Chatter Boxes

Yesterday was Family Fun Day at Worlds of Fun (our amusement park).  John's employer hosts this every summer and the boys have been looking forward to it.




Seth's sense of adventure continued this year.  Last year he showed no fear jumping on the big roller coaster.  This year he was a bit more apprehensive but powered through.  He squeezed my hand a little tighter this time as the cars inched higher and higher.  Honestly it made me feel better than last year where he didn't seem phased at all about hurling himself 75 miles an hour down a 200 ft drop. 

We both have the "what in the world are we doing" expression

Heather and her friend Corey joined us

Here's a look back at previous years (2012, 2010) but I just wanted to post this picture here of the very first summer.  We had been home with the boys just five months at the time.  I can't believe how time flies. 


Between Colin's short chunky legs and Seth's toothless grin...oh my good gravy!  And the fact that Seth seems to be holding on for dear life on this kiddie train and yesterday he rode not one but two roller coasters (and one of them neither of his parents would ride with him) (By the way, thank you Corey for riding that horrible gut-twisting ride because Seth "really really" wanted to).

These little boys are growin' up!

John had a bit of an accident this weekend.  He was cutting down a tree a few miles from our house.  After the tree was down it shifted and a limb met his face.  He called before he walked in the door to prepare me for what he would look like.  This picture was shortly after he arrived home.  The colors spectrum has progressed since then as the bruises have developed. 



After he settled on the couch with an ice-pack, the boys decided daddy needed a doctor or two.


When John called on his way home he said he might need some TLC.  I'm not sure this is what he meant but he was a good sport to let the boys help.

Seth had his first baseball game tonight.  He played first base for part of the game and short stop for the other.  He hit well and fielded well.  It was a great start.

He was dressed and ready to go this afternoon about 3:00 even though the game didn't start until 6:00.  He laid paper towels over his new baseball pants during dinner so as not to get them dirty before the game.  Man oh man was he excited!



Way to go Little Slugger!  Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer him on. 

Our family ventured out last weekend to a neighboring town that was hosting a city-wide garage sale.  We had a few items we were looking for and high hopes for finding them.

For fun we gave the boys each their own wallets and they emptied their piggy banks.  They were both a little shy at first about asking to purchase certain items but as the day wore on...man oh man...were they on a roll.  Seth discovered the amazing world of garage-saleing.

This is a sign that a good time was had...


And this is only a quarter of his total haul.

Seth is definitely the athlete in the family.  Colin has not shown the same enthusiasm for sports.  He has other interests...he knows obscure animal facts (his favorite bird is the Peregrine Falcon and when I tried to get him to say the word eel in an alphabet animal game we were playing he said, "Mommy it's called a Moray Eel...not just an eel.) 

Seth begged for weeks to sign him up for baseball.  Which we did (not because he begged but because we planned on it anyway).  We asked Colin if there was something he wanted to sign up for.  He didn't seem interested in anything the local Rec Center was offering, but after some thought he decided he wanted to "run races". 

So...Grandpa bought him some "fast shoes" and he's been "training" with daddy around our house and at the high school track. 

He had his first race two weeks ago but after a scheduling miscommunication he wasn't able to run with the other kids. 


 
The organizers were great and did a special race just for him.  He started and raced to the finish line and we all cheered.  The thing about running a race alone...YOU WIN!!




This last weekend he participated in Running With the Cows.  No miscommunication this time.  He ran with the crowd of kids doing the fun run and finished strong.  Miss Jenny ran the half-marathon and Colin was able to finish his race in time to watch Jenny finish hers (with a personal best I might add!) 





We're pretty proud of our budding little track star. 

I joined the boys at school this morning for Muffins with Mom.  Colin doesn't have school on Fridays but we all participated.



After a lovely breakfast, Colin and I dropped Seth off at his class and made our way back to the car.  Colin noticed that there were a lot of moms walking back to their cars alone.

Colin:  Mommy, those moms are leaving their kids at school.
Mommy:  Yes, there are some families where all the kids are old enough to go to school.
Colin:  They look soooo happy.
Mommy:  Yes...yes, they do.

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Bonus Colinism:  The boys made cards for their teachers as part of Teacher Appreciation Week.  Colin grabbed his crayon and seemed to be writing a long letter on his card.  He was obviously writing letters but nothing was legible to me.  He finished writing and said, "Mommy read it."  Umm?

I asked if he wanted me to write out what it said so his teacher would know for sure what he was saying.  "Yes," he said.

"Okay Colin what does it say?" I asked.

"It says, 'I hope you like Aliens.  From Colin'," he says with a smile.