More summer fun

So we got to go swimming a couple of times because Daddy's scouts had merit badges to earn. Mason is a funny kid. He likes the water, but he doesn't like being in the kiddy pool alone; he is afraid of splashing, but he keeps wanting to go down the water slide; he clings like a leech to Mommy in the water, but every so often does something that causes him to go under.

Aiden loved every minute of it.

 We went to one of those places that reenacts old battles. I didn't realize that I now live in an area that was involved in the Civil War.

Mason got a kick out of the guns and all the horses. His preschool assigns the kids an animal as a sign, to label his cubbyhole, etc, and his is a horse, so he is really into them right now.

 It was HOT!

And we decided to make some cookies. It's so much fun making cookies and bread and stuff with the kids. Mason even helps me with dinner sometimes.

I wonder if it is because of the samples.

He's learning he has to share them with his brother though.

Yum!

One random day we were bored and Mike decided to take us to a cool place he knew of nearby. It used to sit over a lake and you could pull boats up to it, and was obviously very nice, but has been abandoned for years. Very cool though.

Mason liked this staircase. We had to be careful though, a couple was shooting engagement pics and we didn't want to get in the way.

Look at how good he walks!

He's so proud of being able to walk everywhere.

And I couldn't resist these last two pictures. One of the first times we gave Aiden spaghetti and I don't think he's ever looked that messy. Spaghetti makes it look worse than it is sometimes.

Love the spaghetti on the wall. Good thing we haven't worked on the kitchen yet.

Pre-school

Another thing I'm being slow about, Mason started pre-school in August. He's loving it! He got a new hair cut and a new backpack and he gets to ride the bus, and he's learning how to talk more, and it's great.  Here's some pictures of him on one of the first days of school, waiting for the bus.

I'm glad he is enjoying school and all, but I miss him. And sometimes I think he likes school better than home. But his vocabulary is expanding now rapidly, he is much more communicative, and he's started potty training finally. So it's a good thing.

But I miss him. 

Aiden's birthday

Aiden's birthday party was a little late because big brother was sick. And this post is super late because Mommy was slacking. Mommy made a strawberry/vanilla smash cake for Aiden with whipped cream frosting. It was mostly white, but we put some green food coloring in some of it so we could write on it. He liked.
Here's a video of it with some pictures.

Happy first birthday baby boy!

Mason's b-day

Mason turned three on Sunday! So sad, and yet so cool.

We had a combined birthday party with his Grandpa Blake, whose birthday was two days before.

Mason couldn't quite figure out how to blow out the candles for some reason. He did good at the party at Tutu's but he kept making raspberries here.

He got some nice presents.

He especially loved the train set from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Larson and all the donated trains and track pieces Grandma and Grandpa added to it.

Happy birthday my big boy!

Random Aiden cuteness

Mason has a camping chair which Aiden has some sort of fascination with. He keeps climbing into it randomly and sitting in it.

Every time I think he'll fall and hurt himself, but he hasn't so far.

He's too cool for that.

And for some reason the other day, Mason decided that he was a horse and Aiden should ride on his back, so Auntie Tiffany obliged.

And here is a cute video of Aiden with a couple cute things he does.

Trip to Tutu's

The boys and I took a trip to see Tutu (my mom) for a few days. Mike couldn't come, he had to work. We took the train to get there in order to save money, and so I could take both boys.

Mike took us to the train station and after we checked our bags, we wandered around the station, waiting for our train to leave.

The kids loved the train! So much room, and they were able to move around.

The day after we got there, we went to the zoo with my sister and her girls.

They had a super cool tiger!

Mike gives me a hard time because I didn't take many pictures, but I pointed out that I'm not used to taking pictures, that he usually does it.

Here's Mason having a cool boys shirt off time. Uncle Todd and Cousin Eli took their shirts off, so Mason decided he should too.

We made cute footprints of all the kids for Tutu's yard.

Then we went to Chicago. This was a train on exhibit in the museum. They had lots of trains, and Mason liked them a lot.

They also had a cool exhibit where chicks hatched.

And a cool WW2 submarine!

We got to go inside but Mason got freaked out and Tutu took him out.

The morning we left, I woke up to find Aiden sleeping all funny in the pack and play. So cute!

And apparently, Mike missed me a lot. He left roses on the table. The cat knocked them over, but didn't hurt them.

He also bought me some goodies.

The kids were glad to be home. Aiden was glad to be able to go anywhere without being stopped (there were stairs most places we went)

  and Mason was glad to have his cars back.

The day we got back, my sister showed up and stayed here for a couple of days so we had some fun with them.

Five kids in our house. Crazy fun!