Door County, WI: The Beach {2}

Truth be told, the mister and I would rather be at the top of a cool mountain than sitting on a hot beach.  Yes, it's beautiful and it's fun to play in the water and the sand... but it's also hot.  Not so on this trip, and I just might have changed my mind about the beach.  The weather was lovely... sunny but not terribly hot with just the right amount of wind and occasional cloud cover to make me want to come to the beach repeatedly. 

The children were delighted.  They made sand castles that seemed to have a decidedly mexican flair (think sombrero).  But, hey they were without any tools, and they were so pleased with their creations.  The water was a bit cool but with the sun, it was pleasant.  They ran in and out, playing, splashing, and thoroughly enjoying themselves.  They collected rocks, dug their fingers into the moist, thick sand and got as wet and sandy as they possibly could. 

rainy day play

Last week we had a rainy day just as the boys were feeling well enough to go outside and play.  After a morning of occupying themselves, I started to hear the dreaded "I'm bored."  [Usually, I let them figure it out but every once in a while I understand the need for instruction.] 

So, I brought out some cardboard and asked them what they would like to make.  Nathaniel immediately said a "space helmet."  The twins jumped on board with the idea.  No one cared that the box I brought out was a huge Sams Club size diaper box.  So, we created a very spacious space helmet.   ;)

The painting and decorating took up a good chunk of time, and they had lots of fun.  Jude and Ethan told me so repeatedly.  Sometimes fun can be so simple.  Of course it can also be messy which does give me pause before I suggest an art activity.  For me personally, it has helped to have certain supplies put away for just when we need it.  We have an old sheet dedicated to messy projects.  I've also put together a bag full of paints, brushes, glue, and cut up paper that we can just pull out when the mood strikes.  I need to put in more collage items for smaller projects.

And now, we can take our helmet out and play as astronauts, sometimes robot or if you're Jude - you can be George Washington giving a speech from his space helmet.

"george washington"

  I almost forgot to ask, what do you do with littles on a rainy day?

silly boys

 I found this on the computer.  Despite the poor quality, it's plenty clear that the boys were having quite a bit of fun on the webcam.  I'm still wondering where I was when all this was happening because there are several recordings.  But, what I love the best is that they were having fun together. 

Nathaniel took over the singing at the beginning.  Jude's doing a whole lot of background dancing, and I'm pretty sure Ethan was responsible for the visual effects.

and please pay no attention to the mess behind them, it has since been somewhat tidied.

And for their grandparents, who I"m sure will ask me to translate the lyrics. here they are. (accuracy to the original is completely unknown)

Compassion and mercy from you to me and me to you and you to me

Exactly what God wants to see, and yes that is the point. Hey!

Jonah was a prophet, ooh-ooh

But he never really got it, it's sad but true

If you want you can spot it, doodly-doo,

He did not get the point

It's true in your life, you probably don't ride on a camel

or you won't wake up inside a large aquatic mammal

So in your life, there's something you can do

 Everyone deserves a second chance from you.

around the house

As of last night, N has one-less tooth and his mama is so excited and sad/anxious/nostalgic at how big her first baby is getting.  He is beyond excited as he's been waiting for this happy occasion for over a year now.  He's been shaking it for about a week and yesterday, he came to show his daddy and without a single tear, mid-coversation, his daddy just pulled out the tooth.  I was most surprised given that I remember teeth pulling as an event with lots of tears, running away, and other high-strung antics.  *cringe*

My parents have been living with us for over two months.  Today was their departure day, and it is a transition!  I am thankful for the time we had together and for the bonds that span the generations.  This morning, Ezra joined his appacha as soon as he woke up for some snuggling...

some music and dancing...

and looks like he needed some coffee too...

The older three.. well, I found them spread out on the bed with their assorment of creatures.   Jude and Ethan literally travel through the house with these friends and make up stories and chat incessantly with each other.  I suppose N decided to join them today. 

Take a closer look, what do we see.  Oh, it seems that everything has been injured and in need of medical attention.  I hear the airplane was attacked by an eagle mid-flight.  The others, I'm not quite sure but I did make it clear (I think) that they could only allow three more injuries for that's all the bandaids they had left.  We shall see, I suppose.  This is why we buy the cheap stuff.

And finally, a glimpse of how we are enjoying spring in MN, force it and bring it in indoors.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with our recent spring weather - we've had winter weather advisories which brought snow, freezing rain and other such silliness that should not be seen in the spring!  But, I am thankful that we didn't see the 6 inches predicted and that the snowblower got to remain tucked away! 

chefs and judges

I am desperately behind on posts but instead of playing catch up today, I thought I would just enjoy today's antics from my two talkative, moody, extremely imaginative goobers.  But first,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, back to the goobers... J & E can often be found playing some sort of imaginative game together, particularly when big brother is at school. It usually involves a lot of play acting and discussion, they are in character and need to be addressed accordingly, and they happily spend hours moving around the house chit-chatting and make- believing.  I love watching and listening them and wish I could somehow record all their chatter.  Today, I managed to take a few photos without getting the usual funny faces.

playing "chefs and judges"  (can you tell we probably watch too much foodnetwork tv?)



jude (the judge) telling ethan (the chef) how to cut his vegetables



the judge getting in on the rolling action.