Up!

The buddies went to their first movie in a theater today! And loved it! Until the scary part at the end, when both boys dove into our laps, cried real tears, and repeated over and over and over, "I just want to go home!". These kids ride roller coasters that make my stomach lurch and beg for more, but apparently a pack of barking dogs and a 75 year old bad guy are just too much for them.

But it was fun, minus the crying and screaming at the end. Ben even says he wants to go to a movie ("that's not scary") again. Ace doesn't, but reminded us that he'd like to go back to "the place with all the rides" again.

Pudding Pops

When I was a little girl, my brother, sister, and I used to spend one or two weeks each summer with our grandparents. I have lots of great memories from those weeks but the other day, when I saw this, I was reminded of how Granny always kept a package of pudding pops in the freezer during our vacations. They were a special treat that we rarely had at home and we looked forward to them every summer. So, when I came across the recipe, I knew the buddies and I just had to make them. It was simple and fun and my two little chefs really did most of the work themselves. The hardest part was waiting 5 hours for them to freeze.

We even sneaked in a few math lessons in the process, which I always like to do when we cook together. Examples:

We need two cups of milk. Ace poured one cup. How many more do we need?

Who can count out 6 cookies? Now, give half to your brother.

We need to fill 8 cups with the pudding mixture. How many can Ben fill and how many can Ace fill?





They tasted great! The buddies can't wait to make them again. We just wish we could ship some up to Oklahoma to the great grands!

Dutch Wonderland

Granddad treated us to a day of fun at Dutch Wonderland, a cool amusement park designed for kids age 8 and younger. Our two tall 4-year olds were the perfect age for this place! Ben was a hair shy of the 42" requirement for many of the cool rides, like kingdom coaster and space shuttle, but he just stood on his tip-toes and grinned at the friendly attendants as he passed under the measuring stick. There was nothing our boys couldn't ride.


And ride, they did! We arrived shortly after opening and nearly closed the place down. We rode coasters and log flumes and trains and a myriad of stomach-churning, spinning rides. Amazingly, the buddies weren't scared of any of them. Bumper cars were a huge hit - Ben laughed and laughed as he and Lindsay repeatedly smashed into Ace's and my car. Granddad even found a water slide for them that they rode at the end of the day, since we had one change of clothes. Steve and I were grateful to Lindsay for riding with them!


We even took in a couple of shows. Thomas the Tank Engine was there with two singing engineers. We also saw a dive show, which was really pretty impressive.

After a full day of fun, and as we were walking to our car, Ace said, "Hey Mom! Can we come back to this place with all the rides tomorrow?" Sadly, the answer was no, as we had a plane to catch the next day.

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

Train Town, USA

During our vacation, we made a second trip to Strasburg, a cool little town packed with fun places for train-loving kids. During our first trip, we took a ride on the famous Strasburg Rail Road. This time, we decided to check out the National Toy Train Museum. It was awesome.



The place was filled with toy trains from the 1800's to the present. We checked out walls and walls of antique toy trains but the real highlight were the many large train layouts. They were the best we've ever seen, and we've seen quite a few. The layouts were even set up so that visitors could operate them. The buddies started train after train and also enjoyed turning the many accessories - like traffic signals, spotlights, and train whistles - on and off. We could have stayed all day but decided to move on after 2 1/2 hours.




Afterwards, we took the buddies for a special lunch inside a real train at the Red Caboose Restaurant. The food was marginal but we just couldn't beat sitting in an antique dining car. We even had a view of the Strasburg Rail Road and watched a few of the excursions depart. We also walked the grounds of the Red Caboose Motel, where guests slumber in actual antique train cars.






Next year, we'll check out the Choo Choo Barn or maybe the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. We could visit this little town yearly and not run out of places the buddies want to see.

Check out the rest of our train pictures here.

Swimming!

Check out Ace, swimming! Thanks to Aunt Julie and Uncle Henry for inviting us over for steaks, beers, and swimming!

More Fun with Me Mom!

After our tubing adventure, our visit with Me Mom continued to be lots of fun. Steve and his sisters threw a retirement party for her. It was great to catch up with friends and family and meet some new people too. Here is Me Mom with her three grandbabies after the party:

Guess what she plans to do with her free time during retirement? If she gets her way, she'll be spending as much time as possible with these three.

We also got to attend a lovely (and fun!) wedding for a childhood friend of Steve's.

I discovered the Mummers and feel a little slighted that I've been hanging out with Philadelphians for 10 years now and haven't been introduced to them before. What could be more fun than dancing around with a bunch of men in crazy costumes while waving little umbrella's overhead? Thanks to Aunt Kate and Uncle Wags for watching the buddies that night (and for introducing them to water ice!).

