teeny tiny horses

Yes

these teeny tiny miniature horses

are absolutely adorable

but no, I'm sorry

we can not bring them home.

We can visit them next time we visit Auntie Neala though...

Celebrating America's birthday!

Happy Birthday America!
We celebrated our wonderful country's birthday by going to a parade with great friends!

The kids brought buckets to put all the candy they collected in. And, I will tell you, it was a lot of candy! Too much candy! So much that I possibly may have thrown some away, or maybe I didn't. Depends who it is that is asking me...

Then we went to one of Chris' best childhood/adulthood friend's house for a BBQ and some swimming in their brand-new pool! It was perfect weather for opening up the pool that hadn't ever been used before!

Then we drove home as the sun was setting. Some monkeys napped and one stayed wide eyed the whole time. Isn't this just one of the most beautiful sights on earth???

Then since most of the kids napped, and we arrived back in our town just in time for, we went to a parking lot, parked, and watched the fire works.

It was the first time, ever, that our children have been up for fire works. They loved them but they were anxious for the grand-finale (how does one spell that word?).

It was a very long day but a wonderful day celebrating our country's birthday!

rolling

Rolling

down a

big hill

is always

so much fun!!!

Although it didn't work out quite as well for Ben...

as he just kinda landed on his poor face...

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!