Heritage Festival

Before heading over to dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's we met up at the park across the street from their house for a fun old fashion festival.  We attended the same heritage festival a couple years ago and had a great time, so when we were looking for something to do today it was an easy pick.

The kids got to experience lots of things.  They checked out civil war era supplies including these play muskets.  Will quickly lost the privilege.

 Jack adored this little tent.  After all it was just his size!

 There was a hands on demonstration of how twine was made into rope.  The boys got a pretty big kick out of it.  They waited patiently for their turn and they were each able to crank the machine 20 times.

Then Max combined all six pieces of twine on one hook for the final 12 cranks.   

 I think their favorite part was pulling on their newly made rope so that it was nice and tight.

 The fun continues with several old time games that kids used to play.  Max was super proud of himself when he was able to catch his bean bag after throwing it up with the special took.  The hopscotch type bean bags were entertaining for Will and Jack.  The people working the festival were so kind in showing the kids all the different games.  Will of course loved socializing with them.

This game of tic tac toe with Grandma and Grandpa was a lot more fun that the one one our menu at breakfast this morning.

 Both of the big boys tested their strength and turned wooden pieces into pegs.  Max was pretty amazed that they used to use these pegs to hold together things as big as houses.

 We remembered this exhibitor from our last visit.  He was great with the kids.  All three boys were able to touch the clay he was working with and he even let Max create the design on one piece.  It was pretty neat even for me.  Will had everyone around us cracking up after he touched the clay and he found that his fingers were pretty dirty.  He announced loudly "At least I didn't use my sucking thumb!"  He is such a funny little guy!

Now to start looking for fun fall activities next weekend.  While I don't love that fall leads into winter, I do love all of the great family events there are around town this time of year!

The Balloon Race That Wasn't

When looking for some fun family activities for the weekend we found the annual hot air balloon race.  It was a beautiful morning with two soccer games and it seemed like the perfect afternoon outing.  We picked up Nonna and headed to the park to watch the festivities.  The kids all had a great time climbing on the turtle sculptures.  I have to admit they were pretty neat.  I've passed this park a million times but we have never played there before.  I think we will return.

 There were lots of fun sculptures for the kids to climb on and they didn't want to stop.  I think poor Nonna about had a heart attack 50 times.  I just kept hearing her yell 'Where's Will"  He was always within 10 feet.

After all the anticipation the event was pretty anticlimactic.  There was too much wind so the canceled the race.   A couple of the hot air balloons chose to take off anyway so we saw about five or six floating in the sky, but by that time we had packed it in and called it a day.  We tried to go to Steak N Shake for dinner where things went from bad to worse and we walked out before we even talked to a server.  And it had nothing to do with my kids.  Service was awful!  Luckily there was a Lion's Choice not too far away with much better service.  Another great outing with great company on an absolutely beautiful day!

Paging Dr. Jack

Grandma and Grandpa's church have an evening at the Magic House every fall.  Sunday night was the night and the boys all had a great time!  The timing couldn't have been better.  Our membership has expired and the big boys have been begging to go all summer.  

I think Jack may have found his future calling.  He was so tender and gentle taking care of this sweet baby.  It was adorable!  He changed the diaper, checked the baby's ears, nose, and mouth, used the stethoscope, and eventually tucked the baby in.

My sweet little baby isn't such a baby anymore. I see some big kid transitions in his future, like a big bed.  If I'm honest I'm a bit sad to see him leave the baby stage behind (but let's be honest, he hasn't been a baby for a year).  But I'm also excited for the next chapter.  It's such a huge honor to help them grow!

First Day for Will!

Today was Will's first day of pre-k and he loved it!  He really threw me last year and had a tough time separating from me.  That wasn't the case at all today.  He even asked why I was walking him in.  "I know what to do mom!"  Just call him independent.

 I love those big brown eyes.  They melt my heart every time he gives me this sweet little look.  I also love that he always wants to make a silly face - and that this is the same silly face he makes every time.

 When we got to school his two sweet teachers were thrilled to see him.  He was pretty excited to see them too.  I'm so happy we found this amazing preschool.  It really has been a perfect fit for our family.

Jack and I hung out for  just a couple minutes but Will really didn't need it.  He was ready to play and learn with friends.  I think poor Jack was a bit sad he couldn't stay too!

