Happy Father's Day!!

to Daddy, Papa, PaGaga, and PaPaw! We had a busy day hopping around to see all our "Pa's," but we're thankful that they all live in town. Sandy and I got to sleep in on Father's Day, because the boys stayed the night over at Ba and PaGaga's. We picked up the boys and spent a little time with PaGaga before he went golfing, his favorite thing to do on Father's Day or any day! Then we ran around Dick's Sporting Goods helping Daddy pick out a new golf bag. Then off to Papa's for hamburgers and some "Slip n Slidin'" with the cousins. Connery played in the baby pool most of the time, but Kieran, Meagan and Briana went back and forth to the Slip n Slide a lot. Logan and Jeffrey played badminton with Chris and Jack, while the rest of us rested on the porch and called out to Kieran to pull his shorts up. Poor guy, he has no curves. At one point, Nana chased the kids through the yard with the hose, and Kieran's butt was just a shining! ;) (Some good country talking for you there.)

The boys gave Daddy and Papa a toy tent with a man and boy figurine. Kieran gave Sandy his the day before Father's Day, because he couldn't wait. And as Papa opened his, Kieran couldn't wait to tell him it was "for camping." We had so much fun camping over Memorial Day, and I can't wait for the boys to go with Papa, the King of Campers! Sandy's going to buy a pair of sandals with his Father's Day money, and we'll see what Papa gets.

The next night, as Sandy put the boys to bed, he told them, "Let me know if you ever need anything. And I'll help you. But sometimes I won't, because sometimes you need to do it by yourself."
Kieran said, "Yeah, because you're my Daddy."
Sandy said, "That's right, and that's what my dad did for me. Sometimes he helped me and sometimes he didn't. But I always told him when I needed something."
Kieran said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a Daddy. When I'm THIS big."

Those days will be here sooner than we know. In the meantime, Sandy's doing an amazing job teaching him how to be a Daddy. Thank you.

An Untitled Play

A short play by Mommy, inspired by Kieran
A very true story

Kieran: (walking into Mommy's bathroom) Connery keeps knocking down my tower. So I just throwed it to him.
Mommy: You threw it AT him?
Kieran: Yeah. Because he won't not keep knocking down my tower.
Mommy: Kieran, that's not how we treat our brother. (Hears a muffled cry.)
Connery: (crying offstage, muffled) Mommy!! Mommy!!
Mommy: Wait. Is that Connery crying? Is your bedroom door closed?
Kieran: Yeah. But I didn't close it on his fingers.
Mommy:(Hurrying to the bedroom) But you don't close your brother in your room. He can't get out.(Opens the door to Connery, covered in tears)
Connery: (loudly now) Mommy! Mommy!
Kieran: Gryphon, can you kiss Connery on his boo-boo?
Mommy: Where is his boo-boo? (Connery points to his head)
Kieran: On his head, where I hit him with the blocks.

Fade to black

So leave a comment with your suggestion for a title and ending. This is a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure Play. What do you do? Stand him in the corner? Explain what he did wrong, make him apologize and let it go? Let Connery hit HIM in the head with the block? (Just kidding about that last one, though we may reach that point one day...)

Need a laugh?

Clearly, K & C have plenty to go around!!



Enjoy!

Siskel & Ebert meet Jurassic Park

No, we didn't take the boys to see Jurassic Park... (Geez, that movie even scares ME!) But we do have a new tradition as of last week! One of the local movie theatres plays free kid movies a couple of times a week during the summer, and this week it was Everyone's Hero...one of Kieran's favorites. (Thanks for loaning it, Finn!) I've been excited about taking him to see it, because he's never been to the movies before! I couldn't wait to see his reaction to the big screen, the surround sound, the popcorn! haha.

They loved all those things. Well, at first, Kieran put his hands over his ears and said it was too loud (which it was) but they turned the volume down soon afterwards. Connery loved just sitting in the folding seat by himself. He got folded up in it a couple of times until I figured out a way to put my foot on it and hold it open.

