Another Adventure!!

BEACH DAY!!!!

We dipped our toes into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time today!!!

Disclaimer: Dan has before, and it was technically Long Island Sound, but hey it IS water from the Atlantic!! :)

It took Fern a while to decide to go to the water's edge. She was happy to play in the sand near our stuff for a while!
Jake was intrigued by the sea weed, it is totally different than in the Pacific Ocean! Weird!!
Fern liked digging!!
Three crazy babies!!
This was after the bucket got a crack, Riley was disappointed to get back with no water! Riley ended up going out to his waist, and he did not want to leave!! :)
Fern was very pleased with putting sand in the buckets!!

The boys started running up and down the beach, then Fern wanted to, and then she biffed it. So she then enlisted Dad's help! :)
On the beach is the old New Haven Light House, and the old carousel, too bad the carousel was closed for repairs. :(
Here's the whole light house. :)

So that was our fun day, that and Mama glued to the computer, typing out book lists and schedules for school next year! :)

Yesterday's Adventure!!

Well mom woke up yesterday and declared, lets go! Where? Everyone asked, to a museum I said!! Needless to say everyone was very excited!! So we got ready and headed to the Hartford's Children's Museum!

So here is our adventure and a whole lot of pictures!! :) Fern had a great time, usually she is just along for the ride, but not this time, she wanted to walk almost the entire time, and she was so "talkative". This is the 4 and under room, Fern and Jake loved it!
They had a sand table in there, filled with a mixture of sand and rice. See there is a good use for cheap white rice!! :) The room was painted like different habitats, ie; desert, mountains, lake, etc.
There was also a little house that Fern and Jake thought was great!
Look what I made you mom! The smiles yesterday were priceless!
They had a wildlife area, lots of reptiles, but a few birds who had been injured that they take care of. Here is a great horned owl, it was so old, and asleep, doing the classic head bobb. It was hysterical! We took this picture for Great-grandma Jenson!

Here is Fern meeting the cute little screech owl! They looked at each other quite intently!
This is one of my favorite pictures, this is this whirly feather machine run bu an upside down bike, Riley was pedaling with his arms!
Riley loved this Lego car race track!

My boys were happy LOTS of LEGO'S!
There is this gigantic concrete sperm whale, which is CT's state animal. It is hollow inside so we got to go inside, and pretend we were Jonah swallowed by the whale!
Fern was ready to go home! Jake wanted to see the animals again! They had a whole room called Turtle World! Riley did give his opinion, and I did not ask! :)

We found a Whole Foods Market across the street, so we went and it was heavenly, they had TONS of yummy produce!!! Corn on the cob, and the most delicious artichokes, we ate them last night and they were heavenly!!!! And I splurged and bought some avocado rolls (veggie sushi) and it was divine!! So now (since we bought a family pass to the museum) we will be going to Whole Foods more often!! :)

Mana From Heaven!

Here is our little garden, we are VERY blessed to have it today! Yesterday we had more CRAZY weather! We had massive thunderstorms, were on tornado watch, and had a few down pours. But thankfully, unlike the rest of the borough, we did not have golf ball size hail! Unfortunately our friends in the rest of the city lost their entire gardens. The hail destroyed alot, and damaged cars. Mom even called this morning and told me that on Good Morning America this morning they mentioned our town specifically for the severe weather! So we had plenty of thankful prayers last night!

Today we had a fun adventure at the Hartford Children's Museum, and we found a Whole Foods Market right across the street!! I will give you all the scoop later tonight or tomorrow!! :)

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

Dan made us some yummy chocolate cupcakes yesterday, and Dad got soft and let Fern and Jake lick the remnants! Riley did not even know he missed out, he was outside playing, so ssshhhh!!At least Dad remembered a bib over Fern's pretty new pale yellow church dress!!

After using his fingers Jake decided it would save the middle man if he just stuck his head in and licked the bowl! Jake keeps us laughing!! :)

A Day I Wish I Could Skip!

