Sunday, July 17, 2011

A Bit of This and That...

Coming back to reality is always hard - but this time it was multiplied because the boys were so used to excitement and non-scheduled-ness that coming back to routine was tough for them. The voodoo donuts were a hit - though the sugar didn't really help the grumpiness.....
The last few days we spent a lot of time in our community garden plot. We finally have peas! The boys loved pulling them apart and pulling out the peas inside. They still, however, hate radishes. Good thing I've figured out how to cook them so I like them (sauteed with butter, salt, and bacon pieces).
Friday afternoon we were all feeling grumpy and stir crazy, so I piled the boys in (very much against their will) and dragged them to Clear Creek Trail. I knew we wouldn't be up to much hiking, but figured we could do the .25 mile chunk and back that we drive by all the time....
Once we got out there, it was magic! The boys were excited for the adventure.... It's the perfect little hike for them - flat wide path with lots of little bridges...
There were parts where they were pretty brave....And then parts where Lucas was a bit tentative...."I can't see the dark part!"It's hard to hike like that, but I've learned it's possible. He was so proud of himself on the way back as he was no longer scared and could put his hands down. "I go in the dark parts!!!"
Saturday morning was a work party at the community garden. The boys have helped with bark before, so they knew exactly what to do (well, kind of). Ethan worked the entire first hour spreading the bark piles with a rake. I was impressed! Such a neat thing for them to be involved in and to have community service as a memory of family time. The highlight for them was getting to use their new lunchboxes for the lunches we packed. We also played a bit on the playground - Lucas will now do the slide all by himself without holding someone's hand and is loving it. He went down and down and down and down. One of my students and her brother (who were also at the work party) took the boys and I for a little hike. The boys were so shy at first, but by the end of the walk they were best buds. So Ethan has had a goal for the last 6 months or so to count to 100 all by himself. I promised him that once he could do this we'd go to Chuck E. Cheese - which he has been dying to do. He was really close for awhile - just getting stuck on which ten comes next and so I taught him to count by 10s to figure it out. He lost interest and then all of a sudden we are in the car and he does it - totally without help. I was so excited! "I've been practicing in my bed mom. And I just count by 10s like you said if I get stuck." Heart Happy. So off to Chuck E. Cheese we went...Lucas is finally old enough to really enjoy it too. We signed up for the email offers under Brian's email so we'd get some coupons. They had fun. Lots of it.Afterward we decided to try out a little cupcake place - Bella Bella Cupcakes - close by. They have little mini cupcakes that were the perfect size for the boys (and myself, though Brian had a large one...) Big hit. Big. And a cute little place. And now? It's time for some serious potty training. He's ready. And everyone knows it except for him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How did the potty party go? Hope everything came out good. (sorry- couldn't resist) Donita