There was just one problem. You see, it turns out that this free movie gets filled up FAST by day cares, so they had NO seats left for us. And I had already made the mistake of telling Kieran that we were going to see Everyone's Hero. They opened another theatre and showed An Arctic Tale, which was cute, but Kieran kept reminding me that it wasn't Everyone's Hero. Even after the movie was over and we were getting into the van. He said, "But I thought we were going to watch Everyone's Hero." Somehow he wasn't buying my explanation. Maybe Surf's Up next week will make up for it. [Funny story: The boys got a little restless during the movie and I had struggled to get them to stay in their seats. Kieran needed to use the potty, so on our way back, we had a little meeting in the hallway. I said, "Boys, do you want to go back in to watch the movie?" They both said, "Yes!" "Then you have to be good and listen to Mommy, okay?" "Yes, ma'am." "And you have to SIT. DOWN." Connery sat down right there in the hallway!]

After the movie, we went for a picnic lunch at the Botanical Gardens. I always make sure to bring along sunscreen, extra juice boxes and their swim trunks, because the BG has wonderful wading pools and fountains the kids can play in. And once a week, they have a make-and-take craft for the kids. So this week, the boys planted their own begonias and picked out miniature dinosaurs to live in them! (It's all part of the fabulous Dinosaur Uproar at the BG.) The boys were so cute pouring potting soil into the pots, digging a hole, "massaging" the squared off roots...and not at all letting the dinosaurs live in their new "habitats." Are you kidding?? They wanted to play with those things! Let's see, the dinosaurs swam with them, jumped off rocks, hid in trees, jumped on the brother's heads, and even fell asleep with them in the van.

A walk through the butterfly house cooled us off. Kieran remembered the turtles from last year. Surprisingly, Connery didn't want to touch one. He's usually the daring kid, but everybody's got limits, right? And a caterpillar somehow made its way onto my toe, which made the boys giggle. (And me, too. Caterpillars are a little ticklish.)

The Boys of Summer

Can you smell the "sun-cream" over there? We've certainly been slathering it on. The days are hot and just lazy enough. I wish every day could be like today. The boys and I slept until 8, played a little hide and seek with the blankets, heard Connery say "widge-wuh-duh" (refrigerator), let the dog out, threw on some clothes and loaded up in the wagon. We live in a great quiet neighborhood that's within walking distance to the grocery store, pool, a few little shops and Kenny Mango's Coffee Shop!! They have a drive-through that's perfect on my way to school, and I've always thought, "We could walk here." Today, we proved it. Well, Mommy walked there anyway...the boys just rode along. So they weren't nearly as sweaty when we arrived.

I ordered my "regular"--a monkey-sized Chai Tea Latte--and Kieran immediately asked to play with the little plastic monkey they give whenever you order that size. (Get 10 of them, and you get a monkey-sized drink free! It's a common trick, but much more fun than a punch card, huh?) They splashed a little in the fountain, ate some breakfast, played Scrabble...and just hung out.

Then what to do?? Hmmmm...tough choice. How about load back into the wagon and walk to the neighborhood playground? Good choice. It's a little known place (with brand new equipment, oddly enough), so we had the place to ourselves. Connery amazed me with how quickly he climbed to the top of the tall slide. And Kieran climbed the monkey bars, well, like a little monkey.

Then for another tough choice...how about go home for a little Reading Rainbow and a lazy day nap? Sounds good to me! (Somehow the boys weren't as excited about the nap as I was, but that's not the point. We still snuggled up in the same bed and sang silly songs. I got about an hour's worth of sleep before the boys woke up--if they were ever asleep at all.)

A little lunch and a late afternoon shower for Mommy, and we're ready when Daddy gets home to pick us up for Kieran's t-ball game. The boys have advanced a little beyond the basics--no more shouting "First base!! No, not second! First!"--and are still so darn cute! Some popsicles and Chick-fil-A after the game, then back home for baths and bedtime.
Tomorrow we'll be really busy...swimming. And maybe getting the boys' haircut. Maybe not. We might decide to take naps instead. Or climb some monkey bars. (I could really get used to this...)