One of my top favorite things is seeing my boys play together. Their interests and stages of life are starting to diverge, but they still really love playing together. I know it won't be forever, so I have to document it while it lasts.
P.S. Colin was shocked when he found out today that not all mommy's have blogs.
I came home from a run one day and found these two in Colin's new nerf gear and they had nerf guns pointed at me like I was an intruder. Good thing I've already established the rule: No shooting mommy!
We are finishing up school this week (yea!) and sometimes a boy just needs a quick nap in the hammock to recharge.
And sometimes a boy can just as quickly turn that hammock into a ship...
I think it may have been a bigger day for Alison, than for Ben.
Alison went to youth group for the first time Sunday morning. They just started meeting during the first worship service and Alison decided she was ready to go. California mandated masks to be worn in buildings again, so we had to wear masks at church, but that didn't stop this brave girl.
Alison and Lily:
Ben played music for both services and Alison stayed with him for both. The boys and I went to first service and then picked up Jimmy Johns for lunch for everyone. We all met up and headed to the beach!
It was not the picturesque beach day, but several families from church invited us to join them and Ben thought that was the perfect way to celebrate Father's Day. Again, Alison won the day and got to hang out with all of the older girls on the picnic blanket to the left...the adults are the group to the right :)
She's entering into a new territory of life. She kept saying, "I'm not the oldest anymore!". Needless to say, an afternoon with these youth group girls made the smile on her face pretty big.
We were given a couple of wet suits and one fit Eli perfectly! You can't hear them talking in this clip, but Elias said to Eli, "Come on man, just grab a surf board!" (all the families brought a couple and would just borrow eachothers)...to which Eli looked at him like he was INSANE and said, "I don't even know how to surf!!!"
This was another view that left me wondering how our life entails this: a coastline full of surfers.
They decided to boogie board instead.
Ben shared a few specialty, local beers with the other dads and got to spend the afternoon watching his kids have the time of their lives. I am so thankful for the dad that Ben is to our kids and am even more thankful for the partner in this whole parenting thing, that he is to me.
Eli does not like reading aloud, praying aloud, answering questions in front of a large number of people and definitely does not sing. So when he picked up the ukulele last week and started walking around the house playing and singing, I almost fell to the floor. Who is this kid? Oh right, Ben Shear's kid. Of course he can just pick up an instrument and start playing and sing a song I've never heard before.
We had cinnamon rolls in the shape of an 8 for breakfast before we headed to church.
Plans for his birthday had to be rearranged a little. Some families from church were going to have a picnic at the park and Colin wanted to join in on that. But one little boy got sick and they canceled plans last minute. Colin still requested a lunch box from Sprouts and we had our own picnic at home.
He opened presents and then we went by the park to see if anyone still ended up going (they didn't) and played on the newly re-opened equipment.
Eli got him a Fortnite blanket just like he has. Colin liked it just a little :)
When Grandma asked me what she should get Colin for his birthday, I said, "Anything but the walkie talkies." We had a good laugh about it...and then, guess what daddy decided to buy Colin with talking to me? Thankfully, this round of walkie talkies can be used OUTSIDE and so far have made nerf wars a whole new level of fun.
Just some parents at the park, realizing their baby is 8...
When we got back from the park, a couple of the neighbor boys came over and played nerf guns and had cake with us. Ben set up a fun game for them, where they had to hit different targets that earned points.
Another year for Oreo cake!
For dinner, Colin requested ham, potatoes and peas.
We ended the night, snuggled up on the couch, watching 'The Good Dinosaur'.
To my surprise, Eli has loved Colin's presents maybe even a little more than he has. I bought him a Skip-it and Eli has been using it nonstop. Colin says his feet aren't big enough for it yet. This was Eli's first attempt and I think it will forever make me laugh. Don't worry, he's a pro now.
Covid-19 has brought Super Mario back into our house. We brought out all of the "old" electronics and have had fun playing old games. Ice cream has also become a staple...
Eli is looking older by the day; eating ice cream while playing Mario:
We had a couple of "Home Ec" weeks for school (will blog about it on the other blog soon) and it was 100% all the work. Alison made Turmeric Honey Chicken for dinner one night in the Insta Pot.
Our sourdough starter came alive this week! I never knew bread could make me so happy. I made our first loaf of sourdough sandwich bread and it was SO delicious, it was gone in a day.
There are moments when we realize how California is changing us. Eli asked for help to make a snack one day...he requested avocado toast (on homemade sourdough bread) with an acai bowl. I'm pretty sure this sums up California cuisine right here.
{He's also been reading like crazy on his kindle}
We needed a change of pace one day, so the kids and I picked up Chick-fil-A for lunch and then went to Mugu to build a sand castle while Ben got some work done.
While we were there, a sea lion was swimming up and down the beach, super close to the shore.
Colin wanted to grow his hair out like daddy during quarantine. He was set on not getting it cut, until daddy did (some hair salons are open now, but not the ones on base and Ben is still not required to get it cut). I think this is the longest his hair has ever been, but he hit his max this weekend and asked for me to cut it.
His expressions in this video remind me of when he was 3. He's always had the best expressions.
Alison has been begging to go thrift shopping in Ventura. I held off as long as possible, because hello, Coronivirus and riots, but we finally made it. I was shocked to see all the stores and restaurants downtown open and it was just as busy as a normal Saturday. We even sat in traffic for awhile, which hasn't happened since early March. We had to wear a mask to go in any store, but we still had a fabulous time.
Hey, hey! We were even able to go out to dinner that night! We tried a burger place close to our house. It was okay, but not worth returning to.
We went to church on Sunday (yea!) and spent the evening on the beach with some friends. We decided to be spontaneous and have a picnic dinner and it was the best decision ever. Okay, not a great decision was not wearing swimsuits; but to be fair, we all thought it was going to be super cold. It was not and I should know by now, that when a kid is by the ocean, they are going to get wet, no matter what the conditions are. Colin and Tatum worked hard to pull in this giant pile of seaweed and then had a dug of war contest with it.
This was my view: the big girls digging a hole and the littles pulling seaweed. Pretty great view.
I wouldn't mind in the least if Sunday dinners on the beach became a routine.
