Feeding the Ducks

We went to the Roaring Spring fountain yesterday with the intention of feeding the ducks there. We stopped at the dollar store and bought two boxes of Cheerios and I gave each boy a huge sack of Cheerios. I think somebody beat us to it! The ducks didn't show much interest in the snacks the boys were generously tossing out into the water. There are a lot of fish in that pond as well, and the fish would swarm to the surface to eat the cereal. So at least it wasn't a total loss. We just didn't know we'd be feeding the fish instead of the ducks!







Here are some of the hungry fish that we saw.





I think the boys ate just as many Cheerios as they threw into the pond.





Being silly. . .





Here's Brooke when we arrived at the Spring:



And here she is toward the end of our excusion:



I really wish this photo of Trevor would've turned out better. I absolutely love that big, yellow home across the pond. I thought this was a nice picture of the scenery. . . and my Trevor, of course!



Last summer we came here and David had the boys climb these small trees. The boys did alright, but there were a few tears that day. I affectionately called this the Tree of Tears, which made David laugh. The boys were excited to climb the tree this time!







I hope you're not tired of looking at pictures from our fun day. I had a good time with the camera yesterday, so here are some bonus photos.

My Three Sons

Here are the cute boys!

Cooling Off

We finally broke down the other day and bought the boys a swimming pool. It's been very hot here lately, and if the heat hasn't been bad enough, the humidity has made it seem even hotter. In the evenings you can actually see the humidity hanging in the air. It's pretty amazing.

Anyway, we bought the boys a cheap pool and they were so excited about it. We brought it home Monday night and the boys got right in while it was filling up. I knew it was frigid, but they didn't seem to mind. In the morning as soon as they were out of bed they were asking about getting into the pool. David gave them breakfast, and they were in the pool by 8 a.m.!

Homemade Ice Cream

The Peach Hill Orchard had customer appreciation day today. There was a delicious chicken bbq available for purchase. But the real reason we went was for the free corn on the cob and peach ice cream! Yummy!

Peach Hill is run by a Mennonite family, and I enjoy buying summer produce there. (We bought peaches today.) They also sell baked goods and an assortment of jams and jellies. I like supporting the locals as well as mingling with the Mennonites. I admit that their culture fascinates me. Most of the Mennonites here live just like we do, and the only difference between us appears to be their dress. I think that they stare at us as much as we do them! Whatever the differences between us are, one thing is for sure. . . They make wonderful ice cream!







A common sight in our town. . .

T-Shirt Fun

A while back I bought some white t-shirts at a surplus store for a dollar each. I thought they'd make for a fun craft for the boys on a rainy day or something like that. I confess we've had quite a few rainy days since then, but I didn't have the gumption to pull those shirts out! All I could think about was the mess! Last night I finally pulled out the paint, stencils and shirts and let the boys decorate. They were excited to do it and had a lot of fun. And there wasn't too much mess either!



When the boys came to see me in my bed this morning I wondered if they'd mention the shirts that we'd left drying overnight. They must've forgotten about them. It wasn't until they'd gone downstairs for but a moment, that I heard them rushing back up to my room, to ask if they could wear their shirts today. Here they are. Both pictures are very similar, but they're my cute boys, so I posted them anyway!

START YOUR ENGINES!

Here is one of the WWII planes we saw today, getting ready for take-off. There was quite a bit of smoke from each engine as it was started. On the video, the propellers look like they are moving slowly, but in actuality they are spinning very fast! You can appreciate how loud they were. We saw this plane flying over our town Friday, but it was fun watching it take-off today.


* For a $425 donation, you could actually take a ride in this plane! I told David that if I didn't have 4 children to raise and feed, it might be worth it! :)

A Milestone

Brooke has reached a milestone in her life. Yesterday she turned 7 weeks old, and she can finally fit into 0 - 3 month clothing! I put away her preemie and newborn clothes and we're off to a new section of her closet. I'll tell you, dressing a baby girl is SO MUCH FUN! Brooke and I play dress-up together. She doesn't mind me trying all kinds of outfits on her to see if they fit, or to see how cute they look on her. As long as I'm talking to her and touching her, she loves playing dress-up as much as I do!
This morning we did a photo shoot with her. It was Cole's idea for her to have props! He went and stole Logan's dogs to put in Brooke's pictures, but Logan is pretty protective of his dogs! So we got some animals from Brooke's room for the pictures.


Isn't she just cute in this pose? I wonder what she's thinking?!?!

Sunday morning she finally wore the dress from Nana.

And here's our good, little Baptist girl, with her jean skirt on!

Airplanes

For a couple of days there have been three World War II planes in our small airport. They are part of the "Wings of Freedom" tour. We stopped by the airport today to see if we could get a peek. The planes were pretty amazing to see, even though we didn't pay to get in. :) It kind of got me choked up, thinking of those young boys/men that served our country during that time. Maybe it's because I just read a book set in that time period about a young couple and the War, but it really was something to see. I know my pictures won't do the history justice, especially since I was taking them through a chain-link fence! (ha!) But I hope you enjoy this little bit of history that we got to see today.

This plane is a Mustang. You can actually operate the controls while in flight with the pilot! Of course the price to do so is pretty steep!


If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you will see that the names of the men that served on that plane are written on the side. Boy did I wish I could've gotten in to see a closer look at that! The boys liked looking at the guns.

The boys taking a peek. . . I love those little "stair step" pictures of them!

Final Skit

Last night was our final evening of Vacation Bible School. Just as I was thrilled to begin Bible School, I was happy when it was over! What a busy week. The kids loved every moment of it though. Trevor won the big prize (a remote control Dodge Ram) for bringing the most visitors. That was exciting!

Here is a clip from the last skit the men cooked up. The storyline has David singing a song which holds "great, personal meaning" for him. He asks "Wally" to sing the song with him. After David starts singing, Wally realizes he doesn't have a microphone. David is too busy singing to even notice, so Wally just decides to use the microphone stand for fun. Most people have probably seen this skit in one form or another, but the guys cooked up a special ending for the Bible School kids, and I think you'll enjoy it!

My Hubby

One thing about my husband that I just love, is what a good daddy he is. He is so good with the boys and I really appreciate that about him. Part of it may be that David is a kid at heart and he loves to play! But even if David is really busy, or has things to do, he can stop for just a minute or two to play a quick game with the kids, tickle them, or ride the bike down the hill once. I think as the boys get older, they will realize that their dad will always stop and take time for them. What a great quality to have in a dad!

Announcing. . . .

Six weeks after Brooke was born, her announcement finally made it into the newspaper here in "The Cove." Isn't it cool?


And just in case you forgot what she looks like. . .

VBS Round-Up

This week is our Vacation Bible School week and the theme is "Round-Up." I love how excited my boys are about VBS. They enjoy the songs, the crafts, the offering contest and oh yes! The snacks! Last night was cotton candy. Does it get any better for three little boys than cotton candy? I hope you enjoy this small glimpse of our first evening at Bible School.