The Deluxe Pool

While at Target last week, I noticed they had many of their pools on sale for 50% off. We have usually purchased the hard, plastic pools each summer for the boys... but they are hard to store, blow away in the wind, and seem to be running rather small for three growing boys. I figured I'd spend the $15 and buy a "deluxe" inflatable pool for the boys. Thus far, it has been a great purchase since we had several days last week reach the mid 90's. The boys had a great time splashing and cooling off in their new, deluxe, inflatable pool. And, after one week of use, we have yet to pop it... we'll see how week 2 goes.

Even when the air temperature is in the 90's, if there is a breeze, it feels cooler. The breezy day, combined with the ice-cold water of the pool made it a bit chilly, in Asher's opinion, to swim for too long... but he sure enjoyed warming in the sun.

And of course there's Obed, ever the little man, just soaking up the sun, next to his "Melmo" towel, a must have when one is swimming.

A Dancing Tribute

Vince has always loved Michael Jackson... not in a "man crush" sort of way, of course. After MJ's passing yesterday, Vince has had his music on all day today. Tonight after dinner, Vince played several of Michael Jackson's songs and it was all Michael all the time. Let the dance party begin!

One Last Day

We went back to the city fountain/splash pad today for one last splash before we head out. The boys had a fantastic time... just a few pictures showing the fun that was had.

Horsetoof

There's a great outdoor recreation area in Fort Collins, a few miles west, called Horsetooth Reservoir. There is a swimming beach, hiking trails, areas for boating... lots of great outdoor stuff to do. It was a beautiful afternoon yesterday, about 80 degrees and mostly sunny, so we headed out to the beach. In spite of the fact that the water was only 58 degrees, the boys wanted to be in the water.
They also greatly enjoyed digging in the sand and making rivers down to the lake. Asher said that the beach was his favorite thing on the trip thus far.

Obed had a few issues with his crack... it didn't really seem to bother him.

Vince, ever the artist, found an old piece of driftwood, replanted it, telling the boys maybe it would start to grow again. He then decorated it with rocks. The boys made sure to water the "tree" since they know from our garden at home that plants need water in order to grow.

Fort Collins Fun

We are having a great time in Fort Collins. Ezra told me today that he likes, "Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado." Not just Old Town; not just Fort Collins; not just Colorado... but all three! We have had some crazy weather, including a full blown tornado warning yesterday, but we've also had some really nice weather and been able to spend a lot of time outside.

Grandma and Obed climbed a "mountain" yesterday at a park.

The boys spent about 30 minutes throwing rocks into a lake... what's not fun about that?!

There was a great kids climbing rock wall which led to a long slide. All three boys enjoyed climbing up and heading down the slide at rocket speeds.

Asher liked to climb the slides and gaze out at the beautiful mountains.

Ezra got into this little half-egg. It sits at such an angle that the force of gravity and Ezra's body weight caused him to just keep going in circles.

There's a fountain area in Old Town, Fort Collins that has water squirting up out of the ground. Obed thought it rather funny. He also thought it was funny to wet through his shorts and run around Old Town in just his diaper.

On The Road

We've had a busy, but fun few days on the road. We left early Friday morning... hit Burger King for "lunch," but since we were in Mountain time, it was actually a second breakfast. Asher rode for quite some time with his "hat" from Burger King.

Obed traveled really well. He was happy most of the time.

He spent some time entertaining himself by licking his leg... seriously.

The licking of the leg wore him out... nap time.

We broke up the trip with a few stops here and there. We stopped at one point for an ice-cream break. The boys enjoyed their push pops.

The highlight of this stop was when a rather rough looking truck driver got out of his truck. He had long hair and Asher loudly exclaimed, "look mommy, it's a girl man!"

We stopped at Mount Rushmore. The boys were SO excited to be out of the van after about 9 hours of driving. They thoroughly enjoyed running and running.

There was a mountain goat right along the path at Mount Rushmore.

The boys at Mount Rushmore.

On Saturday, we went on the historic 1880's steam train through the Black Hills.

Ezra was absolutely fascinated by the train... this was probably a highlight of his trip thus far (although this was actually a diesel train since the steam train was broken).

We stayed at a fantastic KOA in the Black Hills of South Dakota. For the record, I assumed that anything with the word "Dakota" in the name meant it was flat, had no trees, and had lots of wind. I was wrong. The Black Hills are densely forested and amazingly beautiful! I'd highly recommend a visit.

Obed enjoyed sitting by the fire. He had a hard time figuring out the camping chair and tipped over, face first quite a few times.

