This kid turned 10 today!!!!  Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Cousin Gabby decorated the cake. We had the small family party today. Because we are often on road trips for his birthday, we are also going big this year and he is having 4 boys over tomorrow to spend the night. Not sure what the evening holds for them, but at least we should not have any rain!

Odds and Ends today.

We have had a lot of rain here in recent weeks.  After one such rainfall, JB was the only one I could convince to find a rain puddle with me.  The boys, Gabby and I had ridden bikes to McD's for ice cream, then headed to the park.  After the park, the others went home and JB and I found a huge puddle on Main Street.  Oh the looks we got, but how much fun we had.  One lady even offered to have us stand on the curb so she could drive her car by us.  Unfortunately, she did not get us too wet...JB would have loved that.

I did not get a lot of pictures, because I was afraid my camera would get wet.  However, he spent about 30 minutes riding his bike through this puddle.  He would even lay down at times, he would bend over and put his head in the water.  I even put my stuff down and we raced through the puddle many times.  It was well over my shoes.  We were both sopping wet when we left!

We had some more water fun at our house.  One day JR took Jbird to work with him.  So, B, JB and I left this at the front door for them when they got home.

I think I was the first one they found. We certainly had the upper hand and could strategically hide so that we had the first line of fire.

I am amazed at how much fun the boys can create for themselves. He is just the right size for this homemade cage/contraption.

We are enjoying lots of smoothies this summer. It seems that any time I make one for myself, this little guy grabs an extra straw.

The public library has some great programs during the summer.  This was one called 'Believe it or Not, It is Science".  This fellow mesmerized all the kids.  There were probably over 100 in the room and you could hear a pin drop.  I even learned that a unopened soda can will sink, but an unopened diet soda can will float.  The reason, the sugar.  A bowling ball will float, sure never thought about that one before.

Here the scientist was teaching about center of gravity and he balanced a bird on Jbird's nose.


That is a peak into the last week or so around here.

We took a recent trip to the local caverns.  Start to finish was a 2 hour tour and the caves were 48 degrees.  I forgot to tell the boys to take a jacket.  B was cold so I let him wear the sweater I had on then I just wore my sleeveless shirt.  It was so nice and cool inside.  At one point, the guide turned off all the lights and the boys experienced total darkness.  Once they got over their 'being scared' they enjoyed it alot.

It was really pretty out there.

Here is a picture of the boys with Gabriella (cousin).

During our hike on the trail up.

The view from the mouth of the entrance.  Down where the river is, there is also a railroad.  Back in ''the day" people would ride the train out and hike up 2 miles to the caverns - making it a 10-12 hour tour!

You can see the upper trail that we walked on (the lower trail is for the exit) and the parking lot just to the left of the tree.

Lots of pictures inside!

This is what is called the beaver slide (a small section that you sit on and scoot down). Amazing how smooth and polished it looked from years of sliding.

Later on in the weekend, we decided to try an experiment.  We taste tested ice cream from McDonalds and Burger King (yes two ice cream cones back to back).  The hands down winner was McDonalds.  A lot more flavor in both the ice cream and the cone.

It has been a busy week.  The older two boys did a baseball camp in the mornings and then all three of them did a VBS in the evenings.
A few shots from the practice fields.

Jbird was playing first base...he just missed getting the runner out.

This kid was playing on the playground...being goofy.

Then at the end of the week, they kids got to play on a real field.  I tried getting B at bat, but missed.  Here he is on second base (he eventually scored).

Jbird got a hit.....

Here he is heading home.  Avoided a collision with the catcher and was safe.

JB loved sitting on top of the dug out! (Notice more snow in the mountains...that came this past week)

Lots more pictures of outings to post but I am ready for bed!

A recent trip to the local BMX track. I bought a new bike rack, so much easier to load up everyone's bike. While we were there, there were several college age guys who were also biking. It was neat to see them cheering on the boys and encouraging them.

This was the first time JB rode here without his training wheels.  He made it all the way around.  His legs are strong enough to get up and over the hills.  He did take one really big spill.  It was on the small, hard track and the older guys were watching.  I ran over to him and it took him forever to take a breath.  The first words out of his mouth were that he had dirt in his mouth.  The guys were telling him great job getting up and going again.

We are wrapping up our first full week of summer. The boys are sleeping in most days until 8, if not later. B finished 4th grade much stronger than he started. The last quarter he had 6 As and 2 Bs. So proud of him.

We went back to the ortho today with B. His palette has not expanded much at all the last 2 weeks. That means I am either having issues turning the key (I did fine the previous 2 weeks) or the notch is somehow slipping. I hope the former and not the latter. I don't know if we have any other palette expander options if this does not work. We now have to go back every week.

We recently attended a neighbor's graduation party. Several families had rented out the rec room at the local university. There was a huge table of food, bowling, shuffle board and pool. Everything was free, which the boys thought was too cool. They had a great time hanging with the other kids and having the run of the place. They especially liked it when they turned the bowling into disco bowling.

The allergy season has kicked Jbird and I this time around. We usually get allergies for 10-14 days every spring. They have been so bad this year. Poor Jbird can't sleep well, cause he can't breath. I even took him to the doctor. It was irritating because I got the 'it could be allergies or cold, but probably viral and there is nothing we can do for him - give it 2 weeks.' Ugh. I sure hope it is not around for 2 more weeks. All the over the counter meds are not working.

We celebrated a birthday this past week. This guy.....


JB woke up one day and determined that it was Michael's birthday. He was pretty insistent that we have a party. So we baked a cake and invited a few friends over. We even sang happy birthday. JB put 6 candles on the cake, although he is much older than that. I don't remember for sure when he arrived on the scene, but I remember many nights sleeping with him. So fun seeing him being passed down.


Pretty quiet weekend ahead. We will do some cleaning in preparation for JR's niece, who flies in Monday for 6 weeks. I think the boys are looking forward to having her around. We have not seen her since 2008 (although JR has....)