Summer Fun Vol. 1

So what have we been up to so far this summer? Let's see... How much time do you have? :)

What summer would be complete without a trip to the Columbia Zoo? At the beginning of June I drove the kids down to Aunt Jayne's house where we spent a few days just hanging out and having fun while Daddy stayed home to work (and work, and work). (I may have had an ulterior motive... With the kids gone Justin would have plenty of time to install the chair rail in the nursery. :)

Eddison showing me his scariest Lion ROAR!!! (You're trembling, aren't you?)

Jackson doing his own thing... I don't think he was trying for scary. :)

All of the kiddos lined up! It was HOT!!!

I wonder if he'll be able to carry all FOUR of our kiddos once Sprout is big enough to ride, of course. :)

A very long time ago I read an idea for a fun 'rainy day' activity... Make a bunch of pudding and let your kids 'paint' with it in the bathtub! It's been something I've wanted to let the boys try for a long time, but hadn't gotten around to it until this particular day in June. We made two boxes of vanilla pudding and colored them - then waited for Norah to go down for her nap. Here's the 'before' picture:

Eddie very tentatively put a few fingers in and kept looking at me like, "Is this okay?"

But then they got the hang of it. :) My fave were the pudding mohawks. Interestingly, neither of the boys really likes pudding so they never tried to eat their 'paint' (which was supposed to be half the fun!). They sure smelled yummy, though!

This was the summer of the FENCE and the STADIO! Yep - after almost 5 years here we finally fenced in our backyard and Justin got his patio. Now if only it could be less than record breaking heat and weekly rainstorms so the kids could take more advantage of being outside! When the weather cooperates, it has been wonderful to be able to let the kids outside and not have to worry about them running to the street.