smart boy!

The boys and I were reading bedtime stories tonight, just like every night, and it was my night to pick the books!  (We usually take turns picking them either by night or by book - it's actually surprising to me just how often it is my turn!  I think Isaiah likes it when I pick - and Levi, he is so go with the flow, he'd give up his turn every night!  We normally read 3 plus a Bible story, but some nights they talk me into more:)  

My first pick tonight was this one...

 Then Isaiah went to pick which book we were going to read next (out of the books I picked) and he says, "HEY!  is that the same boy that was in the last book?" as he looked at the cover of one of my next choices...

and what do you know - if you check out the illustrator in both books it's the same one!  Her drawings in the books were similar - especially the little boy who was in each one.  It's incredible to me how smart my boys are, how much they notice and pick up on! After all the times I've read both of those books, I still hadn't noticed!  I love the little things in our lives.

by the way, after noticing this he decided to pick my other book as the one we would read second and save Tumble Bumble for last.:)  Wonder what my third book was?  

Strawberries!

We made it to the strawberry farm twice this year!  (I'm still hoping to get there one more time, but I have a feeling my time has run out)  The first trip out was crazy - I had talked with Isaiah several days about going to the strawberry farm but it just didn't work out - I really wanted to go, Isaiah really wanted to go - and Levi's always up for whatever so on the way home from somewhere we went to the farm.  Rain and storms were in the forecast and the sky looked dark, but I told Isaiah we'd go - so we were going!  

About 10 minutes from the farm it started to sprinkle and then rain and then pour.  Isaiah had tears in his eyes as the rain got harder - "we still get to pick strawberries, right mama?"  So I kept driving to the farm.  We were the only car in the parking lot - but I ran in and asked the owner if we could please, PLEASE pick strawberries or my sons would be so disappointed.  Although the rain was back to a steady sprinkle, it was thundering (AHH)  the man said, "okay if you want to" and he directed us to the closest field.  So we ran to the field ...

And I picked and picked and picked as fast as I could while the boys ate and ate and ate the berries as fast as they could

We picked for 5 or 10 minutes before the rain started coming harder again.  We only picked about a quart and the nice owner wouldn't let me pay for them!  We sat in their building and ate the entire quart of berries and then washed our hands and left!  What a night - a fun memory.

So a few days later we went back as a family again - I was determined to bring home enough berries to make jam - this time the weather was beautiful!  The boys were great helpers and picked several berries for me (and ate several more!!)

 Mark was determined to help me get our box full so he picked hard right along with me - thanks honey!

 We ended up picking almost 9 pounds - not quite as many as I wanted - my goal was 15 pounds - but I was still pleased.  The berries were very tasty!  and we had to continue my family tradition of making strawberry shakes after a trip to the farm.  The boys were definitely excited about that!! 

I did get some jam made - only about 2/3 of what I made last year - and I was hoping to make more this year than I did last year since we ate right through it, but that's okay - I may get back to the farm or I may try with store berries -- or we may just enjoy the jam I was able to make.  

I love strawberry season!!

best buds

There's nothing like a playdate at the park with your best buds.  

 I love watching these four play together - 

 sometimes it is weeks or even a month or more between playdates 

 but they pick right back up where they left off

 best buds.

 And then there is Silas who is just about ONE!  Where does the time go?

Adventureland!

Our family headed to Adventureland Memorial Day weekend.  We are starting to make this a family tradition!  Adventureland honors the military that weekend and offers great discounts (like free for the soldiers!).  Mark and I have gone to Adventureland MANY times together in the last 13+ years and it's fun to make it something our boys enjoy too.  

We had not decided for sure if we were going to go or not until the day before and when we told Isaiah he was ECSTATIC!  I don't think I've ever seen him as excited about anything else - ever.

The forecast was for rain in the early morning, but to stop raining by 9 (park opened at 10) and mid 70s so we figured it would be a good day to go.  Unfortunately the weatherman was wrong and it rained and poured while we were there until about 2pm.  When we first got there it was just barely sprinkling and the boys were excited to be greeted by Bernie - Levi especially who pointed and waved until we got to say hello and then he waved at him until we couldn't see him anymore! :)

Levi was a bit timid about the rides at first, but Isaiah had no fear.  He was very excited to make our first stop at the Frog Hopper - Levi refused to go on it- but Isaiah enjoyed every minute.