Asher enjoyed the fire too... and he really enjoyed the S'mores we made over the fire.

Ezra most certainly has the art of relaxing by the camp fire down. He really, really enjoyed camping!

The KOA had an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast every morning for $2.50. It was a beautiful setting to eat cheap pancakes. Thus far, it's been a great trip!

Two New Favorites

Obed has two new favorite things:

1. His "new" (hand-me-downs from Asher) doggy pajamas which he calls his "woof ja's."
2. Safety goggles, termed "ga's," anytime he's "working" with tools.

It was a happy morning when he had both his woof ja's and ga's on at one.

Bedtime Stories

Vince has started a new bedtime ritual with the boys. After we have our family bible time, the boys crawl in bed together and he tells them a story. Now, these "stories" are not fairy tales or made up stories. They're just stories about Vince's life. He's told them about the times he's gone backpacking, growing up, vacations, etc. The most recent story, lasting three nights, was about the time Vince and I rented a car from the airport and it was a bright yellow Mustang that we drove out to Colorado with both dogs in the back... now that's exciting stuff (??). But the boys love it and ask every night, "daddy, can you tell us a story tonight?" These are the things that memories are made of... that, and yellow Mustangs.

FPD: Family Pajama Day

We've had a rainy, windy, cool few days in Nearly, Canada, with highs only in the 40's. Yesterday after church, we decided to have a family pajama day, so we all got in our pj's and spent the day inside, out of the wind and rain. We all piled in bed and watched a movie together. We played a family game of hide-and-go-seek. We played Legos together and we baked cookies. It was a great day to be inside and we had loads of fun!

The boys all like to help bake cookies. They each like to have turns dumping the ingredients into the mixer.

Then each of the boys, including Vince, got a rolling pin to roll out the dough.

Then they got the joy of sampling one of the finished products (after much munching on dough).

It was a messy process, but well worth it.

I'm not sure what the cookie in the middle is supposed to be... but it's a "special one" made by Ezra and Daddy. Vince also decided that he's never seen square cookies, and while he claimed he made them square because that was the most efficient, anyone who knows Vince knows that he made square cookies because they are different and he's never seen them before.

I realized just how messy things had gotten when I went to let the dog out and noticed flour dog footprints on the back carpet... a good 15 feet away from where we had been rolling out cookies. Again, a messy process, but lots of fun and well worth it!

Heat Wave

We had a heat wave yesterday in Nearly, Canada... it was almost 80 degrees! However, we had 30 mile per hour winds and clouds in the afternoon... so it made it feel rather chilly. Regardless of the wind and clouds, Ezra was bound and determined that it was a good day for the "wiggly sprinkler." So out the sprinkler came.

At first, Obed was just an observer. He thought it was funny to watch and kept pointing at it and laughing, saying "that, that." Then the ice-cold water actually sprayed him... he wasn't so sure about this sprinkler thing at that point.

Then he decided the sprinkler was an amazing invention and spent a good 20 minutes just playing with the water, until I called it quits because of his goosebumps, blue lips, shivering and ice-cold skin.

Ezra wanted to play "car wash," so he gathered the boy's bikes and cars and washed all their vehicles.

Washing cars is hard work, so he had to stop for several drinks.

In typical Asher fashion, he just ran right into the sprinklers, exuding pure joy as he ran.

Asher also tested the waters with his mouth... they were cold and refreshing and cold.... and cold. The "fun" was done in about 5 minutes for Asher, when he decided it was just too cold and windy to be wet. I can't blame him for his decision.

Vince Owes Me $6.50

The conversation began, "would you give me a dollar to drink all this syrup?" My response? "Sure, that's worth $1." After a bit of dickering, we settled on $6.50... I would give Vince $6.50 if he drank the rest of the syrup.
He tried, but after about .33 cents worth of syrup, he decided he wanted more money, and considering the fact the money was actually coming out of his own account since my gross annual income is precisely $0 and I would have to borrow the $6.50 from him, he decided it wasn't worth it. Excuses! Either way, Vince owes me $6.50.

Crash Black

Obed's nickname this week... Crash. The kid has had a rough few days. Last night, after I took this picture, he fell, padding his fall into the coffee table with his cheek. Yesterday afternoon, he forgot there was a small step out of the garage, but he padded his fall this time, with his forehead. Tuesday afternoon, he was climbing the steps to the slide, fell down the steps, padding his fall with the bridge of his nose. I'm pretty sure he's trying to compete with Asher on who is most accident prone.
BUT, you will notice, up to date, he still has all his teeth, and they are straight.