Scouting Update

RJ has been working hard in Webelos, and earned his Webelos badge, a bunch of activity badges, and his bicycling belt loop. Yay RJ!!

Braden earned belt loops for baseball, soccer, and bicycling. Yay Braden!!

Fly Swatting Master

A few days ago, Ryan spent some time cleaning up the backyard, and as a result, the door stayed open and we were invaded by flies!! I hate flies, they drive me to insanity and crazy fly-shooing dancing. I busted out the fly swatter and killed one. Conner yelled, "Oh no! It's broken!" He didn't like me killing flies! But then he spent the rest of the day with the fly swatter down his pants, so I guess he got over it. Gross, I know. I made him wash his hands.

Fire Station Fun

I went to the fire station two weeks ago with the cub scouts. The boys LOVE this activity. The firefighters were awesome and muscly, showed us everything, and gave the kids lots of fun paraphenelia at the end. Sienna is my honorary cub scout, she gets dragged along on all the activities.

The Tornado Strikes Again

So, in my desires for cleanliness, I removed all of Conner's toys from his room. I also have a few bins of clothes in his closet he has yet to grow into, so I moved them around trying to make them more difficult to climb. This is what I found last night when I checked on him... So today, I removed the bins from his closet and took them somewhere else! This is how I found his room after his nap. I thought the socks were so funny. He had also fallen asleep in his chair instead of bed, and had tried to put some shoes & socks on, but only succeeded halfway. However, the floor was basically clean, woo hoo! Now I just need child locks on his dresser drawers and I think I might win this battle!

Conner, the Tornado

Last month, we put Conner in a big boy bed. Well, now I have to clean his room twice a day, once when he wakes up in the morning, and after his nap. He doesn't exactly stay in bed. I have to check on him every night before I go to bed, and at least turn off his light, but usually put him back in bed. In these pictures, his room was clean when I put him to bed. At least he's cute!

Rollins Lake

WARNING: Lots of Pictures! Some good friends invited us to spend the day on their boat on Labor Day. So fun! Thanks so much for inviting us! The kids haven't stopped talking about it, wanting to know when we get to go again, when can we buy our own boat, and can we PLEASE go every weekend!! We're ready to go! The kids had a hard time understanding that life jackets had to be worn "at all times!" They kept trying to take them off. I was sure RJ would love water skiing and that he would do it all day. This was his first try and first crash. He was so done after that! It took everything to convince him to try at least one more time... He was up for a second! Sleeping on the job. Dawson & Sienna. Sienna LOVED being in the water and wanted to jump in and go for a swim every time the boat stopped. The baby ride. We went for a nice little float around the lake. Very relaxing. Sienna on the Easy Ski. She did okay until any sort of speed was involved. Then she would freak out! We thought it would be a good idea to do the tube and easy ski at the same time, it didn't turn out so well. We kept crashing together and RJ kept screaming! Finally up, but still attached to the tube! The boys loved the tube, they wanted to go fast and crazy! This was only allowed when Sienna wasn't around! Ryan also wanted to go fast & crazy. He specifically said he wanted a "career-ender." Well, he got what he asked for, and the bruised ribs to prove it! Too bad I didn't get a picture of the wipeout! Conner was so good on the boat, cuddly & calm. He even took a short nap. Yep. That's right. That's me. On a wakeboard. I obviously belong there! Thank you so much Jen, for taking the most embarrassing picture of my lifetime. I think I might have screamed a lot.

Sacramento Zoo

I am not a big fan of zoos, amusement parks, or any crowded place where I have to keep track of all my kids. But, on Monday, it was a free day at the Sacramento Zoo. This is perfect for me, because I don't feel like I have to stay all day to get my money's worth, and it would be just me & Conner, easy peasy! I have never been to the Sac Zoo, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The lame part, the parking is so weird. The awesome part, this zoo is soooo small, we were in and out in 30 minutes, it was perfect! This was also Conner's first time ever going to any zoo, and he loved it! He was really good, too. Maybe outings like this aren't so bad after all...