goof balls!

We have all been trying to recover from a cold this week...but the guys still manage to make us laugh with all the silly things they do!

Daddy loves getting big hugs from his guys!

I mean really, who doesn't love taking their shirt off part way and running around pretending they are crazy hats or long hair!?

How old is this guy?

Dylan really enjoys helping clean off the tables. Here he is scrubbing their little table and is taking great care to get it very clean!

We received several raspberry plants this week and the guys did such a great job of helping to plant them in the yard. They especially liked pulling the dirt off the clumps of grass that Daddy dug up!
Like I said, they are always up for being a little goofy!

Hikes, Cupcakes and Birthdays

This weekend we headed out to a local wildlife refuge for a hike.
Dylan is giving a thumbs up for this trail and boardwalk.

Cole is telling us what the brochure says about this overlook.

The guys were looking for towhee birds in the big oak tree above. I'm not sure why they liked the name towhee so much but they saw one at the beginning of the hike and were talking about it and looking for more the rest of the walk.

Later that evening we all helped make 'egg-free' cupcakes for a birthday party of a friend. Cole likes to stir!

But the boys most enjoyed discovering the joy of licking the bowl. Daddy showed them his techniques.

Here is Lina the birthday girl...and the boys' strawberry cupcakes on the table. Yum!

Camping in February!?

This weekend we headed off to the coast for a camping trip.

When we got there it was beautiful weather...cold and perfectly clear. Our first stop was a mandatory one to look at the boats and sea lions in the bay.
Here Cole is standing in front of a large ocean mural.

The guys had so much fun looking at the 'parked' boats and running up and down this board walk. Dylan is about to attack and wrestle Daddy to the ground. The three of them ended up in a pile on the ground laughing so hard they couldn't get up!

Dylan's silly smile.

The gang...mostly.

We camped in a yurt at one of the state campgrounds. They have electricity, beds and a table and chairs. They also claim to have a heater...but I think that the word 'heater' is a bit of an overstatement for the 12' x12' electric toaster in the wall. If I can still see my breath after many hours of the heater being on I wouldn't call the yurts 'heated'. So the boys had a blast and fell asleep quickly...but by morning we had ALL ended up in Mom and Dad's two sleeping bags. Let me just say...two zipped together mummy bags is not meant for 4!!
The boys woke up happy so I'm not one to complain...too much! Here they are eating a hearty breakfast of bananas and warm oatmeal.

Once we packed up we headed out to the Hatfield Marine Science Center to look at some fish. Here is Dylan and his silly smile again.Inside the center the boys got to touch all sorts of sea life in these great 'touching tide pools'. Cole did NOT want to leave. He kept saying that he wasn't done playing with the fish.

Dylan is listening to stories about what he was touching.
The guys can really have fun anywhere they go...especially if there are rocks around. We had to spend another 15 minutes out front of the center to check out all the fabulous rocks!
Cole was not ready to leave the rocks either!

Rainy weather fun

The boys have been having a good week. They keep coming up with new and fun ways to play. They keep me guessing!

Here Cole is having his doggie play the piano. He was cracking himself up with this.

Cole REALLY likes measuring tapes...so he has been using this blue slinky as a measuring tape. He goes around measuring everything...even Dylan!
And no, we didn't just come in from outside...Cole just has a new favorite hat!

Dylan is still obsessed with cutting...so he LOVES playing with his knife and wooden food that he can cut.

Today we set up a little tent in the living room and the boys took some of their friends inside and had their snack. Then they took ALL their library books inside and read them to their animals.

And later in the day I spent about 55 seconds back in my bedroom, and in that time the boys (working together of course) dumped out all the toy baskets and pulled off EVERY book on their book shelf. I walked into the living room to this scene. They were pretending to be swimming on top of the pile of books!

Making Apple Pie!

Today the guys and their friend Mei Zhen made apple pie together! We have a library book all about making an apple pie and so the boys have been talking about wanting to make one for quite some time.

Dylan, Mei Zhen and Cole are all ready to start! They all have their little aprons on and are ready to roll.

They all took turns rolling out the dough and sprinkling flour on the rolling pin. They all did such a great job of taking turns.

Cole liked to sprinkle and roll.

Once the crusts were all rolled out we got the apples ready. Here Mei Zhen and her Mommy, Lynn, are turning the apple 'peeler, corer, cutter' device that we have. We all had fun watching the apple skin get peeled in one long piece!

Then they all took turns measuring the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkling those on the apples. Then it was time to stir! We only had a few flying apples.

Looks good for 3, 2-year old chefs!Then the best part of the morning was getting to eat the apple pie! Mommy had to cut them off after their second piece. Dylan said it was the best pie ever!
(Notice how Mei eats so daintily and even holds her hand under her fork to catch crumbs! I didn't put up the picture of the boys shoveling pie in their mouths with their bare hands! Is that a boy-girl thing? I thought I was teaching them eating manners!?)

picnic snacktime

The other day it was almost nice outside. I mean the sun was actually shining and everything!

So we decided that we should have our afternoon snack as a picnic out on the deck.
Yummy animal crackers!

After Cole thought it was funny to hold his animal crackers in his mouth they both started doing it!

Dylan likes taking little bites of his animal crackers while saying that he just ate the animals toes, then legs, then forehead, then body.

Wacky Bouncing Cousins!

This past weekend we had some wacky visitors...Auntie Cindy and cousins Amy and Paige!

While they were here it was rain, rain, and more rain...so we went to an indoor play area that had big blow up bouncy fun!

Cole is zooming down the slide.

Daddy took Cole on one of the BIG slides that drops you into a tub of balls!

Dylan and cousins Amy and Paige were having so much fun jumping on this giraffe that would crumple under their weight.

Balls!...

...and more balls!!

The girls and Dylan spent a long time reading books in the boys room. The boys were so excited when they realized that the girls could read their books...they kept asking for more stories!

All the kiddos playing with a puzzle.