Molly's Manny infatuation continues....

When Manny Ramirez got traded this summer from Boston to LA, Molly developed this huge crush (for lack of a better word) on him and started watching the games and paying attention to when he was up to bat.  To support her love of baseball and her unexplainable bond to Manny, I decided to make them all matching Manny shirts.  I have tried to find a way to email these to Manny's fan club, but I haven't been successful yet.  Maybe they would score some free tickets, since they are so cute????

Breakfast in the tent

So I decided that it was a good idea to let them eat breakfast consisting of cream cheese bagels and juice under the table on the carpet.  

Ultimate table tent!

Once again trying to figure out how to entertain the munchkins, this morning we devised quite an elaborate version of the infamous card table house.  Many sheets, blankets and a sleeping bag went into the construction, with huge clips needed to 'cement' it all together.  The kids took in a variety of who knows what in there to play with, but then each of them took a turn peeking out to see if I was watching them.  Then, they all went to get the blankets from their beds and decided to 'sleep' in there as well.  As I mentioned before, Caleb is totally getting into doing whatever the big kids are doing.  Actually, I guess this must make him one of the big kids now.  Sniff, sniff.

Watching Charlotte's Web

This weekend Dave was out of town at a conference, so the kids and I watched Charlotte's Web after dinner.  This was the first time that Caleb really was into the laying down on the sleeping bag with pillows and his blanket.  They were all so cute, I had to take a picture.

Grasping at straws

Technically, the days are getting shorter.  Realistically from a mother's point of view, these last few days before school begins are the LONGEST on record.  Nothing is new or fun for the kids, we've been to all the playgrounds and parks, had zillions of picnics and playdates, gone to the zoo, the nature preserve, the pool, and now it is all old and boring, boring, boring!!  Before I ripped the hair out of my head, I came up with one last idea:  SHAVING CREAM!!  It worked and made them busy for about 45 minutes before dinner yesterday.  Thank goodness!  And the benefit is that it cleans the table off and makes the house smell good.  Well, at least not like the dog!  

Caleb is ready to take on winter!

Friends have given us some outerwear for Caleb this winter.  It had to be tried on to see what fit, and Caleb seems to have gotten a bang out of wearing the snowsuit (although the hood didn't seem to suit him), and he did like the coat as well.  I suppose we are now ready for the first snow to fall.  After all, we've had some mornings in the 40s; we could be in for some early fall/winter weather.  

More Nature Preserve

This is the second waterfall that we came across on our hike.  We didn't realize there were two, so it was a bonus!  This one, though, was impassible, what with Dave carrying Caleb in the backpack and the fact that it was quite slippery.  Notice the rings in the rocks.  We think that these were formed by the water pouring down on them over the years.  The trees covering the creek bed were pretty with the light, and I found a yeehaw tree (you are welcome, Granny) for Molly to ride on the way back.  What a nice outing with my family.  We just love being outdoors.   

New Nature Preserve Discovery

We have discovered another preserve area that Binghamton University owns, right across the street from the hundreds of preserve acres that we have hiked in our 8 years here.  This is a much more difficult area to hike in that there is no real trail head, no maintained trails to walk, and it is a little hidden and harder to find.  If you didn't know where to look, I don't think you'd ever see it.  Today was the perfect morning to go; it was still cool outside and the kids had all consumed an enormous breakfast (but still asked for snacks along the way in any event) and everyone was in good humor.  Molly was the eagle eye today and spied this deer at the top of the ridge as we got started down below.  She (he?) stood there for a long time and watched us watching him, then when we headed out, he decided to run off as well.  We ended up, since it is summer and very dry, hiking in the creek bed that runs basically parallel to the road that separates us from the university.  From the debris left over, you can tell that when there is water in the creek, it has a strong current and goes quite a ways up the walls of the creek we were walking in.  The kids found a few large rocks to sit on that reminded us of being in Maine and climbing on the rocks there.  The last picture is of us making it to the first waterfall that we found.  It did have some water trickling down, but it was no where near its full capacity!!  

Let them eat cake!!

Potter got a Wall-E cake this year.  It was very cute and I didn't have to make it!!  I caught him while we were singing and then in mid-blow.  I did not get any pictures of anyone consuming the cake, but there isn't much left.  We were able to send a lot home so that it isn't here to be tempting us!!!  

Return home for lunch and party

Kids are chowing down on burgers and dogs, with some veggies and fruit, while slurping down huge amounts of root beer!!  Potter gets a nerf gun from Ella, a really hysterical card from Samantha, as well as a cool planetarium from Samantha.  We can't wait to try that out tonight!!

Chuck E. Cheese

Caleb thinks he is cool with the joy stick controls, Samantha wins a wad of tickets on one game, Caleb and Molly go for a ride, while Potter hangs out with, who else?  Chuck E.!!

Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party

Potter has wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday for a good long while, so today was the day.  He and Matt are gettin' into the ducks, Caleb had fun on the slide, Molly and Ella are on a roller coaster ride, Molly wins at skee ball, and even Dave got into playing Star Wars.  Who would've thought that?????

More presents to open

Potter extended his real birthday by opening  some final presents from Granny and Granddad.  

Birthday at the pool!

After naps, we decided to head over to the small pool that is only a couple blocks from our house.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and a bit on the warm side.  I have to say that sitting with my legs in the pool felt really nice!!  The shallow end is 1 foot and the 'deep' end is 2 feet, so perfect for Caleb and Molly, getting a little small for Potter, but there were lots of kids his age in the pool too, so just a good place to cool off.  They all found their favorite thing to do and enjoyed some splashing and swimming.

Birthday fun

Just some water table fun (despite Caleb's sour face) and then Potter and I have been working all afternoon on the Erector set.  I know there will be a picture of the finished product, and I know it will get finished today!!!