Huh.

Ben just woke up from his nap.

He rolled over, gave me a nice sleepy smile, and then hopped out of bed.

Then he said, “Huh. That was not so bad.”

No Ben, naps are not so bad at all!

Tadpoles.

About a couple months ago we scooped up a bunch of tadpoles at the beach.

We made them a nice habitat and have been watching them play and swim every day.

And finally they started metamorphasizing. I’m pretty sure that’s not a real word, but I don’t know what the word is for it. Anyway, they’re changing. You can see in this picture three different tadpoles in three different “life stages”.

And here is our first frog!

I’m sad to report that this frog is now deceased. Most likely NOT of natural causes, but that’s all I will say about that. The good news is that we have nine more…

Tadpoles are seriously so fun. This is one of the parts of being a mom to boys that I just love. (Although I’m sure some little girls would really love tadpoles too). It is so neat to watch them swimming and it is pretty amazing to check in on them and see that all of a sudden they have legs, and their tails are shortening, and wow! one just hopped! I love tadpoles!

Training Wheels :: Off.

We’ve been meaning to take Seth’s training wheels off for a while.

The other day he asked us too, so we finally did.

Well, technically Neil did.

 

We headed out into the street and Neil gave him a push.

And Seth was off!

I had a feeling he would be a champ, and sure enough, he was.

So proud of himself!

Tinkertown.

Since our camping trip was cut short, we decided to spend an afternoon at Tinkertown.

 

 

 

Neil so very generously suggested that I be the one to get the wristband and go with the kids on the rides that they needed an adult with them. Aw, he’s so sweet, I was thinking.

Until I had to go on the rollercoaster 23 times.

Okay, it wasn’t 23, but it was a lot. And yes, I know it’s the tiniest rollercoaster in the world. But it’s still really fast and really whips you around those corners. After a couple of times I’d had enough but the boys sure hadn’t. I was actually totally surprised that Ben wasn’t scared. He was laughing so hard the whole time. Every time. I’m happy that next year he’ll be tall enough to go by himself. And Oliver will still be too small to ride it. And the year after that- Neil’s turn.

Because not only was there the rollercoaster, but there was also the giant slide that you had to climb up 94 stairs to get to.

Okay, yeah, it was super fun. But I was TIRED after all those trips up the stairs.

It was time for a cotton candy break. And a giant pickle. Why does Tinkertown sell giant pickles? I don’t know. But they are AMAZING. Oliver actually didn’t like the cotton candy but he really did like my pickle.

And honestly, I was a little annoyed I had to share my pickle with him. Because it was seriously the best pickle I’d ever eaten. I spent the rest of our day wondering if Neil would let me buy another one. I never got up the courage to ask. I’ll probably have to stop at Tinkertown just for a pickle one day soon.

After the cotton candy and pickle, it was time for more fun.

 

 

Wouldn’t you know, I also got to jump on the giant jumping pillow while poor Neil sat on a bench sipping his cold drink and eating the rice krispie cake we brought.

Despite my exhaustion, I had a fun day. And so did the kids. Weirdly Neil was the one whining to go home at the end of the day. (He was secretly feeling sad about missing out on all the rides, I bet).

See you next year Tinkertown!

Hello my pretties.

Our livingroom has been an expanse of dark brown for awhile now. Brown couches, brown floors, nothing else. Not even an area rug since Seth threw up all over it last month.

I had ordered some fabric to sew up some cushion covers a loooong time ago. And I finally sewed them. It took all of about 20 minutes for each one.

And I love.

Especially that blue one. It’s my favorite. I think I’ll probably have to order some more of that loveliness.

Now the brown expanse is broken up with a little bit of color.

Now to get an area rug. And a side table. That’s not brown.

Also, please disregard the dustiness that is my floors. It’s not that I don’t clean them. Oh, wait, yes it is. But actually my husband DOES clean them, and just did a few days ago. That is the curse that these floors are. But like I’ve said before, they sure are pretty when they’re clean. Even if that only lasts 3.2 minutes.

Me and Seth.

Taking pictures with a 5 year old is kind of silly.

I tickled him or something and finally managed to snap one of him with a great smile.

What a kid!

Rushing River 2011

Last week we went on our annual Rushing River camping trip.

It. Was. Awesome.

We hiked.

We swam.

Seth swam so much. He made Neil swim out to the island over and over and over again and even jumped off the rock a few times. He loved it.

 

We had a lot of fun hanging out together. The weather was perfect- really hot.

This wasn’t Oliver’s first time camping, but it was the first time he was old enough to enjoy it. And he really, really did.

