The Orpheum Museum's Building Fair

They even had diggers!
My boys love diggers!
Nate and Eli building walls with the masons
Hard at work!
Eli got to knock his wall down after he built it!
Learning the proper technique

This town has some really special events and the Orpheum Children's Museum building fair is one of the best! The entire parking lot in front of the museum is filled with booths set up by local builders, masons, plumbers, painters, engineers, architects, city planners, etc... It is totally hands-on and good dirty fun! The boys got to build a mason wall, they got to use real paint to paint wooden blocks that are going to be used for a mural. They got to plant flowers and build bridges. They also got to draw a paper bag building and help design a city! Completely amazing stuff! Of course, my boys are boys, so their favorite non-building part were the five big diggers they got to climb on!

Nate-isms

Yes, he does have food on his face...again!

Nate is seriously the king of one-liners and funny stories these days! He says the most ridiculous things and tells the biggest tall-tales! He does all of this with that cute little muppet face of his which makes it all even more absurd. I have to share his his latest and greatest because is is seriously too priceless!

Nate farted this evening and I said, " Nate when you fart you have to say excuse me". He looked straight at me and said, " I didn't fart mommy that was my tushie's alarm clock letting me know that it is time to poop". Awesome.

We never know what to expect out of his mouth! He is completely adorable and entertaining! Lucky Nate looks like a cherub and I think that is going to keep out of trouble in the future!

Mister-E

This picture is such a great representation of my big boy right now! He picked this outfit out all by himself and insisted that he had to have the vest with it! His shoes are on the wrong feet and his hair is crazy! Eli is such a funny mixture of my little boy and mr. independent. He drives us nuts with his wild ideas and his insistence on doing everything his way. Then he will blow our minds with his incredible imagination and special heart! He is breaking rules and challenging authority which is so strange coming from the boy who will forever remain the worlds easiest two year old! When I am not caught up in his naughty back-talking moments I love that he is challenging and pushing and finding his place in the world! My Eli has so much to say and so much to do! I do not imagine watching this little guy grow up will ever be boring.

A Floater and a Sinker

Playing water fetch
More good times

The King Brothers have ventured into swimming lessons. I know, I know, how does a former life guard allow her children to turn 3 and 4 without knowing how to swim. It really breaks down to two reasons 1) Eli's ears (tubes, etc...) and 2) I do not like parent child swim lessons. I have done every type of class with these boys from sports to music and art and the only class I haven't enjoyed so very much is swimming. Both boys did lessons as little babies and then... nothing for two years! Well they are back big time. In preparation for swim camp (where they will spend the mornings over the summer) they just finished up 6 swim lessons! They were great.

Eli insists that he can swim, and he can...under water. He is like a fish and his complete lack of fear in the waster is amazing. He is also going to be the death of me as he stays under for a LONG time and lets go when he shouldnt! Eli is also a sinker and can't float to save his life. Poor baby got that from his mommy!

Nate, well Nate just floats! He is like a cork floating on the water. Surprisingly, Nate does not LOVE to get his whole head under water and he likes to be in control of all his movements. He is comfortable in the water but he is not nearly as confident as Eli and for the first time in his life is actually showing some fear! There is hope for my wild child after all!

Swim camp starts on June 7th and goes until August 1st (though they will have one week off for our vacation). They will do swim lessons, arts and crafts, sports, free play and games from 8:30 to noon over the summer! We are joining the swim club that holds the camp so we can swim in the afternoons too! Next summer Eli will start junior swim team and I can't wait! That was the highlight of every summer until I was 11!

and...Action!

Eli the Pirate Parrot, Nate the Flamingo and their friends the princess cat, pirate parrot and dinosaur!
The adorable Miss Natalie having the kids take a bow after their improv!
My little flamingo telling the pet show announcer about what he likes to eat!
The Pirate Parrot Eli!
The five little actors on the stage!