Check out the rest of our wedding pictures here.

Steve and I even got to take a little mini-vaca while Me Mom watched the boys overnight. We headed out to Jim Thorpe, PA, a sleepy little town just at the foot of the Poconos. We strolled the beautiful and historic main street, ate leisurely meals without interruption, went for a long hike and dipped our feet in the river, drank a few beers in a local pub, and then went to bed early and slept late. It was wonderful!

More Jim Thorpe pictures here.

Our visit also included lots of fun little excursions...like trips to the swimming pool and the park, a trip to Vincents for a cheesesteak, and a late night trip for custard and ice cream.

Tubing the Delaware River

Me Mom treated us to a fun tubing adventure on our first full day of our vacation. The five of us headed out to the Delaware River for a fun day in the sun. Ben enjoyed the short bus ride to the launch point, but quickly became skittish when he glimpsed the wide, vast river and realized that we wanted him to float in a wee-little tube. He shouted and scratched his way into my lap and insisted it was "too scary" on his own.




At the half-way point, we stopped for lunch with the Famous Hot Dog Man. After standing in a 45 minute line for the (so-called) famous hot dogs, we scarfed our meals and discovered that one of our tubes (a two seater) had been hi-jacked. So, there we were, on an island, in the middle of the Delaware River, with five people and only three tubes. We did what anyone else would do and stole someone else's tubes as well as some rope (and got caught) and continued our journey.


Ben still insisted on sitting in my lap for the second leg of the journey. Then, Ace decided he was scared too and joined us. The added weight was forcing me into a bit of a crunch position, and while I appreciate abdominal exercises, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of doing another hour and a half on the river like this. So, I offered up ice cream to any boy that was willing to ride in his own tube for the rest of the adventure. It's amazing how ice cream can diminish a wee person's fear. They both scattered to their own seats and low and behold...they realized it was fun!

We spent the second leg of the trip relaxing and laughing and taking in the scenery and just enjoying one another's company. And then, Ace fell asleep, in his tube, snoring loudly. It was an awesome adventure. Check out the rest of our pictures here.

Teddy Bear Picnic - Take 1!

A few days ago, Ben had the brilliant idea to host a Teddy Bear Picnic for our playgroup friends. We sent out the invitations, purchased and made foods that teddy bears enjoy (quesadillas, grapes, and teddy grahams), prepped our crafts, downloaded teddy themed music to my ipod, and threw down our picnic blanket in the middle of the living room.

And then Ben awoke with a fever and Ace woke up with a terrible cough. Boo!

So, I called our little friends and canceled the event, promising to reschedule for a later date, when our cooties aren't quite so fresh. But, since Mooberry and Thunder were already excited about their party, we just couldn't let them down.





Mooberry and Thunder had a wonderful time. Their people did too.

Hamilton Pool Preserve

Our summer tradition of "Adventure Mondays" continued yesterday. We enjoyed a great day at Hamilton Pool Preserve, a unique Austin swimming hole. The natural pool is surrounded by a collapsed grotto and canyon and a 50 foot waterfall trickles down from the Pedernales River. The entire property is truly breathtaking.




We met a few friends (4 moms and 10 children) and took part in all that the preserve offers: swimming, hiking, and picnicking. The buddies wanted to hike the trail around the canyon several times, and so we did. Add that to the half mile round trip hike from the parking lot to the pool (done twice because of a necessary trip back to the restrooms) and we probably hiked 2 miles altogether.

View the rest of our pictures here.

Summer Reading

No...the buddies can't read...yet. But, they have made great progress this summer and it will only be a matter of time. Luckily for us, several of our local summer reading programs allow non-reading pre-schoolers to participate. Over the last few weeks, we've logged the books we've read and this morning we sent our lists off for some cool prizes. Now we just have to wait anxiously for them to arrive in the mail over the next 3-4 weeks!

New Braunfels Railroad Museum

This afternoon, we met up with some fellow train-enthusiast friends at the New Braunfels Railroad Museum. Our party of 8 filled the tiny former railroad passenger station to near capacity. Especially since 5 members of our crew were excited, train-loving, wild boys.



The kids barraged the patient volunteer curator with loads of questions about model trains and enjoyed watching them travel around and around the cool layout. Also, during our visit a train blew past on the active Union Pacific main line tracks and that was a real highlight. Ben held his ears and said the train was "too noisy" but didn't take his eyes off it until it was gone from sight. Ace loved every second of it and didn't care how noisy it was.


After we spent a couple of hours watching the model trains, we went outside to explore the restored steam engine and caboose. It was a great activity for a hot summer day. Check out the rest of our pictures here.

