Ironman & Ninja Turtles

Since Nate and Henry very rarely watch TV, and then only watch "mom & dad approved" dvds, I'm not sure where they learned to love cartoon characters like Power Rangers, Ironman, Spiderman and Ninja Turtles. But they do! They love these shirts as soon as they lay eyes on them. Meemaw spoils the boys by sending them super cool shirts from California to feed their addiction. Here Nathan models a blue Ninja Turtles shirt, and Henry sports a yellow Ironman shirt.

A rainy morning

On rainy days it's important to get the boys out of the house to burn off some energy. On this Saturday morning, we hit Bouncin' Bears for a jumping and sliding good time. Here are a couple blurry iPhone photos of Henry and Nathan on the jumping pillow.

Garage door

You know you're a homeowner when getting a new garage door makes you excited. Now to paint it to match the house.

Wild Animals

Sometimes when Joe and I go to pick up the boys at the end of the day, we find they have turned into wild animals!!

This giraffe (Nathan) is eating foliage:

A brown bear (Henry) is loose in the classroom:

Hikers

We have taken a couple trips to Flattop. The first one was during a cool and windy day when Henry and Nathan bagged Blueberry Hill. The second one pictured below is at the river running alongside the powerline trail. Joe and I have stricter rules during "hikes". One rule is that we do not pick up the kids. They walk the whole way on their own (at a slow pace) and do great. They need to build up their baby quads. Nate and Henry love seeing all the dogs out on walks at Flattop.

Singleton time

During late June and early July we were lucky to have Meemaw staying with us. Grandpa Dennis came up for a week over 4th of July. Henry and Nathan each got a 'singleton day' where they got to spend solo time with Meemaw. She took them on fun outings.

Here is Henry at the museum:

Nathan listening to live jazz :

Henry in front of new plants in the backyard:

Giddy up

On a sunny weekend, we are known to hit the downtown market and let the boys ride ponies. Blossom (the white horse below) is their favorite, although Ninja and Little Red have also given excellent rides. Nathan was brave and took the first pony ride, and he is in the first two pictures. After Nathan proved it safe, Henry wanted to ride but only if he could have the same horse as Nathan. Henry is in the bottom two photos.

Sum, sum, summertime

We were fortunate to have spells of warm weather and sunshine this summer. Unlike last year's Summer That Will Not Be Mentioned. There were times when even I was too hot. Strange but true. Whenever possible, we would fill up the kiddie pool on the deck and let the boys play outside. Even Joe got in on the action.

Long time, no blog

I have lots of excuses to explain why I haven't posted anything on the blog lately, but I won't bore you with those. Rest assured, we are alive and well and having fun. Henry and Nathan began potty training on Memorial Day weekend, and they did great. Another big milestone for the boys. The next one is to move them from cribs to their toddler beds. I'm not at all biased, but H&N are extremely cute lately. They like to do more pretend play, like imagining they are baby kittens or baby dinosaurs just hatched from the egg. The boys are also getting bigger and taller, and they can climb all over the playground equipment without help. They can even pee in the toilet without a step stool (tmi)! I'll post a few photos from the summer.