Story from Char

Ethan is stealthy.  He has been quickly and quietly sneaking out of his crib at both Char's and our house.  He doesn't do it often because we had an opportunity one night to have a stern conversation with both boys about why it is important to stay in our beds.  Owen has surprisingly understood and obeyed our request to stay in bed.

Well I forgot to mention to Char that Ethan has acquired spiderman like agility skills overnight (I watched him one night and it is amazing how he springs over the side of his crib).  So when I picked up the boys this afternoon she had to share with me the opportunities she had with Ethan during nap.  :)

The kiddos at Char's house are all spread out based on age.  The big boys nap in the living room floor area with their blankets.  The babies and "in-between" boys (aka E and O) are split between Tyler's room upstairs and a spare bedroom downstairs.  Ethan is downstairs.  So today Char came downstairs during nap time to find Ethan's napping room door wide open.  She usually shuts the door but thought she may have forgot.  On her way to check the door she saw Ethan out of the corner of her eye, opening the gate to go into the TV room in the basement.  That little bugger was making an escape!

Char returned Ethan to his crib and shut his door.  She then went to brush her teeth in the bathroom in the basement.  While she was brushing she could hear the door knob to Ethan's room being wrangled with by a boy who hasn't quite mastered the door knob turning skill.  Char then had an opportunity to have a similar conversation with Ethan about why it is important to stay in his crib.  He did fall asleep and take a nap but jumped out of his crib when he was done napping and waited patiently by the gate at the bottom of the stairs for Char to come get him.

Oh, what a turd!  Ethan may be transitioning to the big boy nap setting upstairs soon!  I can only imagine how that will go and what Owen's response will be.  Hopefully Char can continue her amazing training of the boys so they will want to sleep in big boy beds at home.  :)

A Whole Decade

Ten years ago today we went on a date.  A summer ten years ago we met at Gustavus and now we are excitedly going back to Gustavus.

I love you Charlie Potts!

Swinging!

The boys enjoyed swinging at the park and had a blast sitting together!  I love it when they play well with one another.  

 

Park

Today was a pretty chilled day.  We had a few errands to run but mostly just some things around the house to work on throughout the day.

E, O and I ventured to our favorite neighborhood park to play this morning before lunch.  Charlie had us well prepped to run around at the park as he surprised us with delicious donuts for a "special treat" (as Ethan calls it).    The boys were excited to have full reign of the park and covered every inch of the grounds.  We chased each other on the grass, watched two people play tennis on the tennis courts, climbed like monkeys, slid down slides, climbed up slides, and flew to great heights on the swings.

 

Breakfast on the Farm

Saturday morning the Grimmius crew and Potts crew loaded up their vehicles to catch a school bus at the Owatonna Fleet Farm.  All little boys were excited for the big day to ride a school bus, see farm animals, and eat pancakes.

We boarded the bus around 8:30 AM.  It was Weston's, Ethan's, and Owen's first time riding the bus.  All handled it well but Owen would have needed the jaws of life to be removed from me at any point during the ride.    As soon as we got to the farm, we waited in line for breakfast.  As Charlie and Annie kindly held our spots, Tanner and I took three of the four boys to pet the baby calves, pigs, goat, and chicks.  Both E and O actually pet the animals!

After some animal petting, breakfast was served.  Everyone chowed down on some huge, delicious pancakes and some interesting colored sausages.  All the big boys got to wash it down with their own carton of chocolate milk too.  With full bellies, the farm exploration began!

First we need to drive some tractors.

Those geese sure do honk a lot!

"Oh, a piggie touched me (and it is stinky)!"

"Oh boy to I have a silly brother and goofy cousins!"

"Aaahhhhh, chocolate milk."

"Mmmmm, pancakes!"

"So yummy!"

Enjoying the farm from the best seat in the house.

Miles had a super fun train ride.

Everyone had a really exciting horse and wagon ride!

Weston really like the wagon.

It was such a soothing ride that he bounced to sleep.

  Thank you to Annie and Tanner for a fun Friday night and Saturday!  We all had a blast and are exhausted!