More Baseball...

Daddy had a softball game a few weeks ago and Lucius LOVES to go along to watch. (Oliver took a trip with Mormor to go see a parade). Lucius was given the choice to see the parade or watch softball... watching softball won- he loves sports that much.

Daddy, Lucius and I went to eat at first. It was quite strange just the three of us. We don't often do things one on one, but I think we should do it more often. Lucius was able to tell us all his stories without interruptions. It was fun to focus on just one child at a time. After dinner we headed over to the ball field early so Lucius could do some batting and running of the bases. He's so impressive to watch, and very determined. He never tires of practicing the sports he enjoys.

Eventually the big guys wanted to play their games so Lucius and I sat together to watch. He sat so still and barely talked to me which is quite a change from when Oliver is with us (he's not as interested in sports and doesn't like watching the games as intently as Lucius does). I actually got to watch most of the game and knew what was going on.

Speaking of watching sports: we went out to dinner for Daddy's birthday. Lucius was glued to the world cup soccer games that were on the TV's at the restaurant. He only talked to tell us what happened in the game.

Quotes: new names

Lucius said to me one afternoon:

"Marmee, do you know what my name is? It's not Lucius. It's 'Art FishBottom'. If you call me Lucius I won't talk to you for ten days"

A walk with Melanie...

Great Aunt Melanie let us tag along for a walk to see the high waters of the Mississippi River. We started at her house and walk around her neighborhood to see the sheep and hens that live nearby. Then it was off to the rivers edge. It was quite high and Oliver was quite blown away by "the flood" as he referred to it.

Then Lucius spied the stairs next to the Science Museum. He informed us that his "legs were heavy enough to climb all those stairs". So we walked over and started to climb a LOT of stairs. But we eventually made it to the top (Oliver and Lucius had pretty much run up the stairs and were attempting to wait patiently for of old folks).

Then we had a little time before lunch, thought we'd walk into the Landmark center to look around at the old courtrooms and use their bathrooms. Then it was back to Great Aunt Melanie's to eat a picnic lunch on her deck.

We love spending time with family. Thank you Melanie for a great day!

catch up post about all the playing...

A photo overload of all the things we've been doing the last few weeks.

Exploring a new park near-ish our house:

When the big tree was cut down I asked the tree cutters if they could make half a dozen wood disks. I stained and sealed them and now we've got an extra bridge crossing in the backyard.

Earlier this summer the neighbors and I were talking about a neighborhood block party. Instead of just talking about it, we decided to plan and host one for our block. It was a fun night and we met quite a few new people who live so close. Oliver made a drawing on the sidewalk of all the houses on our block. He was very proud of it.

Joined some friends at a Parade and the boys collected a ton of candy.

Spent a few days at the beach, once with Daddy and the other time the boys and I biked over to the lake (about 2.6 miles from our house) to go swimming & build sand castles.

Spending a lot of time reading this summer as well. Our favorite is to take our books outside to read. One morning we went for a six mile bike ride and visited 3 "little free libraries". The boys exchanged 7 of their old books for 7 new to them books. When we got home they quickly sat down to read them all.

We've spent a bit of time tinkering with supplies from our tinkering box. We even took a field trip with the neighbors to buy more supplies at Ax-man surplus store in Fridley. You can find just about anything at Ax-man. We bought a few bungies, reflectors, tape, a bag of yarn poof balls, plastic hose things, zip ties, marbles, a giant red rubber band and a very large heavy duty white plastic thing (all for about $14). Turns out the rubber band and white plastic sheet make a very handy little fort after you put a piece of cardboard on top for a roof. We love tinkering and inventing.

The backyard is becoming a fun new hang out, as the boys are now allowed to go play out back unsupervised. They love the extra freedom, and I love not interrupting their imaginations at work. I do however love spending time in the backyard myself, tending to the garden and making the yard look green and lush. We've expanded our garden from what it was last year. This year we planted lettuce and have really been enjoying the daily fresh salads it's given us. Also planted garlic, snap peas, green beans, four zucchini plants, four tomato plants, strawberries, dill, cilantro, marigolds, white onions, and three different kinds of potatoes.

Okay- so that catches up a little of the last month of random photos. I have plenty more, but I'll save it for another post.

children's museum...

Another rainy day last week and I decided to brave the crowds at the children's museum.

Thanks to Lucius and Oliver who drew a mustache on me so we'd all have a disguise.