Two's a crowd in a small sink...

Okay, just getting started...

Ellen ticks Lucas off quickly - 1 point for Ellen

Lucas comes in with a move that makes Ellen scream - it's a tie

Maybe this wasn't a good idea...

How I am able to sweep the kitchen floor...

Science Museum

This week is Lucas's last week of summer break, so I wanted to make it a great one. With that said, I think he is bored and would much rather be in preschool with his friends than with me trying to make his last week great! I guess I should be happy about that : )

Yesterday we went to the Science Museum in the neighboring city. It was so nice and we had a great time, although it was a little hot. We didn't even make it to the inside of the museum because we were having so much fun seeing the things on the outside. We spent three hours walking on the dinosaur trail, talking to the bears, singing to the farm animals, having a snack, playing on the playground and making some great music - as shown below.

Legos

The kid is really into Legos now. The thing is, however, that they are SO complicated! They might as well be called model airplanes. The instructions are 10 pages long, there are a lot of small pieces, and the pieces have to stay with their original box and can't be interchanged with other lego sets. They are labeled age 5+ and 6+, so a tiny bit advanced for a young 4 year old, but still. Anyway, all of this is ok because these sets provide hours of entertainment for Lucas and a lot of bonding time with for him and Jeff. This was the first set that he received - as a gift from Grandpa Schroeder. After Jeff and me helping him a few times he was able to put it together himself - and so proud of that accomplishment!

Elliott Clarence

After bath tonight Ellen insisted on putting on Lucas's outfit. We were being silly and calling her by her boy name, Elliott Clarence : )

Our friend, Olivier

Today was a great day! I went to see Eat, Pray, Love with my friend Marie and her friend Jessica. Afterwards we went back to our house and ordered pizza with Jeff, Marie's husband Olivier and the kids.

Olivier is so much fun and the kids love him. He's always trying to cause trouble for Jeff and me, like by telling Lucas to call him at "911" if he wants to watch Scooby Doo with him. Luckily the attention embarrasses Lucas and he hasn't really absorbed these instructions.

Tonight Olivier got us. We were all having bon bons for dessert. Ellen had a half of one in each hand, so her hands were pretty messy. Olivier got her attention and said, "Ellen, do this" as he put both hands on his forehead and rubbed them down the length of his face. So Ellen did it and this was the result. Luckily it wasn't hard to clean up and Ellen held no grudges. She was happy to cuddle with her buddy a little while later on the couch.

Crazy lady with a stroller...

And the crazy lady also had on a crazy outfit. Cute little dress with dorothy-like slippers, socks, and pink panties that she put on over her diaper - the wrong way so they were hanging down in the back.

Here she is realizing that Jeff's hand is on the stroller and poking at him to remove it...

Totall frustrated and hot at this point.

SaSa's Visit

Sandy visited last week for a few days. She's so great about coming every few months. We look forward to each visit and have a great time while she's here. We never really do much of anything, just mess around. This time we went on an adventure the newly renovated art museum. It was nice, but we ended up outside at my favorite part pretty quickly.

Ellen had her mind set on pushing the stroller instead of riding in it, which was fine until we were outside and it was getting hotter and hotter by the minute. She got so frustrated because she kept steering it into the grass, but would get even madder if we tried to help her. We cut the trip short and went out to lunch instead : )

And this is what the kitchen looks like most of the time when Sasa is here. We cook fun things while the kids color or "help" us cook.

First Practice

Getting ready...

It's going to be a challenge to keep the bird off the field. We finally went to a playground and skipped watching the practice.

Lucas was cute on his first day. He put on his serious face and focused on the task in front of him, most of the time. It was interesting to see how the kids approached the new sport in different ways. During one of the drills, some of the kids would just run fast and kick the ball as an after thought. Lucas focused on the ball and keeping it in front of him, but was slow. I'm sure he'll loosen up as he gets to know some of the other kids. I'm just so used to wide open, crazy Lucas that I'm always surprised to see him reserved.

Jeff is helping the coach with drills and stuff, so he's on the field and involved, but I don't think he's an official coach.

Soccer Stuff

The kid started soccer last Saturday. It is his second sport, as he did basketball last winter. I'm excited because soccer seems a lot more age appropriate... the kids just run towards the ball and don't have to worry about dribbling or shooting (with their hands). The day before his first practice we got him some shin guards and cleats and tried them out in the backyard. Of course Ellen had to be right up in the middle of things...

Our Night Nurse

Our little guy is helping us out at night these days. Both kids want him to sleep with them. When he started sleeping with Ellen a few months ago, she started sleeping through the night! It wasn't obvious that that was the reason, but it was about the same time. Now Lucas doesn't want to sleep alone, so he asks for Tyson each night, so after Ellen falls asleep we move Tyson to Lucas's room. He sleeps on Lucas's pillow, on top of his head. Thank you Tyson!!

A Great Vacation!

We had such a great time on our trip to visit family and friends in Georgia. We hope to do it again in November and are looking forward to seeing everyone again!

Bryan, Jenn, Shanna

Bryan, Wesley, Jenn, Ty, Mary, Shanna, Ellen and Lucas

Last, but not least...

Lauren! I didn't want to leave Georgia w/out seeing my other roomie from college, so we stopped by Lauren's house on our way home. Lucas was nice enough to take these pictures for us : )