Happy Half Birthday, Andrew!

No, we don't celebrate half birthdays for everyone, just Andrew. His birthday is Dec 23 and we prefer to spread out the presents a bit. We still recognize the day but he only gets grandparent presents on that day. Anyway, after a 5:30am workout (that's right, that's REALLY early) I came home to a very eager Half Birthday Boy. He let me (Adam too) rest for a few minutes and then it was present time.

The traditional breakfast choice - Lucky Charms

We cleaned up Jacob's old bike last week and Andrew's been riding it ever since, but we made sure he knew that his bike was his main birthday present. By 7:30am we were at the park for our family bike ride. Everyone loved it and 7:30 is the time to be at the park to avoid all kinds of discomfort (like heat and humidity - although, I really can't complain, it's been beautiful!!).

This is my favorite part of the day. As Andrew rode around the track he sang at the top of his lungs. The words of his song were so appropriate (to a point) that I couldn't help but smile. He sang, "I feel so free that I could soar (that's the appropriate part) I'm not an egg anymore!!!" It's from a Backyardigans episode. Anyway, it was great.

Joshua - He finally admitted riding bikes is fun.

Sam is his own man - I don't think I have to worry about him following the crowd in future years. He has taken to removing his shoes no matter where we go, the grocery store, the park, the movie theater, church, you name it.

Andrew and Daddy

The rest of the day was filled with Toy Story 3 - fun movie - the book store and pizza for dinner. We came home and had an ice cream treat for his cake. Candles were placed in everyone's ice cream that wanted to blow (mostly Sam). All in all it was a great day.

Ice Cream

One of the doctors at work gave Adam and $25 gift card to Friendly's Restaurant. She is pregnant and having a very difficult time. Adam has been nice and I know she appreciates it. We decided to splurge and just do ice cream. It was quite a treat. Although I don't think I'll ever figure out Samuel's eating habits. He refused his strawberry shake altogether.

Freezing?!

I just had to post this and point and that on June 17 my boys were freezing. If you look closely, yes, that is Samuel in a winter coat. Andrew was in tears and Jacob was nice enough to lend his bathrobe. Joshua stuck it out and Jacob refused to be photographed in his jacket, but it was there. I guess this explains somewhat why they were dying when it finally reached 80 degrees.

A weekend in Vermont

Sounds almost romantic, doesn't it? The romance comes to a screeching halt when you throw in 4 boys, however, the boys did make for some great family fun. Yesterday we left our house at 6:40am to do a day's worth of site seeing in Vermont. Two and a half hours later we arrived at our first destination - The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, VT. Now, I shamefully must admit that I got all nostalgic when we arrived. I spent many a Girls' Camp in this place and it was weird and really fun to be back. The whole place has changed - things that were once there are gone, but mostly they've made HUGE improvements. What can I say, progress in the right direction is always good.

Oh - did I mention that it rained - a lot? However, we didn't let it spoil our fun and thanks to some good advice from Grandma we packed our rain gear.

Alright, so this exceptionally unflattering picture has a purpose. It's to point out that this hat and rain coat have lived for 17 years. I wore both when I was 16 for Girls' Camp in this very spot. Adam thought it was picture worthy if for no other reason than to document the survival of the rain gear. I must admit, the coat fit MUCH looser back then. We're working on that.

Heading into the Visitor's Center. A family from our ward were actually the inspiration for this whole thing. They had already had it all planned and Jill just mentioned it to me on Thursday. They were nice enough to let us crash their party and we are so thankful.

The Visitor's Center

These are sculptures by a woman names Angela Johnson. Her exhibit is on display in the Visitor's Center and we were blown away. Pictures don't do them justice. However, if you are interested in looking at more of her work her website is ajsculptures.com (of course, it's the kind of thing we will have to admire when on display, but they truly are beautiful).

Ben and Jerry's!!!!

So, while the Joseph Smith Memorial was fantastic, let's be totally honest. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory was a highlight. After a quick lunch we went on the tour, which is very interesting. However, the ice cream sample at the end was even more interesting.

Of course, the sample was just enough to wet our appetite. We got some more at the scoop shop just outside.

Did you get it all, Joshua?

This cracked us up. They have a literal graveyard for all their retired flavors. They have on the tombstone how long each flavor lived and why it "died." Jacob was disappointed this particular flavor didn't live long enough for him to try it.