There are SO many rides that are just right for both boys.  It was so much fun to see them enjoying them!  Memorial Day weekend is one of the slowest weekends at Adventureland all summer long (according to a few of the workers we've talked to the past several years) so the boys got to ride the rides over and over and over as many times as they wanted.

We made it to the bumper cars - this was one of the rides that Mark was looking forward to most.  Again, it was so slow we did this one at least 3 times in a row and then came back later for more!

At this point the rain started POURING down really really hard.  The boys took a ride on the carousel because it was dry and then we went to the arcade to try to stay out of the rain.

After a little bit it did let up and we moved on - only in time for it to start raining some more! :)

Mark has always, always played the fair games while at Adventureland (or any other place like it).  It's something we count on doing and it makes him happy.  He bought 3 darts to try to pop a balloon and win a prize - Isaiah wanted to try so Mark told him what to do and he threw the dart and popped a balloon!  He was soooooooo excited and both Mark and I were surprised!  Then Mark and Levi tried and they were unsuccessful! :)

Isaiah got to pick out a crayon stuffed toy as his prize - look at the smile on his face!  He has since taken a huge liking to this toy and sleeps with it almost every night and plays with it.  One night he woke up hystrically crying and I hurry to his room and he's saying, "I can't find my crayon!!!"

The rain kept coming, but we didn't let it stop us - the boys got on the dragons and rode this ride at least 7 times in a row...they were the only 2 on it for most of those times!

Mark had a few friends that were also at Adventureland that day so he rode a few rides with them - the rollercoasters and the bigger ones the kids couldn't do - it worked out great.

And the ladybugs - these are so cute!  I'd have to say this one was probably Levi's favorite.  They rode this one for at least 30 minutes straight!  Take a look at their faces - they are having so much fun together!

Mark came and took Isaiah on the Stargazer (or something like that) - it's a huge ride that goes up so high.  I was surprised he agreed to go on it, but he did.  Afterwards Isaiah wasn't so sure if he liked it.  Levi rode the ladybugs by himself this whole time!

Of course the boys wouldn't miss the tea cups. (not me, I'd get dizzy!)

And Levi really really wanted to go on the pirate ship so we all got in line, but when it was time to get on Isaiah decided he'd rather not so we stayed back.  Levi LOVED it and wanted to go again and again!

The rides just kept coming and the boys were loving them all!

We made it back to the Frog Hopper - this time Levi was more than excited to ride it!  I think they did this one at least 10 times -- but the line for this was a little longer - they got to go every other time it went!

You'll notice the rain had stopped so we went to change into our clothes...but no time to waste, plenty of rides to get to!

We did pause for the juggling show - which the guy picked Mark to be a part of and he got to juggle on stage - no pictures as I took a video- and at the end all the kids watching got to come up and help the juggler.  It was cute - I think Levi mostly agreed to go up just because Bernie was on stage!

Both boys agreed to go on this really fast moving ride with Mark.  Not me! :)  I think they probably would have ridden this one over and over again too -- but once was enough for daddy!

Then we went to lady luck - I thought maybe just Isaiah would go on it with Mark, but oh no Levi wanted to go too.  I am just not able to go on spinning rides so Mark was going to take each boy one at a time, but the worker noticed Isaiah and asked if he would go with another little girl - this ride requires exactly 2 people to ride together and this little girl was crying so hard because she had no one to ride with.  Isaiah was such a good sport and agreed to ride with the girl.  I could tell they had fun together.

and so did Mark and Levi.

We were running out of time ... and energy so we were sure to take a ride on the train, but not without stopping at the train station to pick out some candy first (another tradition of Mark and mine).  The boys both picked swirly suckers and had them finished by the time the train ride was over.

And then before long it was time to go (but not before we rode the ferris wheel - which was too scary with curious little kids with no seatbelts of any kind for pictures) and it didn't take much before the boys looked like this...

What a perfect day of family memories!  I can't wait to do it again next year!