasing his bobber most of the time we were down there, I guess no one has been feeding the turtles lately! Lincoln spent most of the time throwing anything he could find into the pond but did give me a fishy face for the camera.

The boys have been busy this week just playing around the house - they love to play in their sink and we discovered this week that it does not have an overflow - which isn't a great feature for a kid's sink if you ask me! Lincoln also tried to paint himself with blue bath paint & looked as if he could be a member of the blue man group. He is still just into everything.

Yesterday Carter graced the Walmart shoppers with his version of "Dolly-pop, dolly-pop, oh, dolly-dolly pop" throughout the store - we got a few dirty looks but some good laughs too, I think.

This is the baby who stayed up much of the night before the drive home & this is him sleeping in the car - urk!

Carter, Lincoln & I on the tube - going very, very slow!

Carter & I moving a little faster - he said "I like it when Grampie goes fast!"

Vacation can wear a kid out!

Linc the little jet skier (or ski-jetter as Carter kept calling it)

Wind blown hair just like Sean's!

The little boys

Attempting to pee off the boat - this was not successful!

The "Big" kids!

We are back & had a great time in the Ozarks with the Hogan family. 6 kids, 9 adults, 2 boats, 2 condos - lots of swimming, boating, eating & a bit of shopping too! Carter had so much fun playing with his cousins - he loves all of them and played with each of them separately and really enjoyed all of them. I think he got used to having some constant bigger kid companionship because before we even made it home last night he was asking to have friends over! Yikes, I'm still catching up.

Both boys had a really good time boating and weren't so sure about floating in the lake but did a little bit - Carter more in the tube at the dock, until he fell in. We also had jet skis for an afternoon and they enjoyed that - but not as much as our resident dare devil Samantha - she loved going fast and jumping the waves with me & even took Grandma on a bit of a ride!

One of the big girls (I don't remember now if it was Marah or Samantha) said, "Why do you live so far away" which was a bit of a tough questions to answer - I said because we live were uncle Sean's job was and that wasn't a good enough answer - "can't he get another one?" maybe one day we won't be so far away (although maybe that will be by the time they don't want to play together so well too!). This year Auntie Gwen brought a babysitter along which was so wonderful so the big people could have some time without the small ones - I think the small ones had as good of a time together as the big ones did!

Thanks Hogan family for a good time & thanks Mimi & Papa for sending your boat for some more summer adventures!