We have had such a fun spring full of exciting new classes! Our favorite class is called Imagination Station and is with Miss Natalie at her improv/drama/acting studio called Class Act! It is essentially a preschoolers acting class with dramatic warm-ups, stories, art, and they put on an improvised show at the end! The mom's are the audience and oh do we love these little actors! The class is over now until July but we can't wait to start again! It is so good for them to find new outlets for their imaginations and to gain confidence with sharing their stories with others! What a fun class! Perfectly suited for my two little imaginative monsters.

Pre-race brother strategy session
Bring it on Baby! The Nate-dawg is ready to run!
Fastest 4 year old ever! This is Eli's post-race face!
Post-race family snuggle!
I love these little runners!

What a fun day! Today was the second annual Illinois Marathon! This year the half-marathon and Marathon runners ran their last 2 miles right past our house! We got to cheer on several good friends on (while wishing we were running too... ok, maybe only I wished that). Our good friend Shannon and her two boys Liam (3) and Sean (1.5 years old) hung out with us so Liam and Sean could watch their daddy run by.

The boys were beyond excited to race in their very first kids race! We made our way over to the Illini Football Stadium and waiting on the field for 45 minutes for the races (picture 300 kids plus parents aged 3-10 smooshed together in a hot field). The boys raced in the 6 and under category in which all children raced with a parent/guardian.

I raced with Eli and Sam raced with Nate. Eli and are running soul mates! It is so fun to watch him run. He has my long-legged stride, my easy gate and my love of speed! Nate and Sam are also running soul mates with big strong legs and a steady hard hitting stride! Watching Nate is like watching a mini-Sam run! Eli took off so fast in the crowd (with my trailing behind him) until 20 yards in where he cut in front of me and another kid taking us both down (I caught the other little boy and got yelled at by his ridiculous Dad... totally good sportsmanship on that one). Eli was probably one of the first 2o kids across! The best part of racing with Eli is when halfway through the race he started to cry. When I asked him why cried to me " I am out of breath" and then when I asked him if he wanted to stop and walk he said "No way I want to run!". He has never been out of breath before and I think it scared him. He totally powered out and wouldnt even slow down! When we crossed the finish line and he got his medal he was beaming! He shouted "I won"! Love it! I have to say, the boy is like the wind.

Nate and Sam had a great time as well! Nate ran the whole race and he chose the focused and consistent route! The boy just held steady for the whole race! Oh, I wish I could have been in two places at one time! I would have loved to see my baby pump his little legs and go for it! Sam loved running with Nate.

For a reward they got chocolate ice cream! What an adventure! I think there will be many more kids races in our future!

No School Friday

Dr. Eli taking care of a kitty in the new vet clinic!
Dr. Nate giving a sick bunny a bath!
Sea Captain Nate
K'nex building blocks: They made an animal space house pirate ship

The boys didn't have school on Friday so we set off on several adventures! We started off the morning with a trip to the local hippie store (Strawberry Fields) to stock up on good-for-mommy foods. We then went to Starbucks to get some real coffee because Herbal tea just doesn't do it for me early in the morning. We then went our local children's museum "The Orpheum" and fell in love with the new "Vet Clinic" exhibit. The boys played Vet for more than 30 minutes before heading off to the water table, sand table, dinosaurs, sea boat, puppets, insects and more! We finished off the morning by picking up their race packets for the 1k kids race (more to come on that little bit of joy). They loved getting a string backpack, t-shirt, and race number!

In the afternoon we did a last minute target run to get Eli some bigger running shoes (because that boy grows through his shoes at a rapid pace) and to get some awesome sweat bands to wear for the race!

Finally, we baked AWESOME cookies from our fun new cookie cookbook (Thanks Emma, Auntie Becca, and Uncle Chris). Brown sugar cookies made with applesauce instead of eggs! FABULOUS! Yum! The boys and I usually bake once a week and now we are armed with a cupcake and cookie cookbook!