More Krause Springs Photos

I am almost always the one behind the camera during our outings, so it is rare that I am actually in a picture. What a treat it is to receive a whole slew of pictures of the buddies goofing off with me from my friend this morning. Thanks, Traci! This one is my favorite. We all three love playing in the water.


Check out the rest, here.

A Field Trip to Krause Springs

This morning, a friend and I decided to be adventurous and take our boys to Krause Springs, a cool swimming and camping site in the hill country. The property boasts 32 natural springs, many of which feed into both their natural swimming hole and man-made pool.






At the advice of the friendly owner, we eased our crew into the chilly waters in the shallow areas of the natural swimming hole first. We splashed around, tossed some rocks, and swam under the water fall. In an attempt to entertain the buddies and *try* to be a cool mom, I gave the rope swing a couple of tries. It was not as easy as it was 13 years ago, which was probably the last time I attempted such a thing. I didn't hurt myself, which is really all that matters.




After swimming for some time, we made our way back to our picnic area and shared lunch. Then, it was on to the man-made, spring-fed pool. Brrrrrrr! That water was refreshing, to say the least. Everyone from our party jumped in at least once and a few of us stayed in and splashed around for a while. After that, we let the kids play in the "Magic Tree", a cool, old, hollowed out tree that even I could stand up straight inside.

It was an awesome day-trip! Check out the rest of our pictures here. And check back again tomorrow to see my friend's pictures.

International Space Station Viewing

Early this morning, I learned that the International Space Station would make a pass over Texas at 9:17PM today. So, I sent a quick email to our neighbors and rallied a group of space enthusiasts to join us for the event. We gathered at 9:00 in the cul-de-sac and began scouring the night sky.






After several false alarms, and at exactly 9:17pm, Steve spotted it. We watched it, for nearly the full five minutes, as it quickly made its way across the sky above our rooftops. Too cool! We love space exploration!

Lakeside Fun

Closed Captioning:
Ace: Ben, that was fun! Ben, let's do that again!
Ben: I don't think so, Ace.

Independence Day

We had lots of fun over the holiday weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the lake. Lots of "firsts" took place:

1. The buddies bought their first fireworks. Grandma went to the local stand the day before and picked out exciting crackers for each boy and left them with the owner in bags with each boys' name. When we arrived, she handed Ace and Ben $10 each and drove them to the stand. They held out their bills and said, "I'd like to buy some fireworks, please. My name is Ace / Ben."

2. Daddy lit his first fireworks (really!). We can officially call him a Texan now, after 13 years in the state.

3. The buddies played with their first sparklers.

4. They caught their first fish - two perch from inside Grandpa's boathouse. Ace stuck around to catch four more and then he and Daddy set them all free again.

5. I water skied for the first time, post kids. It was awesome! Steve skied too, also his first time since the buddies joined our family.

6. The boys participated in their first turtle races, a family July 4th tradition that probably dates back 25 years. They named their turtles "Michael" (Ben) and "Tree" (Ace), although we tried to convince them to come up with more turtle-ish names. Neither of our turtles placed but it was fun nonetheless.

7. Ace took part in his first grape spitting contest.

8. Ben helped out in his first flag raising ceremony with Grandpa. He also jumped off Grandpa's dock into the lake for the first time. During our last trip, that was "too scary" for him, although Ace must have jumped off 25 times.

It was a big time.

We also took part in the 5th annual Buncombe Creek Independence Day Parade and Party. The buddies decorated and rode their scooters, but pooped out in the 100+ degree weather after a short while and hopped on the golf cart "float" with Grandpa and I. They tossed "sucker pops" at the spectators and Pop and I tossed Nacho Cheese Doritos (of course). And, we enjoyed a neighbor's fireworks display on Friday night but missed out on our boatside show when bad weather thwarted our plans.

Check out all the pictures here.

Asthma Woes

What a week we've had and it is only Wednesday. About 6 weeks ago, we took both boys off their daily asthma maintenance medication, just to see what would happen. Well, what happened is Ben caught a nasty virus, went into respiratory distress, and ended up in the hospital for 24 hours. But, doesn't he look cute?

The picture above was taken the morning of his release, after several rounds of Albuterol and a hefty dose of oral steroids had a chance to kick in. He was feeling much, much better. We checked out around noon on Monday and scheduled our follow-up appointment with our pediatrician at 8am the next morning. Of course, that next morning, Ace was wheezing and struggling to breath, so we brought him with us as well. Our proactive pediatrician wrote oral steroid scripts for both boys and saved us from another trip to the ER. We love her! And our former pediatrician called us from Plano when he heard about our woes and gave me his thoughts on our treatment plan (which confirmed what I already knew: that the buddies are receiving excellent care). We love him as well! It is good to have good people on your side.