Ok do you see the tiny black speck in the bag? For size estimates, this is a regular sandwich size ziploc. Well that teeny tiny black speck is a tick. I found this on my side Friday morning while taking my shower, I had to pull it out. I then ended up at the Dr.'s office that afternoon where he confirmed it was a Deer Tick, which is not good if you live in Connecticut. Because here in CT. there is a city named Lyme, where Lyme disease was named after, and where it is rampant. And so here I wait to find out if I have been infected, not fun. So in 2 weeks I have to go get blood test to see, while I watch for symptoms of Lyme. It worst is that I have not been hiking in the woods, or anywhere else you are likely to pick up a tick, so I am now a bit paranoid about camping and hiking here, which are two things we love to do. So there is my pitiful story. Say your prayers for me please.

There will be fun chocolate pictures tomorrow.

WOW Riley!!

I know kind of funky, it is the first thing I have tried to scan!

Anyway, Riley brought this to me last night, he did it all on his own!!

He wrote : I heart to 2c tepl = Riley

It means: I love to see the temple, Riley

It is the name of a primary song he loves to sing. He sounded it all out with out copying! He loves to write and is always asking us to spell something, or he is copying, but this was purely from his brain!! Just amazing!!! Thought you'd all like to see it!! :)

BUGS!!

Dan made the kids their own bug boxes this week, and Riley was so happy to find a bug this evening to put in it!! He found a caterpillar, it is a little fuzzy, but not as fuzzy as the cool ones we use to find when I was a kid!! But he would not touch it, so I had to do it! Silly kid!

Riley informed me today that when he grows up he is going to move back to Calif. and he is going to live with Grandpa, so that he can see him everyday! :) Jake then added a "me too"! :)

More of Our Yard!

I know you expect pictures of the kids, but today you will have to indulge me! :)

Now look at the first picture before you scroll to the second!!!

I spy with my little eye... something that hops!!!

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Did you find it?

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Don't look if you didn't!!!

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We found a FROG in the yard, it was so small, about the size of a half dollar!! I showed the kids how to touch him softly, Riley tried, but Jake wouldn't. Then the frog surprised the kids by jumping, then Fern started jumping!! It was SOOOO cute!!

Looks like a pretty unassuming plant hu! But it is not!! This is called a Jack in the Pulpit because of it's flower. Dan's parents were here for a day this week and Dan's mom told us they are VERY rare! We have 2 in our yard!! Pretty cool hu!! :) More!

Here is the flower up close, pretty cool hu!!

Have a great Sabbath!

All In One Day!!

So I have been a slacker, but here are a ton of pictures to make up for it! :) As I was trying to upload all of these photos Fern thought it would be a good idea to slather herself in Earth Balance (our fake butter), so I had to stop and clean her up, she was naked except for a diaper so it could have been worse!! Maybe her Great-Grandma Jenson gave her sunbathing instructions before Fern came down from Heaven!

This all happened last Thursday!!

So what do you do when mom pours Tabasco over your favorite thumb?? It actually kept him from sucking his thumb all day, but I have abandoned that endeavor for the time being as Jake has finally decided to work on potty training!!! Yea!!!!
We have grand plans for a great play house for Fern, but between time and money we decided unfortunately that it will not happen this year. But then our neighbor offered this little play house to us for FREE!!! She speaks my language!! So we brought it over and we cleaned it all up while Fern was napping, then after her nap we surprised her with it!!
Not alot to do in there yet, but she enjoyed "her space"!!
The windows were the best, she would shut the shudders and we would knock on them and then she would run over and open the window! With a great smile of course!!
Then she tolerated the boys coming over for a visit! Jake thinks this is the Dukes of Hazard, he jumps in the dutch door!
A little further away!

Fern decided I should sit by her house, she patted the ground until I came and sat, this was my view looking up. I love trees!
Here she comes strolling home!
This was later in the day when Dad was spoiling Fern, that is chocolate!!

