Lego and the end of summer

I took these pictures today because we had one last lazy lego-building afternoon before the first day of school tomorrow.  I definitely feel like I'm ready for more structure and routine but I have loved these days of Lego building. So carefree, so childlike, so filled with all things little boy.  The boys have spent so many many hours this summer building and playing with Lego and (for the most part--minus the teasing and the hiding each other's favorite pieces) have gotten along so well while doing it. We have had such a busy summer and have been gone so much, but the days we were home I just left them to their Lego. What a fun summer to watch Christian, Ethan and Owen build and build and play together.  I don't want to forget their carefree childhood days! 

(This is their barricaded designated Lego spot downstairs they built to keep Lincoln out. Notice him trying to break in?) Also, Owen was napping while I took these, but he was very much a part if our summer Lego building!

Lego and the end of summer

I took these pictures today because we had one last lazy lego-building afternoon before the first day of school tomorrow.  I definitely feel like I'm ready for more structure and routine but I have loved these days of Lego building. So carefree, so childlike, so filled with all things little boy.  The boys have spent so many many hours this summer building and playing with Lego and (for the most part--minus the teasing and the hiding each other's favorite pieces) have gotten along so well while doing it. We have had such a busy summer and have been gone so much, but the days we were home I just left them to their Lego. What a fun summer to watch Christian, Ethan and Owen build and build and play together.  I don't want to forget their carefree childhood days! 

(This is their barricaded designated Lego spot downstairs they built to keep Lincoln out. Notice him trying to break in?) Also, Owen was napping while I took these, but he was very much a part if our summer Lego building!

Fishing on Strawberry

We went fishing on Papa's boat at Strawberry this summer one Saturday and had a great time.  Before we left we went over to great grandpa merkley's to get some pointers and some nightcrawlers.  I always thought as a kid that grandpa would go in the night or right after it rained to get the nightcrawlers that he used to fish with....well it turns out that he has this awesome contraption that has a rod that receives an electric charge and you stick it into the ground to electrocute the worms forcing them to come to the surface.

It was a little tricky trolling behind a ski boat so we resulted into anchoring up in one of the bays and bait fishing.  We were able to catch three nice rainbows and as the picture shows some of the boys were a little unsure about the living fish that we were taking home to eat the next day.  

Bees Games

Bees games have been so much fun to go to this year with Christian and Ethan.  They watch most of the game and keep track of the score.  Christian even was able to get a game ball which he was super proud of and so was I.  I look forward to going with them more in the future!  

Twin Lakes

Yesterday we loaded in the van after breakfast, threw in a bunch of snacks, and took the boys hiking. I can't believe this is the first time we've done this all summer! It's been a busy summer! But we had so much fun!  We hiked to Twin Lakes, up above Brighton. It was a pretty steep climb, on top of lots of loose rocks, but these boys were tough hikers! 

We made it to the lake and found our own secluded beach to eat snacks and throw rocks from. I could have sat there all day and watched our little guys, and they would have been content there throwing rocks all day.  

But after a bit we decided to go find a geocache, which was definitely a highlight of the day for the boys! We had to do a little (a lot!!) of bush whacking straight up, but eventually we found the treasure!  Which the boys scored two little figures from and we left two band aids in return (didn't have much to offer in our backpacks.). 

And then we even found one more geocache, which Christian found by using the clue "pull the plug" given with the coordinates. He pulled a rock out of a crevice in the boulder and there it was! He was so proud!  

All in all, it was a successful and memorable day!!  We need to do this more often. :)

Bathing Necessity

I think this baby knows that a sure ticket to the bathtub is playing in the toilet...

(especially when there is pee in it!! Ugh!  Will these little boys ever learn to flush?)

Seven Peaks

What a fun day!! I only wish we had another week of summer so we had time to go again! 

Highlights include:

The yellow slides in the kids area

Christian and Ethan braving the big water slides 

Lincoln loving his floatie in the lazy river

Daddy and Ethan falling off their tube and riding down the whole slide on their bums!

The "hot pool"

Christian riding backwards all the way down the blue slide.

Owen loving the twisty slide, being so grown up and doing it all by himself, then being so proud when he got to the bottom.