When I picked Will up he said his day was great and he can't wait to go back to school tomorrow.  Let's cross our fingers his love of school continues for many years to come!

All About Jack

Without sports, school, and camps, our sweet third born boy tends to fly a bit under the radar here.  That isn't the case in real life.  Jack is very much in the thick of things and growing like you wouldn't believe in all regards.

So what is our sweet two year old up to?

Talking - and talking and talking.  Jack is just talking up a storm.  He is a little parrot and repeats things constantly.  A few of my favorite things he says right now are 'thank you mom' and 'sorry mom'.  He pretty much uses them both in the correct context.  It just cracks me up to hear this little voice say sorry mom when he drops something on the floor or makes any kind of mess.  Another favorite is when he bumps into something or falls.  He bounces right back up and says 'I'm okay!'  

Running - While gross motor skills are a bit tough for Jack it doesn't slow him down one bit.  He LOVES being outside and if I ask who want's to go outside he raises his hand and yells "I do! I do, Mom!"  It really is the cutest thing ever.  I may be guilty of doing anything I can to illicit that "I do!" reaction.   Who wants grapes?  Who wants a bath?  Who wants to play trains?  He pretty much wants to do it all.

Reading - Jack loves books.  We read constantly and he has very strong preferences when it comes to books.  The silly part is that it typically isn't the same book twice.  He likes to change it up, but when he has a book in mind you better get on board.  Jack has an uncanny recall of letters at this point.  It makes reading tough sometimes because he wants to stop you so he can tell you every letter he sees.  It's also nice because you can usually entertain him by writing down letters while he tells you what they are.

 Coloring - As the babysitter at the gym says Jack is a budding Picaso.  He loves to color - preferably with markers.  Crayons just don't give him the same kind of thrill.  There is a bag of markers and crayons that he can access and when he wants art time he will let me know.  He also loves to paint with water colors. I feel bad that I don't save every picture he makes, but my goodness there are tons!  It has been fun to see his coloring progress too.  Nonna showed him how to make circles and he thinks it's pretty cool.  The only part that isn't so great is that he is my first kiddo to purposly mark on things other than paper.  Walls, cabinets, tables, Will's favorite fire truck. . . nothing is safe when Jack is out of his booster with a marker in his hand.

Counting - Jack seems to be very academic minded all on his own.  He counts constantly.  Up the steps, when he eats his crackers, when does blocks, or throws a ball.  Everything is counted.  He is pretty accurate too - except for that darn number seven.  As Nonna pointed out that one is tough, after all it is two syllables.

Climbing - Against my better judgement I bought a box of fruit snacks at Costco this week.  I should have known better but they were on sale and Will was very convincing.  Anyway several times a day Jack pushes a kitchen chair over to the cupbourd and opens the door.  He gets out a pack and says 'help mom, fruit snacks?'  He is very self sufficient.  I'm glad the boys ate the last two packs after lunch.

Hoarding - I remember both of the big boys going through this stage as well, but Jack is a little hoarder.  He wants to carry everything he sees.  It's pretty funny, but I feel bad for him when he can't quite muster it.  His little heart breaks if he can't carry everything he wants to and he just cries and cries.

I love this man more than words can say.  It is so fun spending days with him and getting to know just who he is.  His sweet, intelligent, and determined little personality is really starting to shine through.  It's such a honor to here to see it.  I count my blessings every day!

Little Fishermen

Last weekend we met Grandma and Grandpa for a picnic in the park.  The pizza was pretty yummy but even better than that was the fishing!

 Both of the big boys gave it a shot.  Will thought it was fun for a little while then lost patience a bit.  He was proud to announce that he caught zero fish.

Jack had fun looking for the fish in the water.  I'm just glad he didn't fall in.  Although it was so hot out that the water would have probably felt pretty good!

 Max loved it.  Really, really loved it.  He was patient and calm and got so excited when he caught a couple fish.  He and grandpa released them so that they can grow some more.  Max thought that was pretty neat.

His casting needs a bit of work, but he really did great.  He and grandpa has so much fun that just the two of them went fishing again on Monday morning since Max was off school.  I love that Max shared this fun activity with Grandpa Jack.  He is already looking forward to the next time they go fishing together.