We got forced inside late in the afternoon, we knew there was a good chance of rain, and the clouds had started to get dark, and there was thunder rumbling around. But then the sky turned this strange color as it got darker, the wind was weird too, so we deiced we should get things cleaned up. So I took the clothes off the line and set the basket on the back porch, then Fern and I walked around to the front to check on the boys cleaning up out there. Then as I was standing out there I felt a couple drops so I turned to go grab the laundry basket off the porch, I had not even gotten past the garden patch when it really started to rain and the wind got stronger! I started running, with Fern in arms, I got to the back porch scooted Fern in the back door, grabbed the basket shoved it into the door, it was pouring by then. When I jumped in the door and turned to shut it I looked out and our little aspen tree by the shed blew all the way over and touched the ground, and all the big trees blew over so far that I could see plenty of sky over them!! And then as Riley describes it a "wall of water" came (also into all the front windows that were all open, soaking the carpet and curtains) the boys had gotten into the garage but it was still open, so they got it in the face!! It lasted for a bit, we had lightning pretty close to the house, it was REALLY dark. We got out our oil lamps and were ready, luckily we did not lose our electricity! We enjoyed the rest of the evening watching the original Swiss Family Robinson movie! It rained for the next couple days! The next day we found out we had actually had a "mini twister" I don't know what kind of science is behind that name but it is what we heard. It would explain the color of the sky and all! So there is our latest adventure in Connecticut!! :)

Daddy's Girl!

Fern has decided there is on;y one safe place when dad mows the lawn! Not even inside will due!
Dan noticed me out snapping pictures of him! And I said, "but it is so cute"!!
Dan and the boys found some poison ivy up in the wooded area of our yard today! I guess I better see if I can find the Burt's Bees Poison Ivy Soap around here, just in case!!! It is nice to have Dan home, he was gone all last week! We get to keep him until the weekend, then he is gone for 5 days or so, and then he is OFF for a whole month!!! And there is no wondering if he will get called, the airplane will be down for maintenance!! YEA!!!! Now if we could just figure out what we are doing!!! :)

It Must Be Connecticut!

Remember my Skunk Cabbage that smells like rotting meat, well hey we could witness (or rather smell) the biggest "Stinky Flower"! Check out the story in the local paper! And we moved here why??

And to off set that smelly story, look what I have in my yard!! I have 3!! I was so sad to leave my lilacs at Daddy's, but what a nice surprise to find these blooming! Too bad they are up wind from the house, our neighbor will enjoy their sent more! :)

And another cute picture from the other day, just to appease you who come here looking for my cute kids and not my smelly yard!! Fern looks so cute running around the yard, and she is truly from my side of the family, it is impossible to get her to wear shoes, especially outside. Unless we are going to the store and I suggest her "pink shoes", she always knows where they are and will go running for them! Most of the time they are put away nicely in one of the cubbies in her closet. (And y'all know it was not me who put them there!! ) :)

"In the Leafy Tree-tops...

the birds sing good morning..." This is a song I sing to the kids in the morning, and today it was soooo true. Along with the birds we have rain and thunder. The boys have been out playing and loving it!! Here is a picture this morning, and HERE is a little video I shot out the door to see if you could hear all the birds and rain, so turn up your speakers!!

Crazy Kids playing in...

Our big backyard on a warm evening right before bath time! I went outside last night after dinner to bring in the laundry and the kids decided to join me. It was dusky and our backyard was enchanting looking, we have alot of leaves now so it is always a little darker in the far reaches of our yard. It was a peaceful fun moment in our day.Jake and Riley think it is hysterical that we have "fern" growing in our yard. I know this picture is a bit blurry, but I really loved Fern and Jake's expressions!
Fern has learned well from the boys! Here she is flying the space shuttle, making the appropriate noises along with it. She also makes a different noise when driving hot wheels cars! We are reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary as a family and this reminded me about how Ralf the mouse has to make the "pb-p-p-p" sound to make the toy motorcycle magically go!
Here is what they did almost the entire time we were out, RUN!!! Needless to say they quickly fell asleep after their baths! But Jake has been sure that Dan would be getting home each night the last 3 nights, so I had Jake in my bed in the middle of the night scouting out to see if Dan was back! He was quite disappointed to find just mom!

Well it is quite warm today and VERY humid, last time I checked it was 85%! They say there may be thundershowers tonight and tomorrow, so how many little people will be in my bed? I REALLY need a bigger bed!!!