Ahoy Matey!

A friend of ours invited us on a field trip to see replicas of the Nina and Pinta that had sailed up to Ditto Landing, just south of town. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time seeing the ships, picnicking and playing with friends at a nearby playground. Here are a couple shots of the kids by the ships--in one of them they are being pirates.

Later that afternoon, all Lawson wanted to do was use the map I had bought him as a souvenir and be a pirate looking for treasure. Love how their imaginations keep them busy! :)

Skater Boy

For Lawson's 4th birthday he asked for roller skates because he saw Curious George go roller skating on TV. We got him some RollerBlades because I found them on a great deal at an after-Thanksgiving sale with Jamey.

I love that they are adjustable and actually last for about 4 whole shoe sizes! That works out great because it turns out that he was really kind of small to use them back then, and since then he has gone in waves of wanting to put them on and skate around the house. He's always had pretty good balance on them, but he's been a little timid about pushing off to gain some speed and actually roll. Plus, they should still fit him for another 2 sizes!

This past week he has really been persistent in wanting to put his blades on and practice around the house, and Saturday afternoon after it quit raining I asked him if he wanted to try to skate on the driveway. He did, and we went out and he ended up skating for about an hour and 45 minutes! At first, I put on the old roller blades I had and showed him how to push off and get some speed, and after that he was on a mission to keep trying harder and harder!

Lawson, Jordan and I ended up going down our street and across the way to where the neighborhood's old tennis courts are, and had a cars-free place to practice. Jordan was on her bike, Lawson on his skates, and I was walking.

He's got a way to go, but for his first night of blading outside, I think he did GREAT!!

(By the way, he has on his Michigan t-shirt, blue athletic shorts, and his black soccer socks pulled all the way up...It's not tights!! :) He put the tall socks on so he wouldn't get blisters, and it ended up padding his knees and legs when he fell!)
The video's a little dark, but the sun was just about gone! And, he took a minor spill there at the very end, but I am proud of how hard he's trying and how he just gets up and goes again after he falls!

Just another sign that he's getting bigger by the minute!

Made-Up

My mom got Jordan some play make-up for her birthday last month, and she LOVES getting it out and getting made up! The other day I guess she thought that the glittery, transparent gel for eyes and cheeks wasn't dark enough, because she spread the darker lipstick across both eyelids and the bridge of her nose! Then she dressed up in her Tinkerbell dress. Jon and I cracked up, but she was so proud of putting on her make-up, and we weren't going anywhere so we just let her be! She definitely has her own personality!!
To top it all off, when we went outside so Lawson could RollerBlade, she changed into her Sleeping Beauty dress and rode the streets glammed out--pretty in pink and on the princess bike, no less! :)

Not quite how I pictured it...

This first picture was taken several weeks ago with my low-quality phone camera, so excuse the blurriness...but I just had to snap a shot!

When Jordan got this Dora castle and Lawson got his Bat Cave for Christmas last year, I wasn't sure if they would play with them very much. It turns out that they love to play with them, but it isn't quite how I pictured it would be!

I have walked in on this scene several times: They usually put both the castle and the Bat Cave down in the floor, then they proceed to attack the Dora castle with snakes and dinosaurs and spiders--all of Lawson's creepy, crawly stuff. Then, across the way, all of the Barbies get held hostage and locked up in the Bat Cave!! The other day I was helping them clean up the playroom and when I picked up the Bat Cave 4 Barbies fell out to the floor! I couldn't believe it!

Then, this morning, I went into the playroom and saw the following scene. Keep in mind, our Barbies have a couple different white and pink, very girly, princess-ey horses that they can choose from for their mode of transportation. But this particular Saturday morning, Belle must have wanted to take a walk on the wild side...


Like I said, I never really pictured this before! Well, at least they have good imaginations!

