Wednesday, July 17, 2013

4th of July with Grandma and Pa Brown

The last couple years we had gone to SLO for the 4th but this year Ryan's mom and dad came to our house...I think we were being used for our air conditioning as it was towards the end of the intense heat wave.  :)  But we got to do so many fun things while they were here and the boys loved having them around.  From hanging around the house, to playing with chalk on our back patio, swimming in their little pool, a great night for Jake and his first fireworks and then a night alone with Grandma and Pa while Ryan and I had a date night....we all had a really great time.  That is a really great thing about this blog, I get to concrete down all these memories and keep them for the future while we also get to share them with our friends and family.  :)
 AJ showing off his chalk.  Mornings are the best time to let the boys play outside as its cooler and much more pleasant to be outside...also explains why they are still in their jammies.  :)
Pa laughing at AJ's coloring style 
 AJ showing off his artistic skills
 Jake is really concentrating on his picture
 Having fun with Grandma Peg
 Happy Happy Boy...who also happens to be covered in chalk...it was straight to the bath with these two after we were done.
 These boys can never get enough of coloring.  Here Jake got both Grandma and Pa to color with him.
 Pa had to share the couch with the boys....he doesn't seem to mind much though.  :)
 Some serious reading
 My boys having fun reading on their own.  Jake was studying up on the new Toy's R Us catalog as we were about to take him there to pick out a new backpack for starting preschool in August.  What did he choose?  A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Backpack and a Bumblebee Transformer Lunchbox.  :) 
 This 4th of July we let Jake do fireworks for the very first time.  Unfortunately AJ did not get to enjoy them as he was already in bed asleep.  We were trying to go out in the dark to start them but Jake was starting to get tired and so we had to start early.  But he quickly fell in love with fireworks and got all hyper, so we were able to take a dessert break and then do the rest in the dark.  But the plus side was that I was able to get some great pictures in the light.  :)  Here is Jake with his very first firework...a sparkler.
When we did a bigger one Jake was pretty excited... 
 ...and even a little amazed :)
 Loving fireworks :)
 One of his favorites was the little ones that you can light throw and then they spin around really fast and show a little globe of color.  Here he is lighting his first one...
 ...and the throw :)
Enjoying the show while sitting with his grandma in the bed of our truck :)
 Happy Fireworks boy
I think we all had a really great time!
But never fear, in case anything got out of hand...we had a little firefighter at the ready.  :)
AJ loves these drawing toys, does not matter how big it is or how well it works, he loves them.
Playing with "guys" as their daddy calls them.  So much fun watching these two play superheroes.  Jake knows them all by name, AJ calls them all "man."  :)


How We Spent our Hot Weekend :)

A few weeks ago we had a really hot weekend where temps were in the 117 degree range.  So we spent the weekend inside, going to places with good air conditioning, and we let the kids spend lots of time in their little pool in the backyard.  We made our own fun but I am already looking forward to a nice cool Fall and Winter.  :)
Ryan and Jake cooking us up some yummy Breakfast Burritos for dinner.  I love breakfast for dinner.  :)
The boys could hardly wait for me to fill up their pool so they could go swimming.
We had gotten them some of those pool diving toys that are super heroes, Superman, Batman and Flash Gordon.  Awesome toys for a small kids pool, they have so much fun with them. Surprisingly their favorite one to play with is Flash.
Happy Little Boys
Their favorite part of the pool...they can splash as much as they want.  :)
How the Brown Boys survive the heat, smoothies and juice in the pool.  :)


Friday, July 12, 2013

Going to the Mountains!!!!

