Happy Birthday Guys!

Children's Discovery Garden

Saturday, we went to the Children's Discovery Gardens.
The boys loved playing in the water by Noah's Ark.

The boys also really liked the bear cave,

although Ruby wasn't crazy about it.

Jonah walked close to the plants to let them "get him . . ."
. . . while Ruby got the plants.

On the way to the car, Bentley said it was his

"worst day ever"

because we had to leave.

Jonah's Backyard Adventure

(I missed a fight with a bad guy between these pictures - I'm pretty sure Jonah won)

Pool Time

Once a week, we go swimming.

There's no way I can go alone with all the kids,

so we go after dinner

on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday

when John can go with us, and it's 1/2 price.

$6.50 for the 6 of us to swim for 2 hours.

Last night, Spencer and Brianna came with us.

it wasn't crowded last night - which is so nice
Spencer, Ruby, and Maxwell
Bentley spends most of the time with his face under water, so he gets to wear goggles

Ruby loves to splash
Jonah is fearless, so we have to watch him very closely

this summer, Maxwell has learned how to jump in the pool

and is brave enough to put his entire head under the water

- a big achievement for the kid who has been scared of water most of his life
Spencer and Brianna

life lessons

Earlier this week these sweet boys were painting

rocks at the kitchen table. (they got that idea here.)

After supervising for a while,and clearly

communicating the rules - only paint paper or rocks -

I went in the other room to work on something

(not my blog). When I came back a few minutes later,

both Bentley and Maxwell were covered in paint.

Almost all exposed skin had been painted black.

Bentley was very excited to have discovered the magic combination to make brown

or black paint out of red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and violet.
I immediatly took them outside and tried to scrub the

paint off of them. It was only part way though that procedure

that I realized I hadn't taken a picture of them covered in paint.

Lesson learned - If Mom is too angry to think about preserving

the moment for posterity, you're in big trouble.

Our Pioneer Day

Jonah and Maxwell hiding inside from Bentley
Jonah eating lunch on the floor

(at least he's eating, right?)

" Want this?"
" I guess I'll take it then."
Poor Ruby.
Watch her attempts at motion here.

Ruby's New Face

( I've yet to catch her with a complete nose wrinkle.

What you're seeing is a relaxed nose wrinkle.

When I get out the camera she reverts to a regular smile.)
At church yesterday one of the kids in primary said:

"Wow, your baby doesn't have much hair, does HE?

Well, I guess HE has a little. It's pretty orange, isn't it?"

Great. She was wearing a dress, so I'll assume he has

his pronouns mixed up, and not that

he couldn't tell our Ruby is a girl.

Pioneer Day Celebration

This morning our Ward held an early Pioneer Day breakfast.

(check out Jonah's pose here, so funny)

After the kids ate, we made these covered wagon things.

The breakfast concluded with a children's parade.

John and Jonah getting warmed up.

Max and Charles

S* and Ruby (who was very tired)
Maxwell and Jonah - ready to go

The Bishop starts the parade.
Bentley says the parade was the best part!
It's funny, since most people in the neighborhood were at the church, they decided to have the kids walk around the building once for their parade, instead of going around the neighborhood. I was afraid the kids would think that was dumb, but they all seemed to have a great time. Plus, it was super hot, so they were pretty much finished by the time they finished their lap. :)