This box only cost us 300.00

 We got a box for the kids and it kept them entertained for the entire afternoon. It only cost us about 300.00 for all day entertainment. I did get a new washing machine out of the deal because my old one died unexpectantly.

 All three of them could fit in the box. There was only a few squabbles.

 

Freckle Foot was very proud of their creation.

Ocean Trip Day 3

 Freckle Foot decided that she could take her kite for a walk to the beach.

 All the boys enjoyed taking a walking down to the beach.

 She wanted to go all the up the hill. What a happy little girl.

 This is as close to the water as Quarter Shorts would go.

 Couldn't keep the kids out of the water. I don't know how they could stand the cold water.

Having a great time with Auntie.

Ocean Trip 2014 Day 2

 

I am not sure how the kids can stand to be in that water, it is so cold. Quart Shorts wouldn't go near the water. It was windy so he stayed hunkered down to the ground.

Then he gave up and hid under a towel for the rest of the afternoon.

 

 The boys are investigating a hole.

 

 

Little Loaf got cold and thought sitting down would warm him up.

 

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Once the kids were too cold they played in the sand for a while.

 

We went to the condo and they took showers and put their PJ's on. I don't think they knew it was only 3:00 in the afternoon. Then we watched Frozen. They were all asleep within 20 minutes of putting them to bed.

Ocean Trip 2014 Day 1

This is kind of a dark picture but Freckle Foot and her little cousin are playing tug a war with a really long piece of seaweed. They were really putting their weight into it. It's hard to tell but I think Freckle Foot is flying her kite and tugging at the same time.

Freckle Foot was letting her little brother fly her kite. We got them at the dollar store. The kites worked great.

Quarter Shorts was trying to attack me with his sandy hand.  

 

 

 

Flying kites and playing in the water were the best parts of their day.

Little Loaf is yelling at the waves. Then he would scream and giggle when they go close to him it was hysterical to watch.

The locks

 We decided to visit the Locks today. There were only two fish in the fish ladders today.

 We went with our friends The Stevenson's.  There were lots of boats going through the Locks. The kids enjoyed watching the boats going in and out of the Locks.  They asked a lot of question about how the Locks work. We went inside the visitor center and they were able to play with a model of the Locks.

Little Loaf's favorite part was the model of the Locks that you can make move using the levers. He was so disappointed that we had to leave. He was still crying when we got home. It was actually hot today in Seattle. We all had some ice water when we got home and sat down and watched a movie.

The explorers

Freckle Foot and Quart Shorts were using their explorer kit before breakfast this last weekend. She was looking for birds and says she is ready for a summer of exploring. Her outfit cracks me up. Quarter Shorts wants to do what ever big sis is doing. 

Computer time

Freckle Foot was showing Wee One how to work the computer. I thought it was cute at first but now Wee One knows how to climb into my rocking chair and likes to play with the mouse.  Maybe that is information I should tell L because my computer has been acting strange lately.

Chop stick skills

Freckle Foot decided that she needed to eat her Fruit Loops with chop sticks. I was impressed she ate the whole bowl of cereal with the chop sticks.

Annual Ocean Trip - Day 2

The second day at the beach was all about digging holes, sitting in holes, being buried in holes. Freckle Foot wanted to be a mermaid. Then Wee One loved crawling in the holes. I would make a hole for Little Loaf and Wee One would crawl over and climb in. Then I would move to make another one but he would crawl out of the one he was in and get in the next one.

The kids found another fort on the beach.

While Auntie was cooking up dinner I had the kids down at my condo. They found large sticks and played horse. Cousin Cutie was a trooper trying to keep up with Freckle Foot while they shared a stick.

I made the kids some Cloud Dough to play with on my deck. They made a huge mess and I was so happy that I could just sweep it off the deck. 

 

 

After dinner we were hanging out on the deck and saw thing little raccoon on our neighbors deck having his dinner. He seemed pretty young and very tame. I think he might live under the condo.

Wee One was just hanging out on the deck practicing his standing skills.

He was pretty ticked off that I made him wear his hat.

Freckle Foot made a drawing of Cousin Cutie. I think it's pretty accurate.

 

Wee One got to play his first game of Zonk with Auntie. 

Annual Ocean Trip Day 1

Grandma Gail was the overseer of the boys who were quite content to hang out with the beach toys.

Freckle Foot was dancing a jig of happiness on the beach this year. In fact, notice how her clothing disappears the longer we are at the beach.

By the end of the day all the kids were head to toe with sand and loved every minute of it.

We have been going to the beach for 3 years now and this was the first time it really felt like summer at the beach. After the kids went to bed I got to sit by myself and watch the sunset.

Wee One's first hair cut and summer cut for Little Loaf

It was finally time to say goodbye to Wee One's baby locks and get a hair cut. I have to say it was a sad day for me since Wee One is our last kid and I will never be able to do this over again. The first hair cut feels like the official end of the baby stage. He was a trooper and endured the strange vibration of the clippers.

Little Loaf got his summer cut. I didn't notice they are making the same face until I uploaded the pictures to the blog.

Now they both look like Daddy.  Although Little Loaf is not crazy about his new hair cut. Freckle Foot keeps telling him how "cute" he looks and he keeps saying he wants his hair back. I have to say it cuts down my time getting the boys ready in the morning. We are going to do this every summer.

Rainbow Rice fun

 Little Loaf was a little jealous of his sister's computer time so I got out some of our rainbow rice. He is loving the art trays. Of course he had to put his cars in the rice. He would say "mommy close your eyes, I have a surprise for you". Then he would bury his car or truck in the rice and then dig it out for me.

Muffin tins

My muffin tins are getting a lot of action in the last couple of weeks, too bad there aren't any actual muffins in them. You might remember we made play dough muffin last week. I was trying to get some laundry folded and put away so I came up with this idea for him to play with in the hall. He loved taking the balls out and rolling them to me. As I ran around the house putting laundry away I would roll the balls back to him. Little Loaf and Freckle Foot found this in the morning and they liked playing with it too. Little Loaf turned the muffin tin upside down and put the balls under it and it looked like it was floating. Who needs toys when you have mom's kitchen tools.

Finding her currency

Since the start of our summer vacation Freckle Foot has been giving me some attitude. We got her a alarm clock that turns green when she can come out of her room in the morning. This was suppose to help keep her in her room until 7:15am. She wakes up around 6am every morning. That is just too early for me to be functional and dealing with the demands of children. I still wake up at 6 am but I have to have a shower and some food before I see my children. Everyday we were battling in the morning and at nap time for her to stay in her room. Then the light bulb went on for me. She had been asking for computer time this summer. She loves to play on the Starfall website. I told her if she stays in her room until her clock turns green and gets dressed in the morning she can earn some computer time. Well that has made all the difference in the world. I don't hear a peep out of her anymore. Although today Teeny Bean (my best friend from high school) was watching the kids during quiet time while I did some grocery shopping. Freckle Foot and Little Loaf got out of their rooms and started playing together. Freckle Foot lost her computer time in the afternoon. She was really bummed. I am sure tomorrow if I hear Little Loaf get up and go in her room she will tell him to go away she wants her computer time.