Little Mama

The other day I walked in and saw Jordan sitting on our time-out chair reading on of her library books to her baby doll. It was so sweet I snapped a couple pics. She was making it up as she went along by looking at the pictures.
She didn't know I was there, so I took a little video. I was on the stairs, reaching my arm way over and she didn't see me until about a minute in when she looked up and saw the camera sticking out of the banister. She looks right at it, smiles at the camera, then keeps on going. I think it's just precious. One day I will be so glad I have this memory of my sweet little girl.

Flying High

The kids have always begged to do the "jumpy things" at the mall, and I have always told them that we didn't have any extra money to do that. This weekend, after we had our yard sale I was excited because I thought it would be fun for them if we spent a little bit of the money we made letting them do this special treat.

When we told them, they were SO excited! As soon as they started jumping and realizing how high they were going they started to squeal and laugh! It was hilarious! I think it was borderline exciting/scary and it was tickling their stomachs. I am so glad we got to give them his experience.

Putt-Putting around...

Last week we got a Buy a Game, Get a Game Free coupon for a local putt putt place in the mail, so Saturday we took the kids putt putt for the first time ever! I was so excited because I knew that even though they would be too little to bypass any frustration associated with the game (heck, I still get frustrated at that silly little game!) that they would be old enough to grasp the concept and enjoy the game. It was pretty hot, but boy was it a fun afternoon!

Here's Jon showing them how it's done...
Poor Jordan, she has the hardest time holding the club the right way. I don't know how many times Jon had to fix her hands! Good thing she's so darn cute! :)
But she can also be a little priss! Look at that stance!
Once Lawson did a few holes, he started to get the hang of it! He actually did a pretty good job.
Jordan was hilarious...She just dragged her club around after a while, guiding the ball this way and that, circling around and around the hole until it finally went in!

Got it!!!
Waiting patiently for his turn...
They LOVED going into this cave!
Line it up, girl!
Me and my boy...
WE LOVE PUTT PUTT!!!

The next Master?

I just had to include this video of Jordan. It makes me smile. :)

Stinkin' adorable.

Hiking Rainbow Mountain

It has been excruciatingly hot this summer, so at the slightest hint of a cooler day we decided to spend it outside! Yesterday the kids and I went up to Rainbow Mountain for a Nature Hike. We packed up a picnic lunch and got ourselves ready for a day of exploration in God's beautiful creation. We saw so many neat things, and had a really great day!!!

It is amazing to me how much bigger my kids are each time we do something like this...Every time we come they are able to do so much more, and they really enjoy being out in the woods!
The flat shady spot we found for lunch...
This picture makes me laugh...Lawson was being the leader, guiding us out of the rocky area. I told them to pay attention to where they put their feet and to not slip. Jordan couldn't figure out where to put both of her feet, and she ended up a little bit stuck and, um, 'over-extended'! It was so cute...she just couldn't figure out how to get her feet back together!They cracked me up on the trail part...such imaginations, and so interested in everything we saw. Here, they are holding their arms up to pass through the "tall grasses"!
We thought this rock looked like a dinosaur head...There were cactus plants everywhere. So cool...They played around on these huge rocks for so long! There were tons of places to climb up to, and lots of little skinny places to shimmy through. It was a neat place for them to freely explore, while I stood on top and could keep an eye on them wherever they went. They felt very "big" because they felt like they were going off exploring in the woods on their own, but I was comfortable because I could still see.This huge tree fell across the path....Lawson climbed a ways up the trunk, but then I started to panic that he would fall off the side so I made him climb back down.
They're getting so big!
I about had a stroke when I saw this animal on the log--thought for sure it was a little snake...
But on closer inspection it was a legged lizard...
Love this picture of the kids peeking into this rotten log. It was so neat to just follow behind and let them lead the way! They had so much fun!
We found another small lizard and Lawson quietly got close enough that he touched it. Yes, that's right. He touched it. Ugh....boys. :)
Thought these mushrooms growing on the trees were pretty cool...
Some 'treasure' that Jordan found.
We LOVE Rainbow Mountain! It was a beautiful day of exploring and exercise and learning and fun. Good times!