Monstah' Trucks

 We believe in a classic American education...

 ...the symphony one weekend,

 and monster truck jam the next.

Classic and refined!

Rock Climbing

 When you go rock climbing with lots of little kids,

don't forget to take...

 ....bandaids!

 Lots of them!

 

 And don't forget to bring helmets either.

 Especially when you get to climb in cool crevices.

Well, we forgot both.

But Christian has major bragging rights,

and we all made it home with only minor scrapes and no ticks.

Which in my book is cause for some much needed Kimball's ice cream

(anything in my book is cause for Kimball's ice cream).

Ice cream for lunch actually.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Mystic Seaport

 Grandpa stopped by on his way home from Canada.

I love visitors.

 I always try and find a new place to take visitors when they come.

We have lived in New England seven years,

and I am still finding new gems of places.

And to make the adventure even more exciting,

we got to do a scavenger hunt using all different navigational tools.

 

So, who is coming next?

There is still more of New England to be seen!

Nerdy Stuff

 My kids love robots.

I am pretty sure we checked all the robot books out of the library.

One shelf in the library is completely empty.

 Well, it was a bonus when we got to see and touch them all,

and talk to some of the leading engineers in the industry.

The robotics conference was a big it at our house.

MIT put on a chemistry magic show.

And of course, the favorite "magic" experiments were...

...the explosions.

I love how excited my kids are about learning.

Kate's Big Day

 We are in love with Kate.

This is how we all feel about taking family pictures!

A Crush on Scouts

Our boys are simple and have few crushes in life...

guns and all things weaponry,

Star Wars,

robots,

and scouts.

Fathers and Sons Campout

 

 While the boys camped,

we went out to dinner,

and slept in the same cushy bed,

and had the most delightful time.

Just me and my girls.

Camelbaks

 The kids were so excited when the Camelbak's came in the mail.

They filled them up and just started drinking,

and drinking,

and drinking,

and drinking,

and drinking,

and drinking,

and drinking.

And then they started peeing,

and peeing,

and peeing,

and peeing,

and peeing.

And maybe one of them only had 98764358762345 accidents.

Filling Our Honey Pot

 Our bees upped and moved.

I tried everything I could to keep them.

I saw them trying to swarm and went and caught the queen 4 times and put her back in our hive.

But alas, they left.

I'm seriously sad.

They survived the most brutal winter.

But they left their delicious sweetness behind.

And of course, a nameless child broke a jar.

Sticky, precious, sweet honey oozed all over the counter and onto the floor.

But if there is anything I have learned as a mother,

it is to not cry over things that can't cry over you.

Cabuby

 

Cabuby is such a character.

He is a chatterbox.

He has some fire in his bones

and is a little mischievous.

He hates taking time out of playing to use the facilities.

He loves oatmeal and his blankie.

He is super sweet to Kate,

but has learned to hold his own to his older siblings.

I love Cabuby

The Force

Two quick Daniel stories...for journaling purposes.

Last week, Daniel was sitting reverently (more than normal) during Sacrament Meeting.  I thought that Daniel was really maturing and starting to listen to the talks.  Well, come to find out, he was using "the force" to make people sitting in front of us turn around.  And by "the force" I mean he was starring them down til they could sense someone was starring them down.


Grandma Ruth helped beautify our yard (as she does every time she visits).  In April we planted a bunch of colorful flowers.  When Daniel saw them, he said

"It looks like General Conference."

I love that boy!