A few weeks ago we went to see my parents at their house in Arnold up in the mountains.  I could hardly wait to get back to the mountains and show the trees and the beauty to the boys.  We had a really wonderful time and I am already looking forward to more trips there in the future.  :)
Of course before we went we had to do some shopping...AJ was very serious about it.  :)  This shopping cart is one of his favorite toys right now.
It was a long car ride to the mountains and so we put a DVD into the player in the car and introduced the boys to the headsets for the first time.  They looked so stinkin cute in those things.  :)
Jake of course was a goof ball :)
We made it!!!  Of course Jake started the day coloring on the patio with his Pa.  :)
Is it just me or does Jake match his shirt?  :)
That's better.  :)  Jake really loved all the pine cones.
Pa showing Jake the picture he just took, both my boys always want to see the picture as soon as its taken...good thing they were born in the digital age. :)
Jake introducing AJ to pine cones
"Look what I found Mommy!"
AJ loved exploring once he figured out how to get his footing without barreling down the hills and eating it in typical AJ fashion.  :) 
Of course AJ's favorite part of Grandma and Pa's house were the stairs between the patio and the backyard.  :)
Jake having fun with his Grandma
Exploring the Woods :)
All this fresh air will make boys hungry :)
Too much cuteness :)
And of course more coloring :)
We had such a good time seeing my parents and being in the mountains over this weekend and the boys are already looking forward to going again.  I love the family trips we have been able to take, so much fun and so many great memories
 


Family Fun

We have been having a great time so far this summer doing all sorts of stuff, and trying to stay cool.  :)  We have such crazy and silly boys that we are always very entertained at our house.  They truly are boys and they now enjoy to wrestle each other to the ground...I thought I had a few more years before that started.  :)  So wonderful to see our two little boys grow up and build a great relationship together.  They really do adore each other and when one is gone the other is a lost little soul.  :)  I now have 3 weeks of work left until I get to stay home with these guys and I can hardly wait.  They are just so much fun to be with and I am a very lucky mommy to get this opportunity.  :)
On this afternoon I was playing on my laptop and Jake decided that he needed to do the same.  He is just now realizing that this toy actually has games on it.  :)  Before now he just liked hitting buttons and hearing the music.
My crazy boys :) 
 They love to play in Big Brother's room...guess that is where the cool toys are...and of course the big boy bed.  :)

 I love my boys
 My two little Super Heroes.  Jake got these toys for his Birthday where you snap them to a t-shirt and then you can push on them to make all sorts of noises.  Here Jake is Captain America and AJ is Iron Man.  They LOVE these things.  :)
 These pictures are not the best quality but at least you can see them.  Jake had his end of the year AWANA ceremony after we got back from Texas and he was super excited as he already missed it.  We sat towards the back as we had AJ but AJ was super excited and was clapping for everyone and yelling "Yey" and waving his arms around.  Yeah, there is a reason we sat at the back and have grainy pictures.  hehe  Jake is in the black t-shirt, 3rd from the left.
 Of course when Jake found us he yelled "Hi AJ" which just made AJ more excited.  lol
 Jake and his buddy Caleb showing off their certificates.
 Movie Night!!! :)  My boys always love Wednesday nights when Ryan has basketball at church because I let them have a movie night and pick out whatever they want.  This particular night was Ratatouille, one of their favorites.  :)  So cute hanging out together on the couch.
 One of Jake's favorite things to do lately is bake, so on this afternoon we made some snicker doodles.  They turned out very well and Jake was very proud.  :)
 Jake and AJ also LOVE to color...pretty much an every day activity.  We got them some BIG coloring books at Wal-Mart (Jake has his new favorite Ninja Turtles and AJ has Superman or "man" as he calls almost every super hero) and they found that coloring them on the floor worked the best.  :)
My little goof-ball.  Jake loves to dress up as super heroes and also loves to get his picture taken.  He is always quick to pick a pose.  He really is my little ham.
Snack time!!!
I never seem to learn that if I am eating something tasty and AJ likes it...I will lose it quickly.  :)  The other night we had Basil Pesto Tilapia (delicious by the way...Costco) and he quickly discovered that he loved it and went on to eat half of my dinner.  Maybe his picky eating phase will not last as long as his brother's.  :)