A few more thoughts of summer...

You can tell when my favorite distraction is working an overnight shift.... I get all my blogging done!

 I'm sure we'll find ways of enjoying the playset all year round.  Just imagine the snow forts that could be built under and around it!

 Shea's birthday hula hoop did, in fact, draw tears from poor Dex who sobbed something to the effect of he's always wanted a hula hoop.  Good thing Shea is happy to share!!

 Fun summer dinner with the Clarks.  Love spending time with them!

 The kids spent an afternoon decorating the playset.  They seriously spent hours trying to color every square inch.  I would say they just about did it, too.  :)  So sad that it stormed that evening.  The storm not only washed away our colorful playset, but brought down a huge branch from one of our trees!

 The wreckage... and the secret agents who investigated the scene.

 Before leaving for the state fair, I told the kids they should be sure to wear sock and shoes, as well as hats to protect them from the sun.  This is what Shea came up with!! :)

 Bus ride to the fair... just as exciting as the fair itself!

 We had a seriously fantastic time with the kiddos at the fair.  I relish the fact that they are old enough to spend hours roaming the fair (without fear of one of them bolting off our having a meltdown)... and that they are still young enough to gleefully hold our hands and truly share every new experience with us.  This has got to be one of the best phases of parenthood.  Big hits with us all were: the big slide, the skyride (which, despite my massive fear of heights I was somehow persuaded it would be fun to accompany the boys on... luckily, when it became apparent Mommy was scared out of her mind, they both reached over and held my hands.  Dex calmly said, "Don't worry, Mommy.  We're right here with you.  Just hold our hands and stay nice and calm."  Amazingly, it worked.), corn dogs, bucket of fries, custard, root beer and many, many cups of chocolate milk.  Now, if only we can find a way to keep our legs from getting so tired!!  Even more enjoyable than the fair was the experience of having all three kids fall asleep in our laps on the bus ride home.  Who know how many more time that will happen...

 Goop gone wild.  I recipe for some sort of kid-friendly goop went strangely awry, sticking to EVERYTHING.  The kids were thrilled to share this experience with their buddy, Matthew.  Not so sure his mom was so happy about it! :)  Needless to say, we will not be trying that particular recipe again!

...and we're off!

This week brought the start of kindergarten for the boys.  It has been fantastic and they ADORE their teacher.  Even better yet, she seems equally fond of the boys.  This first real school experience has been more than I ever could have hoped for and I'm sure I will write more about it at some point, but I still have (believe it, or not) summer photos that simply must get posted before I can fully embrace the idea of blogging about fall!  

I will say that they cracked us all up at the prekindergarten meeting with their teacher when they enthusiastically insisted on showing their teacher that they can count to 1,000.  So, yes, we sat through a very rowdy and energetic duet of numbers that had us sharing quite a laugh.    At this point, I think they would do just about anything their dear teacher asked them to do, as long as they ended each day with an "official kindergarten sticker," of which they presently have two.  LOVE that something as simple as a sticker from an actual kindergarten teacher is enough to send them reeling. :)  

Equally sweet, was my perceptive Shea, who, mirroring her mommy, showed quite a display of sadness after dropping the boys off their first day.  When I, through my own tears, asked her why she was crying, she replied, "It's just hard to see the boys getting so big."  Love that, too.

 My budding artist.  Where the boys have always been interested in how quickly they can complete an art project, Shea is truly engrossed in the process.  I have truly enjoyed watching her discover this joy.

 My silly little fairy, practicing her H's. 

 Brothers

 Some of our great neighbors... fully embracing the joy of costumes. 

 Shea, on her actual birthday, quite busy outside.  She can create this fantastic pretend worlds and keep up the fantasy for hours.  The boys have always done this together, so it is so unique for me to see her creating all of this by herself, sometimes. 

 Shea picked out her own birthday cake. :)

 The boys treated Shea like an actual princess, playing half a dozen games of Pretty Pretty Princess with her.  I adore the way they get pure enjoyment out of sharing in these games.  I'm sure it won't last forever, but for now, it is one of the sweetest things I get to see...

 watermelon picnic in the playset with Sylvie

 The big girls admiring little Cora.