The Good, the Bad and the Yummy!

the good...

Last week, Ethan attended a week long sports camp in our township for two hours a day. We thought this would be the perfect introduction to sports because they taught the kids how to play t-ball, soccer and football. He had an absolute BLAST! We only had a few instances where I could hear the coach say, "Ethan...stop playing with the ants and get ready to catch the ball!" What can I say, he's such a little boy!

Playing t-ball...

Throwing the football with Coach Mike...

Doing soccer drills...

the bad...

The other day Ethan was playing on the deck looking at a daddy long leg. I went to the door and told him to come in (it was rainy) when suddenly he started jumping up and down and screaming at the top of his lungs. I had no idea what was going on until he blurted out, "I GOT STUNG BY A BEE!!" The poor little guy got a bee sting on his ear! He was pretty hysterical for a while. Here are some pictures of the damage...

Can you guess which ear got stung?

So sad!

the yummy...

We discovered some raspberry bushes near our house growing wild so Ethan and I started picking. He lasted about 2 minutes and then was too freaked out about a bee getting him. So he sat in the car shouting for me to keep picking more. We came home with a huge bowl full which Ethan polished off in a day. So delicious!

Our loot...

Chowing down. There's nothing like fresh raspberries. Yummy!

Summer Fun!

This summer we've been busy trying to stay cool. Here are a few things we've been up to.

School is Out

Just before preschool ended for Ethan, the school held a family picnic day. The kids got to run around on the playground, ride bikes, eat snacks, etc. We had a great time with our little guy.

For the past 5 months, Ethan has been working to earn a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's. When he behaved well at school and church, he would earn marbles. Once his marble jar was filled up, he could go to Chuck E. Cheese's. He was so excited when he finished filling his jar in the last week of school. He cashed in his marbles and we had a great time.

Ethan at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Tri, Tri Again
Last year Blake trained to do his first triathlon. There is a race down at Long Branch at the shore where you do a swim, bike, run. Unfortunately, the weather last year was incredibly foggy so they had to cancel the biking portion of it. Blake was so bummed. So, this year he did attempt #2 with much more success. He was able to do all three legs of the race and did terrific! We're so proud of you Blake!!

Blake on the boardwalk just after finishing the race.

After the race, we met up with some friends for a day at the beach. I am SO glad the babies are old enough now to be able to play in the sand and enjoy the beach. Taking them last year was way too tough. We had a great time (with the exception of the twins SCREAMING for an hour and a half on the drive home. Ugh!!).

Ethan and Blake play in the waves. Ethan could not get enough of this!

Addison & Grant playing in the tent.

We finally bit the bullet and invested in a tent for the kids to have a place to get cool. I am SO glad that we did. If anyone needs a recommendation for a good beach tent, I'd definitely recommend this one - the Sun Smarties Family Beach Cabana by One Step Ahead. There are no poles so it just pops up and it stores easily in a little backpack. So great!

Backyard Fun
We've also been trying to stay cool at home so we don't have to load up kids for a day at the beach. For anyone with kids, you know what I'm talking about...packing diaper bags, dealing with tired, grumpy kids, etc. So, we've invested in a few cheap yard toys which Ethan just loves.

Ethan on the slip 'n slide.

Ethan playing in his new blow up pool, courtesy of Grandma Eve. Thanks Grandma!

Running through the sprinkler. Yes, my child is deathly afraid of getting his face wet so this is the apparatus he insists on wearing to run through the sprinkler. What a kid!

Here is a group of Ethan's friends having fun in the water at a play group at our house last week. (L-R: Jordan Slingerland, Ethan, Cole Cabatic, Connor ?, and PJ Rinaldi)

I Love NY!
Girls trip to the city...

Okay, I'm really behind on blogging but I wanted to get this post in while I had a minute. In May, three of my good friends (Melanie Teeples, Heather Dominguez, and Alene Connor) did a girl's day in the city. That's right...no kids crying, wiping their noses on us...no back pain from holding the babies...It was FABULOUS!

Our day started out by parking up by the temple. We stopped in to use the "facilities", got yelled at by the Beehive clothing lady, and were on our way...

(Melanie, Jen & Heather in front of Manhattan temple)

Next, we hopped on the subway and went downtown to Canal Street...one of my favorite shopping spots.

Here are some of the fruits of our very hard, negotiating labors. We each got a new purse! We also came home with sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, etc. SO MUCH FUN!! We were so proud of Alene for getting wild and crazy with her zebra purse. Work it girl!

(Alene, Melanie, Jen & Heather)

After grabbing some pizza in Little Italy for lunch, we took the subway back up to Central Park. None of us had ever been on a carriage ride so we hopped on and got a fabulous tour of the park. With the exception of me having an allergy attack from the horse, it was a great time.

After killing a little time in the park, we got cleaned up and had dinner at a terrific restaurant that Heather recommended called Mama Rosa's. Oh my, can we say DE-LISH?!
To finish out the night, we went to Lincoln Center to watch the musical, South Pacific. It was SUCH a fun show. We had an absolute blast. I think I'm ready for our next girl's day out!