Snail

I was helping my mom water the plants in her yard and I came across this...

The kids were all asleep, so I put it in a jar to show them in the morning.  Before I could find a lid, the sneaking thing was almost all the way out and on his way to freedom in my mom's house.

We just don't get snails that big in our yard.  My mom was pretty grossed out that I saved it from death.  How could I not?  These are great pictures!  Thanks little snail.  You gave your life for some photographs and entertainment for my children.  I only wish I could have photographed you with the children.

A Cautionary Tale

"Mom, you should never go out and ride your bike without your shoes because you could get going too fast and then your chain can break and then you could hurt your foot because you don't have any shoes and you can't stop your bike without hurting your foot."

This boy cracks me up.  He loves to ride his bike and I am always reminding him that he needs to put shoes on.  It's just so much easier to go out there sans shoes (and sometimes shirt).  The bike that he rides has seen better days.  The chain has been coming off and it leaves him without brakes.  He can be cruising down the hill pretty fast and it will happen.  The first time it did, Mike just saw him come tearing down the hill yelling "help!" over and over again.  Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to just keep riding until he reached flat ground and slowed.  Thankfully there weren't any cars coming around the corner of the cross street that he blew right by. 
Since then, we have told him time and time again that he needs to wear shoes.  He didn't have shoes on when the chain came off the first time, so he couldn't even use his feet as brakes.  We told him that if it happens again, he should ride over to grass and bail out.  He still finds himself riding without shoes. This time, when he came in crying and scared, I couldn't even reprimand him because the first words out of his mouth were the ones above...warning me to never ride my bike without shoes. 

Balloon Babies

Every once in a while, the kids make balloon babies.  They draw faces on water balloons and spend the whole day taking care of their babies.  This was one of those days.  When the novelty of the baby wore off, they started jumping on the tramp with their balloons.  None of us could believe it when they just wouldn't pop.

 It was fun to watch them flatten and squish out, only to pop back up again.

 The boys waited patiently for their turn on the tramp with their babies.

 They did all eventually pop.  Even in popping, the balloon babies brought us much entertainment.

Loaded

It always cracks me up to see Jason sneaking around looking for bad guys with his guns.  

I love listening to him and his friend Finn as they talk about all the guys they are protecting themselves from.  I've heard things like "locked and loaded" and "they're bad guys from the black market!"  "I'm all out of ammo!" and directions of who will go first when they leave their cover.  Funny kids.

More Dress Ups

I guess the boys aren't the only ones who like to dress up and act like crazies.  

Allie is the Santa in disguise.

They went for a stroll around the hood and I got this gem of a picture when Allie paused to pick her wedgie :)

Slime Kids

The slime trend is still completely active around here.  The girls are still totally obsessed.

 They talked me into taking them to Walmart for some supplies and then they came home to make more slime.  I love that they are still finding screen free ways to entertain themselves day after day.

So, make all the slime you want kiddos!  Now that they've got their own bowls and spoons, I don't even have to do the dishes.

Smithfield Canyon

We went up the canyon for FHE the other night.  

 The kids entertained themselves by jumping the picnic tables, as they have done in years past.

It might be the first time Nate has done it alone...I'm not sure.

Jason still needed assistance.

We played in the river and tossed sticks and stones.

The game that entertained them for a really long time was when they tossed things into the river and then ran to the other side of the bridge to watch them go down the river.

Of course, everything turns into a race with these kiddos and they were racing leaves and sticks and competing over whose stick or leaf was the best.

Jason was totally intense about it.

Nate liked to find the biggest plant and chop it down with the stick that looked like an axe...

Mike and I entertained ourselves by trying to give Jake a "pants ray" whenever the opportunity presented itself.  A pants ray is what Mike calls it when he makes your pants disappear.  I think it was inspired from Despicable Me...sort of like a freeze ray or something.  :)  Whatever it is, it's dang funny and Mike got Jake pretty good before he got on his guard and kept one hand on his pants.  We have to be careful when giving the littles a pants ray because they are often underwear free and you get more than you bargained for.  :)

It was a fun evening up the canyon with the kids.  Life is good!

An Outbreak

Jake's friends know that there is poison oak in the area surrounding their swimming hole.  They avoid it and think that they are safe to swim and play there.  Last week, Jake came home with a poison oak rash again.  He hadn't been to the hut in a while, so it was a mystery.  All the boys have had one little patch or another over the summer.  Jake was no exception.  This time, it was just awfully close to his eye.  Mike and I thought we should take him to the doctor, but Jake insisted that he was fine and in no pain.  I wasn't sure what the doctor could do for him anyway.  Then, as the week went on, the small rash that was on his back spread to cover most of his back and wrapped around to his stomach.  He had patches on his legs and on both feet.  It was just a mess.

I tried to take pictures of it, but just couldn't capture the extent of the rash.  It was raised up and his whole back was leathery and it oozed gross stuff that made every shirt stick to his back.  We went through a lot of laundry in the days that it was in the oozy stage.  Gross.

He was in a lot of pain.  So, I finally took him to the doctor.  We knew it was poison oak, and that there was likely nothing they could do about it, but we hoped for something better than our over the counter stuff to calm the rash. The doctor came in through the door, looked at him, heard his story and told us it was an impressive rash and that he wanted to show the dermatologist next door.  When he came back, he had a med student with him. He wanted to see if the med student knew his stuff.  He listened to Jake's story of the irresistible hut/dam/swimming hole and asked about the plants in the area.  The doctor congratulated him on his quick diagnosis and then we all laughed about the silliness of the boys going back day after day even though they know the area has poison oak.
The dermatologist came in, with his med student and they all examined Jake with the same awe and pity.  We have read lots of information about poison oak because this isn't our first time with it, it's just the worst rash he's ever had.
We listened as they all conversed about the best plan of action and then were glad to hear that Jake could be treated with steroids and that it should clear up after a few days.
As the four men left the room, one of them said "congratulations!  You had the rash of the day!  Thanks for letting us come see!"

The steroids were pretty great and Jake was feeling pretty good after just a few days.  Mike and I were pretty annoyed when they all went back to the pond to swim.  The kids just don't learn.

Yogurt Drops

Jake likes freeze dried yogurt drops.  The only problem is that they are pretty tedious to make.  He has been asking me for months and months to make them.  I just haven't wanted to.  So, the last time he asked, I suggested that he make them.  Best idea ever.

Now he knows how tedious they are and he'll treasure each one of those drops.  I told the other kids that they were just Jake's.  He worked hard for those little nuggets.

Spiderman and Duck Man

The costumed kiddos are still at it.  For a little while, whenever the boys wanted to go to Finn's house, they felt like they needed to be dressed up.

Jason donned a duck costume and said (in his super hero voice) "I am Duck Man! I eat bad guys and my battle cry is 'duck, duck, the eating duck.'"

 I knew that Finn was out of town, but I still let these superheroes go out the door because I knew they would find adventures along the way there and back.

They are so blasted cute!