 

Besides Oliver crying for two hours in the middle of the night the first night, the kids slept pretty good and so did we.

We picked wild blueberries, saskatoons, and even raspberries, all right on our lovely campsite. We cooked corn on the cob, kebabs, and even made pizza. It was pretty delicious. We made s’mores too, of course, and the kids were pretty thrilled with the banana splits we cooked in the fire too.

We were supposed to stay for three nights but we woke up to rain on our Wednesday morning and it just wouldn’t quit. We hung out in the tent for awhile.

The kids fed each other Golden Grahams from each other’s mouths. Like baby birds.

And there was wrestling of course.

When it became clear that the rain wasn’t letting up, and our belongings inside the tent were getting wet, we decided we had to pack it in and call it a day. But don’t worry, we’ll be back next year! Because we love you Rushing River!

13 weeks.

I am now 13 weeks pregnant. The baby is the size of a peach right now. Which is fitting since that’s what we usually call the baby. I still have moments of thinking that I can’t believe we’re really doing this. I’m excited but still wonder what we were thinking sometimes. Like when I’m at work taking care of parents who look so exhausted that they might throw up. Why do I want to do  that again? Sleeping is so nice, and I barely get enough of it as it is. But we’ll all adjust like we always do. We’ll fall more and more in love with our little peach over the next six months and by the time he/she is born we’ll be hopelessly smitten. We DO make the cutest babies in the world, after all.

The bump has decided to stay for good, although it is still quite small and I am still very comfortable in all my regular jeans. What do you think? If you saw me on the street would you think I was pregnant or would you think I’m just taking my time losing the baby weight from last time?

Probably the latter, I guess. I kind of hate this in between stage of pregnancy. I think I’ll increase my ice cream intake in hopes of fattening the little peach up.

1/3.

So I’m pretty much almost done the first trimester already. Um, that went fast.

Besides maybe two weeks of the last couple months, I’ve felt really good. I’m usually plagued with terrible headaches throughout my first trimesters. I’ve only had one headache this time around. What a treat!

I don’t eat meat. This is usually the case for me when pregnant, but I think maybe it’s always been in milder forms. This time around I don’t think I’ve eaten any meat in 6 weeks besides the odd McDonald’s bacon cheeseburger (which probably isn’t really meat and that’s probably why I like it. Also, it’s only $1.39.)

I’m not quite as tired anymore. Well, I am still tired, but I think that’s more to do with all the running around and playing that comes with summer. Everyone’s exhausted, not just me!

I have a very tiny bump. Very tiny. Probably no one would notice it except me usually. Unless I just ate a big supper. Then it pops out a little more.

Here it is after a big supper:

It doesn’t usually look quite that big, but then it’s  not worth taking a picture of. Please excuse the no make-up, straggly  hair look. Camping, you know. This is actually the one and only picture of me taken during our camping trip (besides a couple where I just happened to be in the background preparing a meal or something).

Anyway, that’s the first trimester in a nutshell. I have my first doctor appointment tomorrow (that’s how it goes when you’re the fourth fetus I guess) although I did sneak a listen to baby’s lovely little heartbeat last week when I was at work. It sounded very feminine if you ask me…

More from the cabin.

We convinced (aka forced) the kids to swim in the lake at Grammy’s cabin.
Seth was worried about the fish I think.

And Ben worries about almost everything.

Are we terrible parents or what?

After a swim we took the kids for a hike to see the Tulabi falls.

Hey look! A picture of ME with the kids!

Notice the falls in the background there? They get much wilder a little farther down. Once, my husband and brother-in-law went down those in a dinghy with life jackets tied around their heads to protect their skulls should they crash into the rocks. True story.

We hiked up to the cliffs. Why we thought this was a wise idea with three small children, I’m not sure.

Um, hello Ben who has the best smile.

We made it up to the cliffs without any slips or falls.

Looks safe, right?

And then Neil decided to do this:

Leaving me at the top of the cliffs with three little kids. Probably this was one of the dumbest parenting decisions we’ve made.

Look, here’ s my three year old peering over the edge of the cliff at his dad swimming in the lake 30 feet below.

Yep, looks really safe. You know I’m a pretty laid back kind of mother but this little cliff hike had my heart pounding quite a lot harder than usual as I realized the possibility of one of our kids hurtling over was probably pretty good. Neil said it would be no big deal, though, he’d just jump in and get them. Sure, no prob.

Anyway, it’s all good. We’re all alive and well, and no one fell off the cliffs, thank goodness. We probably won’t try that hike again for a few more years though, I think. Seems wise.