The Sandbox

My son has an innate need to dig. He lives for it, truly! After weeks of him digging in (and throwing) rocks and bark in our backyard, Doug knew it was time to make a sandbox for him and Evelyn to play in. A place where our boy could dig to his heart's content.

My husband doesn't do anything half way. He's all in, and does things thoroughly and well. The sand box was no exception. It turned out SO good, better than any store bought one around. He is so talented. Me and my kids are blessed. Beyond measure!

He added those little benches, which also help hold the cover on, which he made slightly domed so rain won't pool on it. The box also is made of nice solid wood, stained very nicely. The lid is painted heavily and fits tight so critters don't use it for an outhouse! Yes, he is thorough!

We splurged and got real beach sand (way more money), but it really is so nice and soft for them!

They LOVE it!

I found this SPF 50 umbrella on clearance. It punched in and out of the rocks with ease and folds up, too. Perfect to keep them out of the sun while enjoying the sand!

Matthew wanted all of his diggers in there.. we let him have 2! :)

Get this girl to the beach.. she loves digging in the sand and burying her feet!

Just one more reason to love and appreciate my husband and his talents....

I'm Growing... part 2

When I found out I was having a boy things like this came to mind:

"I don't know about dinosaurs!"

"I don't know about trains or heavy equipment!"

"I don't like bugs"

"I'll have to let him fall down!"

" I'll have to let him get dirty!"

Let's focus on the last one for this post. Because really, what happened Thursday was pretty epic for me. Those of you who know me will probably laugh at the pictures that follow, knowing full well how this must have made me cringe.

Doug is building a sand box for the kids. He is building it into the shop's back driveway. Needless to say, he had to dig out rocks and dirt to make a place for it. He made a big pile, thinking the kids (namely Matthew) would love to play in it.

Thursday was hot (yay) and the kids wanted the sprinkler on. I got them sunscreened up and out we went. They both went into the sprinkler for a bit then Matthew (who also has a super snotty nose from a lingering cold) decided he wanted to dig. Then go in the water. Then dig some more. Nothing like sun screen and water mixed with dirt to make paste. Dirt paste, that is. I thought about stopping him. But I took a deep breath... and let him just go for it!

5 minutes in and his legs are covered!

Showing me he has dirt in his boo boo. He survived!

Snot > Dirt here.. but that will soon change!

Had to get a couple of my Evelyn in, too.. she stayed fairly clean..heehee!

Dirt beard!

He really did have it everywhere!

Even I am proud of me for letting him get this filthy!

I love this... "I am done!" To be honest, he just wanted his hands wiped off so he could hold his cup easier!

He was SO dirty. Caked on dirt. From head to toe. I am SO thankful Doug came home from work early (he wasn't feeling super great.. poor guy!). He hung out with Evelyn, who wasn't dirty and didn't want to come in yet, and I did my best to get Matthew into the tub without tracking/dropping dirt thru the house! Two baths later and he was clean. Phew!

To be honest, as much as I cringed when this all started, it was so much fun just to sit and watch my kids play and let them play, dirty or not. They had so much fun. I did, too.

And ya know.. dirt does wash off pretty well!!

I'm growing.. still!

(for my first "I'm Growing" post, click here)

Birthday Day!

Saturday was Doug's birthday. Woohoo!! Per usual, we had a big family BBQ in our backyard and had a lovely day celebrating my husband (as well as other summer birthdays).

Breakfast cinnamon rolls... of course!

Both the kids LOVE their daddy.. and love birthdays! Poor Matthew is sick... and not in the best mood, as you can see!

Good friend Erik stopped by with coffee and he and Doug had a nice time chatting.

Grandpa Doug and Grandma eating lunch with the kids.. Evelyn was SO excited to see them!

Doug's brother, aunt and sis relaxing over good food!

Um... related? Yup!

The "older cousins" played with Matthew in the rocks. He LOVED hanging out with them, and they were very sweet to him!

Always performing!

I made homemade strawberry ice cream for the party. My nephews decided they would have a contest to see who could hold onto the super cold container the longest. It was pretty funny!

.. and they're off!

lots of pain!

Mitchell was the first out!

Ben and Zach battled to a tie!

...so they ended it a different way: cold hands to the face!

SO yummy!!

Sweet Mitchell!

Enjoying every bite.. all by himself!

Angel food cake fun!

Lots of good times had by all!

He did it again. Click here to and scroll down a bit to know the story!

Gregory showing his tree climbing skills!

An attempt at a family photo....

The best we got!

Doug got lots of thoughtful gifts, but I think I scored the best gift! He LOVES the movie "A Christmas Story". I found this "Major Award" night light and HAD to get it for him. He, as you can see, thought it was the coolest!

A fun birthday for my favorite guy, indeed!!

Picnic

Doug's company picnic was today at Blue Lake Park. This was by far the funnest time we have had at this event in a LONG time. The kids are old enough to do most of the kids activities there which made it so fun. That plus seeing and catching up with people that I usually (and sadly) only see at the picnic every year (yes, Ellen.. that means YOU! heehee).

Matthew really got into the food. He loves to eat by himself now and is pretty good with silverware. He also makes a mess. The napkin "bib" helped some.. but I am glad I had baby wipes with me!!

Evelyn thought the face painting "tickled a lot" but she LOVED her flower!

She could have gone on this bouncy slide the entire time we were there! Matthew was too little for this, but Doug was super daddy and took him into the "bouncy house" that they also had. It was too dark to take pictures of that, but be assured that he LOVED it!

One of the features at the picnic was a rock wall. Evelyn spotted it when we first got there. She said she wanted to try it, so we asked if she was big enough. Thankfully, she was by a whisker!

Daddy (a former climber himself) giving her a pep talk!

Strapping in and helmeted up!

She was scared at first, but quickly got the hang of it and did SO great!

She went way higher than this, but I think I was to nervous too take pictures! :)

Almost down (from her SECOND trip.. she did it twice!)!

Happy climber!! Time to sign her up for classes I think!

Matthew found sticks (and he LOVES sticks) ... and was entertained for a long while!

There was a old fashioned popcorn machine... both the kids enjoyed that as well as the other desserts that were there!

Evelyn also went in the "big kid" bouncy house, as she called it.

She was pretty proud of herself!

Our friends the Barley's (Dean works with Doug.. they have shared a cube wall for years!) were playing miniature golf so we went to join them. My kids haven't ever done it before.. as you will see!

Well, sweetie.. that's one way to do it.

"Hey.. its a 4.. just like me!"

Matthew... well.. he just didn't have a clue! But he was cute!

Heading home after a long day.. his car seat sits behind the driver seat, so I don't get to look at him a lot since I am usually driving. He would just grin at me every time I looked back at him from the passenger seat. I love him!

Evelyn wearing the gloves we got as a gift.. she wore them the whole way home (which, due to traffic.. was LONG time!)!

Tired sweetness!

Both the kids were SO tired when we got home. They were both in bed a little after 7 and I expect them to sleep very, very well!!

A very fun day indeed!