A visit to CT

And...we're off on our summer adventure. This summer is less adventurous than last summer -- we did not drive, which means that we won't be hitting 23 states like we did last year!

We were happy to see Gram Rooney and have spent a lot of time playing legos on her floor already. She even let the kiddos venture into the basement to take some of the lego pirate ships, king chariots, etc. that Grandpa built years ago before he passed away.  They are building little police cities, hospitals, and all sorts of cool things.  We're also dragging Gram along with us most places we go...because we like to :-)

 The kiddos dragged their bikes out of the basement. Gage is cruising on his Big Wheels, piling the back of with "interesting rocks", and racing his sister down the driveway.

 And Savannah..well...she seems to have inherited Gram Rooney's knack for finding four leaf clovers. The whole family is amused by this because Gram is known for her lucky clover finding talents. She has Gram's gift!  On just one day, she found 6 in Gram's yard. And..it hasn't stopped there. She keeps finding them!

 We also have twin calves this year. We call them "the babies" -- their names are Crash & Stash. Here is Gage out in the field with Crash, being so patient and careful as he tries to lure her over to eat some  purple clover flowers out of his hand. They are still a little skittish, but getting better... won't be long.

 Gage is such a big boy now, he is helping Grandpa give the cows hay at night.

 I love how he looks so satisfied with himself when the job is done!

 There are all kinds of things to mess around with here. The kids played with the trailer for hours. They threw poppers (those firework things that snap) at it for a while. Next they threw two bouncy balls at it and chased them all over the driveway as they bounced. They ran around and performed. They even crawled underneath it to recovered "duds" (poppers that didnt' pop on the first try). Crazy little people.

 Savannah loves hanging out under the new rock that Grandpa put underneath the crazy tree.

 And...we broke out the slip & slide we bought for $2 last year, put it on the hill, covered it with dish soap and let them rip!

 Savannah has been checking out butterflies, and picking wildflowers along the pond while she can ... we know Grandpa will mow that thing down soon!

Birthday party fun!

The kids went to a party at a gymnastics gym. First, they ran down a trampoline runway and launches themselves into the pit of foam.

They climbed out, walked across the balance beam...

And jumped into the pit again!

Repeat....repeat...repeat...

Next, they climbed up to this platform and launched into the pit from way up high! Gage was not quite brave enough though. He gets nervous about heights sometimes.

All in all...this was one fun birthday party! 

Coconut!

At the grocery store...the kids desperately wanted this..a coconut.

I had to text Adam and see if he was game for cracking this sucker open. He was, of course. But...the kids didn't like the coconut milk...or the unsweetened coconut. So..I am eating all of it myself :-)

Splash pad

The parks department opened a new splash pad recently. Since it's so hot here...this will get much more use than a regular park will during summer. 

These fun buckets would slowly fill up and then pour onto your head!

There was water running down these slides so the kids would shoot off the end. We had some sore tushes today!

All in all, a thumbs up. Gage brought his water gun and loved being able to shoot anyone he wanted. There were big water cannons the kids could shoot people with all over the place. Walking through the splash pad...you never knew when a kid would nail you with a water cannon. Little stinkers! But, it got crowded very quickly after it opened..and the big kids were kind of rough. So...we had our fun and then went out for ice cream :-)

Hot beach day

So, savannah likes to dig in the surf line and find these little clams and put them into a bucket. She calls them "slurpies" because they dig down into the sand and put a little straw looking think out that she thinks they slurp something up with. She probably had 200 in the bucket but they all burrow down in.

It was hot this day, so we put our pop up shelter up for some shade, dug a big hole, and let the Kids go crazy. I taught them the wonder that is making drip castles. They loved it!

Of course Adam had to make the biggest one of all!

And while they played, Adam and I actually sat IN BEACH CHAIRS, relaxed, and drank some coronas.wow. I don't think we've ever done that before with the kids. They are growing up!

Zoo...hangout...etc.

A non- beach day. Well, we went to the beach for a morning stroll...

but then we went to the zoo. The consensus is that the zoo is getting boring for everyone.

So..we went to the hangout! After having lunch..the foam party started!

And after that...we watched a stunt dog show that the kids absolutely loved! Next up...ice cream...and a trip to the giant souvenier store where gage got a new shark stuffed animal to add to his shark family, and savannah for a stuffed mama & baby dolphin. And of course I had to buy some big starfish, sand dollars, etc because I can't resist them!

Beach sunset time

This is the best time of the day at the beach...just before sunset. Got sole great pics of the kids...

Adam caught a crab...everyone was terrified to touch him. Those claws hurt!!

And the kids made a "we love dad" sign inside a giant heart for Adam. But...they asked me to take a picture to give Adam on Father's Day and to "erase it from the sand" :-)

Beach...pool...beach

This is the first time these guys have slept in bunk beds....they LOVE them! We had a "lazy" morning sleeping in until 7:15!

After breakfast..we hit the beach early!  There were the usual beach shenanigans...wave jumping for savannah...and daddy-burying for gage.

But...we decided to bury gage too...and to give Adam some seaweed chest hair ;-)

On the way back to the condo..we walked through the gauntlet of flip flops...over the board walk...and then hit Gage's favorite part...the foot shower. I think we could play in the foot shower alllll day!

 The condo complex we stayed at had big bins of "complementary beach toys" - probably things people left behind. Gage loved these goggles..but I swear they made him look like an old man with a big nose ;-)

Savannah has been doing this trick for years. Gage finally joined the fun too!

Savannah is old hat at this now :-)

Dads are the best, aren't they?

Beach

We snuck in a trip to the beach! First stop...Tacky Jacks! 

Tacky jacks is on the harbor in fort Morgan...so we always cruise the docs for a while after dinner...even though the kids are terrified of falling off the sides since there are no railings :-)

Back to the condo...and just in time for a sunset walk in the beach. Gorgeous!!

Of course...Adam can't just walk by this big branch we found on the beach. Noooo...

Gage is in cheesey smile mode lately!

Beautiful way to end the day...