Fifteen Long Hours Later ...

Silhoutte, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

The boys could look, but just not touch. That's fair, right?

Actually, we needed the boys to sit still and be good while the rest of us brought stuff inside and got organized after a very long fifteen hour car ride. Grandma and Grandpa invited the boys and I along for a week at the beach before school started (Daddy unfortunately had to stay home and work). We all left at midnight on Friday, drove through the night, and made it to the beach about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

It was a long, long drive. The boys slept pretty well through the night, which was our plan, but the last few hours in all of us had our moments.

And the boys really did just look at the beach the first day. We were all pretty exhausted after our late night journey with only a few stolen moments of sleep. Grandpa and I took turns driving, and Grandma kept three little boys in line from the back.

And though we didn't venture out to the beach just yet - it's extremely hot and we're still tired - we did take the boys down to the pool last night (see photos here). All three wanted to stay all night long. We spent a few hours before we made them get out and head back upstairs for a bite to eat and bath before an early bed time. We all needed it.

Now we have the rest of the week to alternate between the sensory heaven (or landmine, depending on who you're talking about) of the beach and the swimming pool. I would be a bit more excited about the pool, except this particular pool has salt water filtration, so it's pretty much all the same.

We have sun and water, so we're all set for the week.

Summer Days

Time to Eat?, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

If only he knew how quickly it was about to end ... he would be much happier to be spending the afternoon outside in the back yard pool. Two more weeks until school starts, but it's not on his radar yet. Reality will crash into all of the boys pretty hard. No more lazy days of swimming and snacking and playing computer. So it goes ...

Going Green

Mommy's Helper, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

A little bit, anyway.

Last weekend, Uncle Brian was nice enough to pick up some tasty fresh vegetables for us at the local farmer's market. He gets up early, and we, sadly, do not. So he brought us some fresh green beans and fresh corn on the cob from the market, along with some tasty samples from his own back yard garden - tomatoes, banana peppers, cucumbers and a host of spices (fresh bruschetta, anyone?).

Today I decided to break out a few of the fresh veggies for dinner. Connor, as always, was excited to help in the kitchen. We  got most of the stuff ready just after lunch, so it would be ready in time for our dinner tonight. I started out by making some good, Southern "refrigerator pickles" with the cucumbers. I did the dicing, and Connor put them all into the bowl. Next up was green beans. We rinsed them all off with cold water, then got them ready to simmer all day. Connor helped me "break" them, getting rid of the ends and putting the bite-size pieces into the pot. We added some bacon grease (of course) and some onion before covering them with water and putting them on the stove. Last was the corn, but we left it until about an hour out. Connor helped me "shuck" it over the trash can (it was still pretty messy with my little helper).

Connor tried everything. He kept telling me how good the "farmer's market corn" was every few bites. He ate four pieces (they were halved, so two full ears of corn). Clearly he liked it. The extra butter and salt probably helped. He even ate most of his green beans, though he's not generally a fan of them. He tried one of the chilled cucumber slices, and even ate the whole thing, but it was clearly not his favorite. He didn't want seconds.

The twins, of course, would touch none of it. It was unfamiliar and therefore unacceptable. Xander wouldn't even try the green bean, and it's normally one of the only vegetables he will eat. He looked at the corn on the cob (corn is usually his favorite vegetable), but wouldn't eat it off the cob. He had a healthy dinner of applesauce, grapes and popcorn (don't ask, he always wants popcorn for some reason).

And Sawyer, the stinker, slept through dinner. This does not bode well for going to bed tonight, or getting up tomorrow. It certainly does not bode well for our upcoming trip (think fourteen hours in a car) tomorrow night. Like I said, stinker.

So that was our foray into fresh eating. Connor and I enjoyed it. Xander passed, and Sawyer didn't even know anything about it. Unfortunately Daddy missed out. He's working at the fire station today, and since we're leaving tomorrow, we couldn't wait for him to get home to sample the goodies. We did, however, leave him plenty to fix for himself while we're gone.

Just Because ...

Silly Bandz, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Sometimes the walls start to close in, especially late in to summer vacation. This week Xander discovered big brother's stash of Silly Bandz, and clearly there are quite a few. Xander decided to make quite the fashion statement with them. Until they started to cut off his circulation. And they didn't want to come off very easily. He was slightly pissed about it. Not that it stopped him from doing it over and over again. We're all about routines in our house, you know.

Adventures with Daddy

Today Connor and Daddy are off on an adventure with Grammy and Pappy. They left bright and early this morning, traveling to a neighboring state for a pretty big air show. It's apparently hot, as Connor keeps complaining to them, but also fun. Note his fan and the remains of his icee. I'd say he's doing pretty well, considering.