This afternoon, everyone is breathing fairly normally and we just have a few more days on the oral steroids. Which is good really, because a mom can only take so many days of juiced up kids. But that's another story...

Blackberries!

Man, it is hot. Our projected high temperature for the day is 106 degrees. After missing out on two planned outings with friends, I promised Ace we would visit our favorite farm "as soon as his throat stopped hurting". And today was that day, regardless of the scorching temperatures.

We headed out pretty early and picked quickly once we arrived. Then, we ate our homemade ice cream in the shade at 10:30am and ate our picnic lunch in the air-conditioned car on the drive back. The consensus? We love our berry farm in the Spring and in the Fall. Not as much in the Summer.

Daddy Rocks!

The buddies made these cool "Daddy Rocks" for their dad and gave them to him this morning.

And their daddy does rock. He works hard all week long and still finds the time to coach their t-ball team, take them to the swimming pool (alone, so that I can get a break!), mow the lawn, and take me on a date.

As is our tradition, the boys helped me complete their Daddy Questionnaires this week and we presented him with their answers today. Ace's answers are in blue; Ben's are in red.

How old is Dad? I don’t know. / I don’t know. (actual answer: 36)

But take a guess. How old do you think he is? 46! No, how about 56? / (after Ace’s answers) 66! Then, from Ace: He’s much older than you and me and Benny too!
My dad has no / black hair. (actual answer: brown, though not much of it)
My dad has green / brown eyes. (actual answer: a lovely and unusual shade of green-ish, blue-ish, gray-ish)
My dad loves to tickle me and then I want to tickle him /play!
I love it when my dad hugs me and puts me to bed with a ride /tickles us.
My favorite thing to do with dad is race – I ride a scooter and Daddy runs! /play the get-you game.
My favorite game to play with my dad is Duck, Duck 123 /Candy Land.
I like it when my dad sings the Ace and Ben song / ABC’s, but Grandpa sings the wrong numbers, like this 123-20.
My dad makes great eggs /music.
When I’m sad, my dad tickles me /snuggles me.
I like to get a piggy bank / race cars with my dad.
I love my dad because he coaches my t-ball team /because he tickles me and that’s what he really wants to do.

Happy, happy Father's Day to all the wonderful daddies in our lives...especially our own.

Texoma Trip #2

The buddies and I are home after a week with my folks at their lakefront home. It was awesome and fun and we'll go back for more soon since it is the perfect place for wild boys. Here's a run down of what we did while there:

Pretended to be pirates...because it's their new thing and Grandma ordered cool pirate hats.


Had fun in the "pirate ship" (aka the tree house). One afternoon, while I was hanging out in the tree house with Ace, he ran to the garage refrigerator to grab himself a Gatorade and hoist it up in the bucket on a pulley. Half way back, he yelled, "Hey Mom! Would you like a beer?" I didn't really but since he offered, and that was kind of cool, I took him up on it. He brought it from the garage and hoisted it up in the bucket for me.


Went on lots and lots of boat rides. Grandpa let them drive. Ace was pretty good at it!

Ben prefers to drive the golf cart (and does it really well!) but he also drove the boat a few times.

Fed horses at Mr. Cleo and Ms. Loretta's house.

Swam and shot water guns...

Mostly at Grandpa. Because he splashes back and makes a big production of it.


Tried to ski...unsuccessfully. We figured out that it is going to take 4 adults (5 if we want pictures and video) to teach 4 year olds how to water ski.

Monkeyed around at a few parks and a really cool pool.

Picked berries at Grandma's blackberry farm.

Ben picked a lot but had an empty bucket at the end of the outing. The owner (a super-nice guy), looked at his tongue while we were checking out and let Ben know he was onto him.

Fed the catfish at the berry farm pond. Grandma taught them to yell, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty" as they tossed the food in.

Went on a hay ride at the berry farm.

Played lots and lots of frisbee. Until Ben missed one headed right for his face and caught a bloody nose.

Jumped off Grandpa's boat dock. Lots and lots of times for Ace. Ben said it was too scary but scared us to death by running around like a wild boy inside the boat dock.

Visited the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville with the Super Grandparents. It is a nice little zoo.

The best part was the public giraffe feedings at 10:30am.

Pushed a tired Grandpa in a hammock. It probably wasn't really that relaxing.

Went on a train ride at the McKinney Flea Market.

It was a full week! It is taking the buddies days to catch their daddy up to speed on all their adventures and even longer for me to fully recover.