Goofy Boys

We had a lot of fun hanging out in Whidbey Island this weekend.

The boys are all so goofy right now.

Except Cooper - he doesn't pose silly for pictures yet.

There are no words to explain - just pictures...

Soccer and Whidbey Kite Fest!

I don't have a lot of energy for many words.  Lucky you!

We had soccer game #3.

 Lucas loves home games because Uma and Upa come.

Brian likes them because he doesn't have to stand by me.  Apparently I'm a bit loud.

 Ethan's team won 7-6.

Ethan had 4 of those goals.  

He is far more athletic than Brian or I.

All those lessons and such are paying off.

 Off on the ferry we went to Whidbey Island.

 Lucas is an odd duck.

 We met Angie, Cole, and Cooper at the kite festival.

 The boys made their own kites - with the help of the kite fanatics.

 Cooper was freaked out by the kites at first, 

but quickly warmed up and liked watching the boys run back and forth.

 And Ethan fell in love with kite-flying.

 They ran and ran and ran and ran.

By the end of it, Ethan smelled so bad we had to roll down the windows.

 Cole couldn't quite get the hang of it.

He wanted to watch the kite - and then it would crash.

And then he'd get upset.

And then he'd start over.

They postponed a lot of the competitions because of the lack of wind.  We enjoyed the bits we saw though, and the boys loved running around in the sun.  On our way out of town the next day, we did get to see some routines with the sports kites and they were pretty impressive!  A pretty awesome (free) afternoon!
Except for the smell.  Soccer Game + Running for Hours in the Sun = One smelly boy!

Starting with a Bang

We were all set to leave to pick up Brian and head to the football game...  And then I hear a loud cracking thud.  And then a scream.  A piercing Scream.  I grabbed him and turned him, and there was blood everywhere.  My baby.  He'd cracked his head on the corner of a wall and there was a nice chunk out of his head.  It was awful.  We headed out to Urgent Care (it had stopped bleeding and he'd stayed conscious) and they fixed him up in record time.  They glued up the gash and then held it there with steri-strips.    He was so scared and so upset.  Ugh.

 We got to the game just in time for half-time.  It was our school's night at the game and though it was mostly staff, there were a few of Ethan's friends to get silly with.

 During half-time, we all got to go out on the field to make the tunnel that the football players run through.  It was awesome!

 We had a decent turnout and definitely had a blast!

 Lucas was the life of the party when we got there, but as it got later, he just got quiet and cuddly.  It was way past his bedtime and he'd had quite the evening.  He sure was cute though!

 Yesterday was game 2 for the Puma Cubs.  We'd gotten a call the day before that our coach (who is National Guard) had been called out to go help fight fires.  So Brian got to help with the coaching.

 Luckily, one of the other dads showed just in time who actually has coaching and soccer experience.  So Brian was let off the hook a bit.  And it was an awesome game.  The boys were much more in control this time - though there was a lot of taking the ball from team-mates.  Ethan played harder than I've ever seen him.  He was sweating and panting, but he stayed right in it.

 We think he ended up with 6 goals.  What I was most proud of though, was that he really listened to the coaching.  You could see him strategizing and thinking ahead.

 Lucas was a trooper - and loved getting to be with Brian over on the coaches' side.

 The final score?  Us-14, Them-7.

 We celebrated with the boys' first frappucino cremes.  Delicious.  We didn't stay too long.  Ethan had a smell about him and Lucas was really really tired....

 One would think that the boys would just want to lounge the rest of the day away, but no.  They wanted to go to a park to play ball.  So we packed up the dogs and a soccerball, football, and tennis ball and headed out.  It was a perfect night out!

Lucas had a hard time - he was kind of cranky, but once we headed to the playground it was all good.

I have been trying to get out the guinea pigs and they have been throwing fits - squealing at me and running away to the one corner of the cage I can't reach.  Ethan goes in and has Tanny out in seconds.  And then I was able to get Sweetie out too.  The boys had apples and kept sneaking their guinea pigs friends bites as well.  Because, as Lucas puts it, Sharing is Caring.

I love looking back at pictures from the day and seeing all the fun we had.  In between the smiles there are always times of frustration, fits, and annoyance.  But the pictures capture all those happy moments and helps us to prioritize what's most important.  And that's the good.  And there's a whole lot of good.

Weekends are for playing.

 I'm determined this year to use my weekends for my family.  Of course, there will be times that I'll be working on school stuff - it's unavoidable, but I am determined to streamline so that I can just enjoy some family time without stressing.  Last Saturday, we probably took this a little too far - but we sure had fun.  After Ethan's game, and after some good naps, we headed down the street to a neighborhood block party that was pretty darn cool!  It was hot, and no one wanted to dance with me, but other than that, it was fabulous.  I love this picture of Lucas on the fire truck - shows how beautiful this place we live is!

 Ethan did not want a fire hat, but the firemen convinced him - and then he wouldn't take it off.  He wanted to get his face painted and there was a sign for face painting.  I gave him the money and he saddled up.  Turns out it was a girl, probably his age, raising money for a new, more inclusive playground in the area.  He asked her to draw a fireman.  She did her best - and then I had to laugh as he whispered to me, "It does look like a fireman, right?"  Well, kind of.  But what a cool thing to support!

 Local churches fed us hamburgers and rootbeer floats and we enjoyed some very interesting music.  The boys got to sit in an old model car- that was an absolute thrill!

 And then we found this spot in the sidewalk where if you talk, it sounds like it is being amplified - though it is not.  Thankfully because these boys really liked yelling and shrieking over it...

And then there was the D-derby.  It was our friend Logan's birthday, so we brought cupcakes to celebrate and just had fun out in the sun (until it got dark).  There were 6 roll-overs - fabulous entertainment.  We sat in a different area than before and despite all the extra dust, it was an awesome view!

 It's always hard to come down after a weekend, but we were super excited for Lucas' first day of Pre-K.  It's at his normal school, so that's no different, but we were all excited for him to be officially in the "blue room".

And it went great.  He loves getting to learn - he is a school-aholic.  I love it!