Fair time

We headed to the fair on Wednesday.  Ben wanted nothing to do with it so he hung out with a friend, but the rest of us had a great time.

We went on rides, played some games and ate way too much fair food.

Jon even braved the big, scary ferris wheel because Ellie wanted to ride it with him.  He's such a trooper!

Friends

I love it when they act like they like each other!

Wordless Wednesday: Mario and Luigi

Shes back!

You've been missed!

Camping

The boys and I headed to a neighbors house last week for a back yard camp out.  The kids had a crazy amount of sugar, stayed up late telling "ghost" stories around the camp fire and slept soundly while all the moms laid awake praying for morning to come as fast as possible.  It was a rough night, but the kids had a blast.

The babies were a bit upset about not going to the camp out.  The next night we had an indoor camp out. The kids had more sugar, stayed up much too late watching a movie, but we all got a half way decent night sleep.  Once again, the kids had a great time, but something tells me we wont be doing more camping any time soon!

Outside time

 I love it when they play together!

Timing

He finally loves his Halloween costume, from last year!

Its done!

Jon put the finishing touches on the deck last night.  I made him take the weekend off to spend some time with us.  He put on the skirting Tuesday night and did the lattice yesterday.  All thats left is to decide what we want to do about landscaping.  I'd like to get some mulch down, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to put down mulch if we're going to want to plant some things in the spring.  I think we'll just enjoy it for a bit and decide later!

Gymnast?

Ellie has been our crazy, fearless, adventurous, daredevil for a while now.  We've been planning to sign her up for gymnastics for a while thinking that would be a great outlet for her monkey antics.  I found a 3 week class that started tonight.  We signed her up to see if she would really enjoy it before we went for a real class.  She did not!
When we were getting ready to leave, she told me repeatedly she couldn't wait.  Once we got there, she was hesitant to go in, only did a couple stretches and refused to touch the balance beam.  The only reason she touched the bar is because her teacher had to carry her over and asked if she would show the other kids what to do.

After the bar, she was done.  She refused to participate in anything else.  However, she is excited to go back next week!?!?

Maybe dancing is her passion!

Bulldog

After a lot (a whole lot) of debate, we have decided to start Sam in kindergarten next month.  As of now, Ben is still going to be home schooled.  We got some of his school supplies yesterday, including a new book bag, so he is officially excited.  Kindergarten is only half day out here so we'll only be with out him for a few hours a day, but it wont be the same around here with out him.

Done (ish)

The deck is done!  We passed the final inspection yesterday and Jon is relieved.  It took a bit longer than we expected, but it was worth the wait.  Jon wants to put a couple boards around the outside to cover the bolts and we want to put some lattice around the bottom.  I'm hoping he can get that done this weekend.  Either way, we have a functional deck and its awesome!

Helping hand

We've recently started reinforcing an old rule that everyone stays at the dinner table until everyone is completely done with their dinner.  Most nights this isn't an issue.  Some nights Ben gets a little impatient and feels the need to help speed things up just a little bit!

Almost there

With a lot of help from Jons dad this weekend, they were able to finish the deck floor and the steps.  Next up is the railing.  Its starting to look like a deck!

Cute babies

One day at a time

The deck is slowly coming along.  We passed the 2nd of three inspections today.  Jon got held up by the corner where the steps will go for a couple days.  We've also had a couple rain delays and a break for a visitor, but now that the hard part is done, he hopes to finish this up as soon as possible.

Fearless

Jon took the kids to the play ground over the weekend. Ellie and Zach follow the boys on anything and are fearless!

Love those smiles.

I've got nothin'

Thats my boy!

3.5 weeks!!!

Pool day

Last time Gram was here she promised the boys a trip to the pool.  She came up on Sunday and made good on her promise.  The babies loved the kid pool.  Neither baby was crazy about the pool last year so I figured we would spend most of our time here.  They both surprised me.  

Ellie went to the deep end where Jon was and jumped right in.  Unfortunately, Jon wasn't right there so she went under for a minute and got freaked out.  It took her a while to warm up to going back in.

She was brave (and the big pool is a lot warmer) and went back in for a bit.  Zach loved being in the water with dad. They hung out on the stairs most of the time, but its more than I expected and they had a blast.

Zach and Ellies version of jumping in the pool.

Cannonball! 

Ellie day

Saturday was the 3rd anniversary of Ellie becoming an official Purdum.  On top of ice cream for a treat and picking our dinner location, she was treated to her first Barbie. She found one that came with a pink scooter and she was sold. She's ready for her first official Barbie play date with a friend across the street.

The 4th of July (pm)

We were going to go back to the parade sight for some fireworks last night, but heard it was really crowded and parking was crazy.  Some neighbors thought we'd be able to see the fireworks from our house so we took a chance and stayed home.  It was a long wait for it to get dark. The kids did what ever they could to keep busy.

After lots of running, smoke bombs and sparklers it was fire work time.

We actually had fireworks going off in 3 directions around us.  It was kind of cool to see them no matter where we looked.  We even had some go off right in front of our house just after the kids went to bed.  It was a mini show just for Jon and I.

I think we have the start of a new tradition!

The 4th of July (mid day)

Jon did some more work on the deck yesterday afternoon. We hope to be ready for the next inspection Tuesday. While he was working, the ice cream truck made an appearance.

Zachs been trying to keep up with the big boys.  He thinks hes so cool when he "rides" Bens scooter!