Visiting Aunt M in MO

We miss Aunt Miranda! We want to go see her!! He we are taking a pit-stop on the four-hour drive.

It was sunset and a warm evening. These boys needed to run, scream, and push!

Notice that my clean, handsome boy found water... where? How? He was soaked from the knees down, but happy.

We got in so late we fell right asleep, but enjoyed hot chocolate on the deck early the next morning while everyone else was waking up.


Off to sight-see!




Let's get ice cream!



Trying for some group pictures with Grandma, Aunt Miranda, and us.

Trying for a cute picture of my matching boys and me. Just stand and smile until Sam cooperates...

Keep Smiling, he'll smile in a minute...

Well, maybe he doesn't want to take a picture...

Now he is screaming to let go of him...

Okay, he is definitely DONE! Let's go home!

Until next time, thanks for the great visit!

Zoo

A trip to the zoo, with Tate, Sam, and camera.

Here we are... it was a beautiful day!

Sammy couldn't quite see the monkeys over the railing...

Let's try this way....

Okay, now if I just had a quarter...

Cuties. They will probably kill me one day for always making them dress alike, and in the theme of the day.

Taking a break

This is safe, don't worry.

Tate did it!

I thought this would be cute, until the sun was so bright they couldn't see and the zoo keeper got mad at us for getting "into" the exhibit. I should've pulled out the Indian cards and demanded my house back.

Ready to go. They are giving me their "mad faces." Pretty convincing.

Bye!

Family Trip to the Museum

We all four joined my college class at the local museum today. Sam's favorite thing was all of the hiking trails and outdoor things. My favorite was the cowboy art. Chris loved the awesome view from the museum restaurant. We were only allowed to take pictures outsite and in the "kid dig," but you can still tell that we had fun!

It is very kid friendly, with a "dig" site being Tate's favorite.

Tate's First Day of Public Kindergarten

Tate was so excited! He had a great first week, and loves his small class! The school is rural, PK4 - 6th, and best of all, his FOUR new cousins are all there with him!

Tate the Teacher

** This was not posed! I just found them like this!!

Tate loves "school" and feels responsible that Sammy learns to like it, too, so he will be smart (which he is concerned that he is not!). We told Tate that he - amazingly - knew his numbers and alphabet around the time he was 18 mos old, and even though Sam can't count well, Sam can do lots of other things now that Tate couldn't do when he was only 2: Sam can play ball, ride his tricycle all over the neighborhood very well, feed himself quite well, etc... But Tate can't stand the incorrect counting of 1-10 anymore!! Today, on his own, he set up, literally, a small school and told Sammy to "get over here and learn these numbers." He had a huge chart and Sam had to sit still and listen as Tate pointed out which numbers were which. I think he even learned a little. Now he knows he has two hands and only one nose. (Before the lesson, he had three of everything.)

July 4th

We celebrated the 4th at Grandma Carol's house with our new cousins.

Sammy has just learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" after accompanying Tate to a zillion birthday parties this year, so he sang "Happy Birthday Dear Amewiccccaaaa" all day long! He loved the flags and cake!

summer fun with new cousins

Sam and Mike are working out only having ONE tricycle at Aunt Katie's house, although Sam insisted on staying in control of the wheel!