Sprinklers & Steakhouse

We started our Memorial Day off at Dream Diner...YUM!!!  We love that place, but don't get to go too often since it's always packed and it's hard for us to fit 6 in a booth.

After that, we made our annual pilgrimage to the cemetaries to pay our respects.  We've been doing this for at least 6 years.  We think it's important to teach the kids about their heritage and to remember those who have passed.  Eli's questions about death and heaven continue to boggle our minds.  We never know how to answer.  The other troubling aspect is that our list of people we have to visit keeps growing.  It's taking us much longer than in the past to get to all the sites we need to see.

After a quick lunch and nap, we decided to bring the boys back to the sprinkler park for more fun in the sun!  We had 2 hand-me-down flag swim suits that were each a bit different.  I stopped at BRU and got a 3rd and some white rashguards to complete the look. 

Ben was fearless this time.

Dave had to "encourage" Nate & Sam.

Surveying the surroundings.

Playing in the sewer (I mean catch basin) is more fun than sprinklers.

Triple Trouble

Ben shows his brothers how it's done.

After some fun outside, we needed to eat dinner.  We thought we'd try our luck at the Japanese Steakhouse.  The littles have never been before.  We thought they would be afraid of the fire (since Eli always had to hide under the table).

Love Ben's face on this one.
Eli's showing off his lemon smile.

Gotta love the onion volcano!!!

Yummers!  This is dangerous!  Now we know they can handle it...we're going to have to go more often!!!

Memorial Day in NH

Every Memorial Day weekend, we take one day and head up to Papa's cottage in NH.  There's always a ton of yummy food and we always try to get some time in at "Papa's Lake" down the street.

Climbing the Strawberry Stairs.

Loving the monster trucks.

Ringing the dinner bell.

Jumping off the dock.

 getting the hang of our new life jackets...

Benji

Sammy

Natey

 Nate used Eli's old PFD.  It's a bit different thant the other 2 in that it's made of neoprene.  We think he was having a hard time standing up in it and he kept face planting in the lake.  Next time we're going to switch Nate & Sam's.  Sammy's been walking the longest and is the most steady on his feet.  Hopefully he'll have an easier time with it.

The boys on the dock
Eli-Ben-Nate-Dave-Sam

Produce Runneth Over

My boys LOVE fruit!  Some vegetables too, but mostly fruit.  Now that we're getting into summer and more fresh produce, I've been buying bunches and bunches of it...literally...

Here's what I bought yesterday:

15 peaches

16 bananas

2 zucchini

3 summer squash

3 tomatoes

1 red pepper

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 pint blueberries

2 lbs red grapes

1 mini watermelon

1 bunch celery

1 bag spinach

1 bag 50/50 lettuce

1 bag matchstick carrots

6 pears

3 lbs strawberries

The best (or worst) part is...it will be gone in less than a week!

Ponies & Puddles

We spent our Saturday afternoon celebrating Dave's cousin's daughter's 2nd birthday.  She had a great time and even had a petting zoo come...with a pony!

Eli shows the babies how it's done!!!

Nate sits nicely, but once the pony starts moving, he starts crying.

Sammy does a full loop around on the pony!

Notice there's no picture of Ben on the pony?  That's because we couldn't even get him to sit on it!  Maybe next time, Benji!!!

It was super hot and sticky all day and we were pretty zapped after the party.  On the way home, we drove by our favorite sprinkler park and much to our surprise, it was open and the water was turned on!  We made an impulse decision and pulled in to let the boys run around and get wet.  We had no swim suits, swim diapers, towels, etc, but we went anyway.

Benji couldn't get enough of it!

Natey took a minute to figure it out, but when the sprinklers
turned off intermitently, he would say,
"All gone!"

Natey & Sammy had a blast!!!

Eli showed his brothers how to get wet!!!

Mini-Golf-o-rama

To round out Eli's birthday celebrations, we invited 2 of his friends to go play mini-golf with us SANS BABIES.  One of his friends has switched schools so we only get to see him on playdates.  When he got out of his car, he ran to Eli and gave him a big hug (so stinkin' cute).

To protect the innocent, names have been changed and faces are obscured (other than Eli's of course, I have permission from his parents to plaster his face all over this blog).

I'm not sure if any of the boys have ever done mini-golf before, but it was Eli's first time.  On the way up, we went over some of the rules with him, but they were all lost once he was in the element.

I went over to the booth with the boys and got their balls and clubs.  They, of course, all wanted blue golf balls.  I tried to explain that they should each get a different color, but they all chose blue.  This was lots of fun later on as we tried to figure out whose was whose at every hole.

The first 9 holes were on a shadier side of the course and we took our time.  We of course had rude people right behind us who golfed super fast and were always standing on our green before we were done putting our hole.  Eli even managed to get a hole in one on the 4th hole!  It was shocking.  I wish I had got it on video!

The last 9 holes were sunnier and the boys just wanted to finish so things didn't go as smoothly.  We got some Powerade to boost them up and keep them hydrated.  We finished in about an hour, with about a million "re-do's" and only a few arguments over who was going first.

After mini-golf we had ice cream and opened presents.  We were running way ahead of schedule so in order to kill time, Dave took some swings in the batting cage.  I'm not sure what was wrong with that batting cage because every ball was pitched at Dave's knees.  Somebody must have a low strike zone.

All in all, it was a fun day.  The boys had a blast and Eli loved it.  I'm just glad we got to do something special for Eli because he deserves a few hours all to himself.

Look Who's 6!!!

Just 6 short years ago, Elijah James was born!  He is an smart, caring, and energetic boy who truly loves his little brothers. 

Every year we wake him up singing "Happy Birthday" and deliver balloons to his room.  It's a silly custom, but it's our custom so we still do it! 

Had to post this video for the goofiness factor. 

Note to self:  Turn the Ceiling Fan OFF!!!

We even had time to open presents before school.  He was so sweet and loved everything he got.  He even hugged us (without prompting) and thanked us for everything.  Somebody raised him right!

For his special snack at school we made our famous "green popcorn".  It was supposed to be blue, but this terrible Mommy ran out of blue chocolate.  Oops!  He requested a home-made carrot cake with home-made cream cheese frosting.  What 6 year old requests carrot cake?  My 6 year old apparently.

For his special dinner, he requested Red Robin...yum!  We were happy to oblige!

20th Mirthday

Can you believe my biggie boo's are 20 months old?  I sure can't!!!  Happy mirthday boys!!!

N-B-S