new skill

rock climbing Nick and Coop can get up the small rock not sure how to get down yet.

We like to be outside whether it is raising the flag, walking around the block, at the park, chalking the sidewalk or getting 'wet wet' as Nick says.

Discovery bottles

Sometime between my kids and my grandkids discovery bottles came along. From what I've read and heard they are pretty neat and kids like them, so I made a few. I've made three out of baby oil and colored water in the primary colors supposed to be like the waves of the ocean. I made four out of Karo Surup with glitter and buttons that floated gently up and down when you turned the bottle. I made one out of rice with the little "treasures" in it, so when it's shaken things rise to the surface of the rice. Nick played with the rice one once and Cooper likes to throw them on the floor but no one really showed an interest no matter what I did. One day Nick found one of the empty bottles I use and filled it pompoms then discovered he could not get the pompoms out. Ta da they like to fill the bottles with pompoms especially Ryan.

The boys were eager to go on a field trip!

boys being snakes at the Nature Center

This does not happen very often. Ryan in another room happily playing by himself.

Trips! Lots of trips!

This week Cooper was on vacation. What to do? We were Cooperless; how was Nick going to survive? Trips, lots of trips.

TRIPS WE'VE TAKEN:

Last fall, Aerro, Bliss, and I took the big boys to the Abilene Zoo. We had a great time, but found we were short one adult even with the three of us(two escorts and a porter). We needed a photographer.

You would think with all the toys, a swimming pool, and walks around the neighborhood, we would never need to go anywhere, but sometimes we just need to get in the car and go.

My first trip out with all three boys was to the grocery store. I had taken Cooper shopping, and I had taken Nick and Ryan out, but never all three together. I was nervous with the thought and planning that went into taking all of them to the grocery store. Matthew suggested HEB; it had carts that seat two kids. I figured I could park next to the place where you put the carts and load and unload the kids right out of the car. To you that may be obvious, but I shop at the commissary, and one must navigate the parking lot to get to the carts in the store. We had a great time; the big boys rode around in the bottom of the cart and Ryan investigated the diaper bag. We didn't really need a lot of stuff so we were in and out of there pretty quick. Then we stopped at Sonic for lunch and I heard a little voice from the back seat say "French fries!" Some one had been here before.

Bliss and I have taken the boys separately to parks, sometimes the two of us sometimes just me. Four parks down, lots more to go. When I go by myself, I usually go at the same time the moms from church go so I have back up if the boys decide to run in different directions.

We took them all to see the fire trucks on base and I took Nick (and a sleeping Ryan) see the flags at the base parade grounds. There are about a hundred flags, all the state flags on one side and 50 United State flags on the opposite side. Nick was in Heaven.

We have made several trips to the library, lots of running around and investigating things; not necessarily books, but that is what is so great about our library. Monday Bliss and I took Nick and Ryan, and we had a great time. Nick likes Madaline books and chair, and Ryan liked the kid size wing chairs. Nick talked about the library all week, so I took them back on Friday by myself. Nick played on the computer with the little mouse while Ryan walked back and forth in the big empty area from the little kid computers to the librarian's desk. I'd help Nick then turn Ryan around to head back and find "bubba". We grabbed Bliss to go for ice cream and hit the base library because it was there.

I also took the boys to the Nature Center; it's a little place down on the lake where we can see local animals, mostly reptiles. We saw turtles, frogs, fish, insects, spiders, snakes (one big enough to eat Ryan), ferrets, lizards, rabbits, prairie dogs, squirrels, lynx, anteaters, a porcupine, an alligator, and people (there were people cleaning an empty cage). the boys got to pet a snake and a bearded dragon, but the gecko was too squirmy. The boys thought the most interesting things were the jet skis out on the water. Next time the beach.