A blog dedicated to the enjoyment and documentation of our playtime outdoors...

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cousins' Week and Surrey Rides

My nephews Donovan, Garrett, and Cory are up visiting for a few weeks so my Dad had bright orange T-shirts made for each kid with their names on the back in honor of "Cousins' Week" (so cute). Our first group endeavor was going down to the Old Mill this morning to rent a Surrey Bike! Donovan and Grandpa went on an early morning fishing trip, so Garrett, Cory, and Grandma met me and the triplets for a ride. We had a blast (well, except on the hills!), and it couldn't have been a more lovely day! And we finished our adventure with lunch at Red Robin - the kids had a blast...and so did Terri and I :)

Getting ready for our surrey ride!

Grace is lookin' good

We loaded that thing with kids!


Beautiful, beautiful Bend


Grandma and Garrett


Oliver and Cory havin' a good time


Grandma and Gracie going down the slide


Heading over to Red Robin


COUSINS!


"We want burgers! We want burgers!"

The Wonderful Fantastic Incredible Triplet Mobile



(Please excuse the no-makeup face:))


So I decided to buy a bike. And then I decided to buy a bike trailer. And then, since I could only fit 2 kids in the trailer, I decided to buy a mountable seat for the front of my bike, too. All of which my poor husband had to assemble and mount for me (seriously, what language do they write instruction manuals in???). He was such a trooper and got everything all set up for us and now I can take all three kids on a bike ride each day - although the rides are pretty short since it's a pretty intense workout hauling all that around - PHEW! We are loving it - and it has been absolutely gorgeous here in Bend this week. Oh man, I've never seen such a bright blue sky.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Planting "Baybel"

Today we planted basil seeds! I let the kids fill the pots with dirt with their little shovels, I sprinkled in the seeds, and then they took turns watering them! It was so much fun - and Ollie kept pointing to the pots and saying "baybel! baybel!"



High Desert Museum

I bought an annual pass to the High Desert Museum and it has become a great place to take the kids for an hour or two to get them out of the house. But since we purchased the pass, it has been too cold to take the kids to the outdoor exhibits so we've covered (and I mean, covered) every square inch of the interior:) But yesterday, the weather finally changed for good! Summer is here! So Grandpa Gene, his sister Anita (who is visiting from Texas - and who I met for the very first time yesterday at the High Desert Museum!), and Anita's daughter, Lisa, (Robert's cousin), met the babies and I at the museum for an afternoon of fun - and we got to go outside! We saw the otter, and all the birds of prey, too! And along our walk we even saw some really cool beetles and chipmunks in their natural habitat! It was a lot of fun, and so special to share it with Grandpa, Great Auntie Nita and cousin Lisa:)



Lisa and Gracie


More Benningtons! :)



"Let's share"


Checking out the Bald Eagles

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fun in the Sun...and in the Buff!

On Friday (6/3) my friend Lindsey and her 2 year old daughter Lydia came over to play! We sat on the patio and enjoyed muffins and coffee while the little ones played in the grass on their bikes; Gracie spent most of the time watching everyone from her favorite spot in the wagon. It was so nice and sunny that we stayed outside for quite awhile playing Ring Around the Rosy and even tried to teach the kids how to play Duck, Duck, Goose! They sort of got the idea except that whenever someone said "Goose!" they would ALL get up and run around chasing each other:) I had to change Oliver's diaper and decided to let him run around without one on for a bit (which he loved) - and as soon as Lydia saw, she peeled all her clothes off and ran around naked shrieking with delight!

Ollie, Gracie, Lydia, and Audrey


Duck, Duck...


"Goose!"


Ring Around the Rosy


Bright blue Bend skies


Riding in the buff

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Mud Sandcastles

The kids really wanted to play in their sandbox today. Thankfully, Robert drilled a few holes in the side for water drainage as it has been raining on and off this past week (and hailing, and snowing). So even though there was no more standing water, the sand was still pretty wet and muddy. But I decided, why not? We can always throw them in the tub afterwards; what's one more load of laundry anyway?! :) So they got in the muddy sandbox and I showed them how to make sandcastles - which they happily destroyed 1.2 seconds after I made them. And that's what we did for about 15 minutes; I built a castle, they destroyed a castle, and so on and so forth until it got too cold. Then they came inside for a warm bath and a nap, and less than an hour later there was a huge thunderstorm complete with lightning and hail. Hello, June!



Muddy hugs...