Mud Party/Paint Party

The end result... Naked and crazy!
Two, exhausted boys! (seriously, could Eli flirt with the camera any more?)
The orange man! Nate loves the color orange! It is always his first choice!
Eli still goes with the two paint-brush technique!
Men at work!
Look at the face! He loves being a crazy man in the mud!
Too proud of himself!

This morning was quite a morning! We went shoe shopping at our local hippy shoe shop (keens, merrells, birks, etc...) they were having a shoe sale so we went and picked up some new big boy shoes for Eli for the fall (size 12, that boy is growing like a weed). Nate is in-between sizes so we are going to wait a month to see how he grows! After shoe shopping the boys and I walked down the street (down-town urbana) to a darling coffee shop and they had a croissant and fruit salad for snack. We then checked out the guitar shop and day-dreamed over the electric guitars they will some day play. Finally, we headed home... to the real adventure!

Today seemed like a gorgeous day to paint outside so we headed out back and within 2 seconds Eli stepped in dog poop and then stepped in it with the other shoe. That was super! So I had him take his shoes off and sprayed both the patio and Eli's shoes. I ran inside to get a towel and came back out to the MUD PARTY!!! Those two little crazy boys went for it in the mud puddle I had created and I let them! We did that fun for a while and then I had them wash off in the water table. I also chased them around the yard with the hose. Next up: Painting!

The painting was so much fun and they take it so seriously. I love watching them express themselves whether in mud or paint.

When we finished up I stripped them naked and they took a mid-day bath together! So fun! Honestly, one of my top five favorite mornings ever!

The Usual Craziness

Just hanging out with my guys on a saturday afternoon! This is business as usual for the King Brother's... CRAZY business!

Hee Haw: It's County Fair Time

Eli and his Daddy shooting down the giant slide!

Two Boat capitans!

Bikers, man!

Yeah, sure mom! We love posing for pictures for you!

So happy to ride the giant blue tractor!

Fire capitan giving orders!

Dune buggy dude looking for action!

Eli signing a train song while riding on the Engine!

My little train conductors!!!

It's County fair time. No this may come as a shock to some of you (pretty much everyone but my own family and Nikki), but I used to be in 4H. I showed/raised rabbits and horses! I loved it, and was even president of my 4H club in 8th grade. Yeah, I was that kid! It was a beloved phase of my ever changing identity during those tween/teen years (cheerleading came next, so there is no logic here).

The point is that I love the fair! I made noises about not being sure if the boys were ready but I was. The animals, the smells of disgusting fried food/carnival workers, it is like heaven to me!

off we went and the boys loved it too! Except they had no interest in anything but the flashing lights and mechanical fires waiting to happen that were the toddler rides in "kidde land". They had at least 10 rides designed for kids between 36 and 52 inches (Nate just snuck in...thank goodness for the great full head of hair!).

They loved the dino ride, the boat ride, the vehicle ride, they loved the train, and Eli loved his trip on the giant slide with daddy! They were completely unimpressed by the animals (except for the cow that pooped right in front of Eli), but I loved it!

Most importantly, watching the magic of a carnival/fair from the eyes of a two and three year old is special. It is so easy to see the tarnish and germs (we used a copious amount of hand sanitizer when we got back to the car) but it really is a thing of joy!

Dear Emily, We Love You!!!

This is Emily! We have had the great joy having Emily be a part of our lives for the past 3 years. She started babysitting for us when Eli was just 9 months old and she just left us this past friday! Emily loved and protected Eli and Nate like they were her family, and you know what they are! Family comes in all different forms and we were so lucky to have had her as part of ours! We will miss Emily immensely! The boys just love her to distraction!

Welcome to the world Cousin Emma

Sweet girl! We love you!
Mommy Becca, Daddy Chris, and their beautiful baby girl Emma Elaine!

Welcome to the world Emma Elaine Munger! Eli and Nate are ecstatic to welcome a girl into the family! Momma, Daddy, and baby are all doing well! We can't wait to meet you!

Pop Pop Comes to town!

Sand Pit play! Nate is safe! Eli is so content to be a digger!
Yes, Nate really is that solid and beefy!
Cute as can be and just as dirty!
Mommy, stop taking pictures of me! I will not ever smile normally for you again!
Cheese!
It's Pop Pop!
Pop Pop and Nate on the go!
The boys loved to wrestle, tackle, jump on their pop pop!
Pop Pop was a great sport!

We just had the best visit with Pop Pop! He is on a grand road trip that will include visits with the King Family and the Munger Family in Georgia! The boys were so excited to see their Pop Pop! Their main objectives were to tackle him, wake him up in the morning, force him to read a great many books, snuggle, go for long walks and have great talks, and generally be the coolest guy they know! We were all so sad when Pop Pop left, but Eli is still talking about how sad he feels two days later! These boys sure do love their Pop Pop!

Bike Trip Adventure

Happy big boy biker! He will be without training wheels by the end of winter!
Nate being Nate!
My guys on the go!
We think that Nate should always wear a helmet...
Nate is starting to pedal! Watch out world!

We went to a local part that has a gorgeous bike/running path/nature trail to take a family bike ride (we chase/push the boys around the path!). We had so much fun! Nate is starting to pedal by himself and you have to run to keep up with our Eli! We were well on our way to a grand adventure when Nate made the acquaintance of a big bumble bee. He was looking at a sign and all of a sudden he started screaming and running away. He said " a bee got me, I touched it first!" Classic!