This is my attempt at getting a fun picture of all 4 boys. Samuel had other ideas.

However, he did allow me to snap him solo - so generous of him.

After Ben and Jerry's we went to the Cabot Creamery. They have a little informational tour about how things are done, but mostly it was enjoyable for the samples provided afterwards. We all enjoyed tasting all the different cheddars they make at this particular facility. One could spend lots of money in a place like that.

Jacob was kind enough to provide his shoulders for better tour viewing for Sam. Right now they are watching the pallet stacker in motion.

After a dinner that was less than stellar dinner, Sam and I went outside while everyone else finished. He found this watering can and the owner of the establishment offered to fill it with water and let Sam water his flowers. I thought that was very generous as it had been raining all day already. The man said he was never one to turn down work. Samuel was in heaven and I was grateful for the useful distraction.

Yes, this picture is really as pathetic as it looks. We got home around 9pm only to find that we were locked out of our house. Andrew was soooo tired that it was all he could do to lay down on the steps in our garage, with the screen door half closed on him and moan. In the end we figured out a solution and everyone got to sleep in their beds.

Memorial Day

I'm not sure if our version of Memorial Day was in keeping with any sort of tradition. We did manage to catch a few minutes of the parade on Main Street. They do a really great thing here in Rutland, that I want to make sure we participate in next year. Veterans from the town gather in each of the towns cemeteries (I think there are 4 of them, all within walking distance of each other) and perform a 21 Gun salute and various other things in memory of those who have passed on in the service of our nation.

Unfortunately, this year we have been plagued by sickness. It really could be worse, although don't mention that to Joshua or Andrew as they are the ones to truly be miserable. Plus, Adam is working nights, which means sleeping days (or at least trying to - we just weren't meant to be up all night or sleep during the day). Anyway, in an attempt to do something patriotic I made a Flag Cookie. It's really a fruit pizza, but of course, today it's a flag. I hope we are on the mend, and can put this ill health behind us. Also, thank you to everyone who has or is serving for our country.

The Happy Birthday Month

So, there are a lot of pictures with this post because May is our birthday month. We had a surprise birthday party for Joshua this year. It actually worked out really well. We told him it would be on Saturday the 8th. He got to help plan the whole thing and loved that part of it. However, I contacted the guests and had them arrive Friday night for the surprise. Joshua got the best of both worlds - he got to help plan and be surprised.

Preparing for the SURPRISE!!

Marshmallow stacking competition. In the end the boys just ended up smashing them all together - it was a fantastic mess.

Joshua really wanted to have a silly string fight. I discourage this to anyone reading this post. I thought silly string disintegrated easily with a little water. Well, three weeks later and a few rain storms and we're still finding silly string. However - the boys loved it!

So the party started around 4:15. They played and then we had dinner. At 5:30 a babysitter arrived to watch Andrew and Samuel while we took the group to play Laser Tag. I HIGHLY recommend this to everyone. We played 6 or 7 games with all different variations of teams and everyone loved it. The "fish" stories on the way home were great. There were some girls who came in and challenged the boys and by the time we got home these girls were 10ft tall bullies that threw the boys into walls and kicked them. Can you guess who won that game :-)?

Now we come to the rest of the birthdays.

These are the Candy Monsters trying to attack Adam's Skor bar.

Don't worry, Adam defended it well.

Sam's turn. I can't believe he's three!!

It was the year of trucks, trucks and more trucks for our Sam. He loves them and so now we have a great collection of trucks.

The Birthday Breakfast

We chose to sing to Sam over his birthday donuts. We ended up singing 8 or 9 times. He'd blow out the candles, we'd sing and he'd say, "Again!" He also walked around the house all day singing, "Happy Birthday to me..."

The Cardboard Express and Random Pictures

This is Samuel enjoying a snack on the steps. He decided he was cold and grabbed some towels out of the laundry.

All aboard!

The following is what happens when you leave a 9 year old and a 4 year old to their own devices. Joshua and Andrew came upstairs one day laughing uncontrollably. Joshua had decided to shove Andrew into his hoodie, legs and arms in the arms and face in the hood. Fortunately for Joshua, Andrew thought it was hysterical and couldn't wait to document it. Apparently, they would get Andrew situated and start jumping. I guess life is full of simple pleasures.