my sword fighters

There is something about boys that is a mystery to me. It's their love of swords and how they innately know how to use them.

And how every thing and any thing can be transformed to be a sword...

Six year old Connor and 16 month old Ben will grab anything that could possibly be used as a sword, such as this stick, and stage sword fights.

His big brother thinks this is great, of course, and encourages him. He cracks up when Ben swings around whatever he has while shouting, "hiyacha". (I will admit that I crack up too, it is pretty cute.)

I hope that through out life these two brothers continue to find things in common and have a great time together.

After-all, they are sword lovers... Boys... Brothers...

A walk with friends

A couple of weeks ago a whole bunch of "us" went for a walk at a local trail. It is a great place to go for everyone because it is beautiful and paved. It got a little tricky keeping track of all of the kids because there were at least 21 kids and just 6 adults. We will have to make a couple of adjustments next time but over all everyone had a good time!
The little ones rode in strollers and the even littler ones were worn in carriers (although it appears that I didn't get any pictures of the tiny babes.). With snacks, drinks, and plenty to look at they didn't seem to mind.

The big kids walked, ran, rode scooters, and bikes. I would say the best part for them was when we stopped here and they did some "fishing" in the river.

They tossed in the snacks that they were supposed to be eating so that the fish could have a snack. They even got cleaver and put a pretzel on the end of sticks to try and catch the fish.

I don't think any fish were caught but Justin did find some really slimy fish eggs. He even put them into his little sister's snack cup, yummy... (Please note, his mom stayed patient and calm when she discovered this, amazing!)

These three girls who have known each other since they were tiny babies were just happy to spend some time together!

And, when Allison got tired Katelyn even helped out by carrying her for a bit...

It was a nice walk with great friends! I look forward to spending more time with them this summer and I know the kids do too!

"monkey back ride"

My oldest monkey...

And my youngest monkey...

Just adore each other!

There is nothing better than a "monkey back" ride!

adventures...

When we went to the mall last week to have Katelyn's ears pierced each of the kids had one adventure that was really just for them.

Katelyn's was getting her ears pierced. Connor's will be blogged about soon.

Maggie's was a trip to the pet store. She loves going to the pet store. I didn't take many pictures but there was a LOVE of a puppy that was wandering around the store. Luckily it was the owners puppy or I would have had a hard time walking away! (Well not really as we can not even think about having another pet with Ben's asthma and allergy problems.)

The kids loved this adorable little boxer!

Then for Ben's part of the adventure we went to the play area at the mall. Which happens to be farm themed and Ben loves farm animals.

Maggie spent a lot of time riding the cow!

Connor ran here and there and every where....

Ben climbed, went down the slides, and just had a blast. It is perfect for children his age! Note Katelyn in the back ground... She complained a tiny bit to me that it was boring for her there. I reminded her that this was Ben's part of the adventure so then she played with Ben and made his adventure even better!

Another fun day with the monkeys!

Sitting with Ronald McDonald

Dear Ronald,
Thanks for having us for lunch today.

The food was yummy and playing was fun. And the best part was that Ben, for the first time EVER, chewed and swallowed 1/2 a chicken nugget! This was a BIG STEP for him!

Thanks again Ronald, we hope to see you soon.
Love,
The Four Monkeys

Night creatures at the library

I have mentioned a few times before that I love our local library! They do such a wonderful job encouraging the kids to read and doing some really fun things for the kids.

Our favorite around here is definitely the animal shows that they put on a couple times a year. Last week was a "night creatures" animal show.

My sister and her children joined us which makes it even more fun. We got there early so that the kids could get good seats. They love sitting right up front although there really isn't a "bad" place to sit.

Steph and I took seats in the first row of chairs so we had the pleasure of seeing each of the animals very up close and personal. I personally could have done without being this close to this guy!

My brave nephew Dylan was able to go up to the front and hold this VERY LARGE SNAKE!

On the way out all of the kids were allowed to pet the snake. Maggie was waaaay to close to his mouth for my comfort!

I am glad that they had the opportunity to touch the HUGE SNAKE but I was happy staying far away!

I think I may have been holding my breath when they were so close and had a huge sigh of relief when we left that no one got hurt! Not that I think the library would allow an animal they thought was dangerous but seriously it was HUGE!

Stay tuned, we have a few more library adventures that I will surely blog about coming up this summer!

Brave Katelyn

Friday, June 25, 2010

My sweet first born monkey...

Has been in this chair once before...

But the last time she jumped up too quickly...So this time she was brave and sat very still....

And now has beautiful earrings in her ears!

Katelyn was definitely ready this time! She has done a wonderful job taking great care of them. She even did good when they were getting slightly infected. Luckily we were right on top of it and cleared them up quickly.

Yay Katelyn!