Summer Days

He can finally skate with full confidence!

He just, you know, decided he’d find some worms. He found 10 in about 5 minutes. I have no idea how he does this. 

Grandpa and Elias were both dressed for work at UNL, but we couldn’t convince Grandpa it was take-a-toddler-to-work day. 

It’s so amazing to have a house that’s big. This activity used to take up my entire living room. Now it takes up half my kitchen. 

Aunt Pat gave the boys a children’s museum pass for all their birthdays!!! We’ve already been three times. 

One of my current favorites. Elias yells “thocker geem!” and then throws and kicks every soft ball we own. He will randomly fall flat on his tummy while doing this and yell “catcher fall down”. He will randomly assign points...usually 2 or 5. And just in case you forget what’s going on, he will run up to you and say “mine thocker guy. Thocker game!”.

This is also the child who sets up the bowling pins (which is impressive for a 2 year old), steps back, and says “bathket ball” in his most serious tone. Then he stares at the pins for a few seconds before rolling the ball. 

Lewis loved his hair like this after a shower.

Elias decided to sharpen his chain saw after watching the tree trimmer. 

Tree Trimming

The electric company took down a tree that was too close to their lines.

My chain sawing, tree trimming toddler couldn’t get enough! We took the cedar out in the front yard the same week. It was 30 feet high and two feet from our foundation. 

It was a lot of fun to watch!

Our next door neighbor happens to be a tree trimmer and was willing to take the tree down. 






Augustine was given the leaf blower and asked to clean off all the sidewalks. He was SO happy! It was a huge privilege and he did a great job. 

Then he was asked to help out with logging. He couldn’t contain his excitement! 

He said it was the best day of his life and had to write it in his summer journal!

Cheap Fun

Our neighborhood had garage sales last week. We weren’t really planning to hunt for treasures, but like I said...wingin’ it. 

We ran to one sale and there were so many close together that we just kept stopping. Everyone found a treasure!

Augustine has been wanting the Paw Pateoller for over a year. That silly thing is $50 and comes with one guy and one truck. I couldn’t even bring myself to allow someone to gift it to him. It’s just a complete marketing rip off. We found it for $3.50. 

I found a travel white noise maker for $0.50. 

Augustine also found a Mighty Max set for $0.25.m, and the set of phones and bases for $1 as well. 

Elias snagged a chain saw for $1. 

Lewis found a bag full of spy gear for $1. 

I found an outdoor patriotic metal star I’ve been wanting for the garage for $2. It was a fun afternoon!

He Wears Many Hats...

Swim Lessons

Everyone is taking swim lessons (thanks Grandma Kathleen!) for five weeks. Elias is big enough now too. I knew he’d be a cryer, but each week is a little better. 



The big boys are doing great and love seeing their teachers again. 




Many parents tak about their little kids falling asleep during lunch. Elias managed to fall asleep during swim lessons while riding piggy back on his teacher in the pool. Of course, she and another teacher noticed right away. It’s exhausting enough to swim, and when you’re just not sure about it all so you cry the whole time...well it just gets you really sleepy. 

Staycation, Part 2

With our ac not fixed and G&G had other guests arriving,  we moved to Logan’s teammate’s house. They are at training anyway so they were glad to have someone around the house for a few days while they are away. It was wonderful, except it’s not close to our mid-town life, so we were constantly driving back into town. Elias was really tired of his car seat. 

There were fun things to play!

We enjoyed seeing friends at the parish out there after Sunday Mass. 

The library provided lots of books and videos for us. 

We had a family movie afternoon...Homeward Bound. 

We got into a routine of getting everyone ready for the day and then driving back into town. The weather was halfway decent in the mornings, so we stopped at a park each morning before being where we needed to be. It worked well for the boys. 

We got dentist appointments taken care of. 

And on day three of staying there, our ac was fixed and we went home. Augustine and I went back the next day and cleaned the house. 

Thanks for letting us stay, Chapmans!

Staycation, Part 1

We took an unexpected staycation this summer. It may happen again. 

Our ac went out so we spent the afternoon at G&G’s, which turned into four days...and our ac still wasn’t fixed. We had lots of fun!

This was a wedding...must’ve been a firefighter getting married because the rig stopped by for photos and sounded it’s siren! Augustine was amazed...the bar is set. 

Thanks for letting us stay G&G!