is that the hospital i was born at?

This week we've been driving about 45 minutes to Vacation Bible School at our church. On our way we pass the hospital both boys were born at, which prompts Neland to ask, "Is that the hospital I was born at?". I tell him it is and then every day he explains to Teague: "When mommies need help getting a baby out they go to the hospital and a doctor helps them." And then he follows it up with, "And if you get sick or hurt, you go to the hospital and they make you feel better." To which, every day, Teague replies, "If you eat playdough? or glue?".

I try so hard to get him not to eat playdough, glue, legos, whatever, and tell him it will make him sick. Maybe he's getting the message.

Right before we pulled in to church Neland was telling Teague something, I'm not sure what it was, it may have been about a song. Teague started talking and Neland said, "Excuse me Teague, was I finished? No I was still talking."

summer week 4

Other than slippin' slide fun, the boys had a few playdates and we, of course, rode bikes. Neland actually rode all the way to the big houses while I pushed Teague in the stroller (and sometimes Neland on the bike up a hill as well). I was so proud of him, he didn't get off his bike once. For a surprise I took the boys to Marble Slab and let them pick whatever they wanted (we had a gift card otherwise I'm not sure I would have given them anything they wanted). Both boys picked cones covered in chocolate and sprinkles. Neland picked chocolate ice cream. Teague picked mint ice cream. Both boys had gummy bears mixed in (which Teague picked out and ate with his hands).

On Thursday, late Thursday, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Chris had a 2 hour meeting Friday morning and then spent the rest of the afternoon with us. We'd planned to take the boys to the pool so after lunch we suited up, sunscreened everywhere and headed to the pool. Checking in we were told there was a thirty minute thunder delay (for some reason Teague didn't quite understand why he wasn't allowed in the pool). We waited, and waited, and then saw some lightening, and waited and then saw more lightening, and then went home. Teague was NOT happy. We promised to go back the next day.

On Saturday we followed through with our promise. As we walked towards the pool Teague said, "No thunder today" and "It's not raining". The boys enjoyed going down the slide, however the biggest hit seemed to be jumping off the edge of the pool. This was a huge step for Neland (he was also very excited he could stand in the 3 foot deep water) and for Teague it was a nightmare. The kid did not care if someone caught him. If he was being held in the water, all he wanted was out of the arms of who was holding him. Once he was out, he'd sink down in the water, so someone would pick him up and then he'd scream to be let go again. With jumping off the edge, he'd just jump and eventually he'd wait for Neland to jump and then try to jump on him.  (Tomorrow is a big water day at VBS, even the toddlers are going, needless to say I may have a panic attack tonight).

This was exhaustion from Friday's pool watch.

slippin' slide

All it took was a $5 slippin' slide from Target for 4 hours (and counting) of fun (4+ hours divided by a nap).

sunscreen first of course

I would have more pictures of Neland except Teague kept cutting him off and going down the slippin' slide before him. The boys came up with so many games and so many different ways of going down the slide. Teague's favorite seems to be the rolling over slide down, or the backwards, head first on your back way down. They also tried their best to walk up the slide without getting caught by me (because that was a time out offense). Then there was the tackling on the way down method as well. I was disappointed Target only had one option (last year they seemed to have more) but this was $5 well spent (well from a gift card).

father's day

Father's day was so much fun. It was a day of food and playing (and no naps). Chris received a new outfit from his mother and I tried to make a few of his favorite foods. 

 Chris' mom brought some of Chris' old Legos. Some of the structures below have been intact for twenty years! Neland LOVED them.

 Chris loved them too.

 My mom found this stroller at a yard sale for $10 (it retails for $200). Everything was great, especially the tires, except the hand break wasn't quite right. 

 Dad and Chris attempted to fix it.

 Neland attempted to "fix" his bike as well. I'm not sure sawing through the tire will really help anything though.

 The boys with Grandpa.

 And with dad.

 Every night the kids beg for Chris to read to them (which he does), I just captured it well tonight. Teague's pjs say "I [heart] DAD" (he has mom ones too). They are hand me downs from Neland, well loved and perfect for Father's Day.

week 3 - panthers & parks

On Monday I'd planned to take the boys back to the Nature Museum. I snuck NJ's bike in the car as a surprise so we could ride around the park that the museum is attached to before going to the museum (it was supposed to rain and I thought we'd get outside while it was nice cool and cloudy - very unusual weather for June). We arrived at the museum, Teague was ready to go see the fish and the birds, Neland was excited to ride his bike. I convinced Teague we'd enjoy seeing some ducks at the lake and off we went. Neland did great, he was so confident on his bike (he fell last week and has become a little iffy about turns). We rode to the playground and ran into a friend from church (who luckily reminded me that the museum is closed on Mondays). We played on the playground till lunch time, circle the lake one more time and right as we were finishing up, the rain started. I think I made up for missing the museum by taking them to lunch with Chris (it was our anniversary after all and what's better than a romantic lunch together with our two kids at Chick Fil A in the mall food court). I did have to promise Teague we'd go back on Tuesday though.

So Tuesday, we visited the Nature Museum.

Wednesday we headed to the greenways with Neland's bike and Teague in the stroller. They were totally flooded. Neland made it out without getting wet, as did Teague (lucky ones not having to put their feet on the path). My socks and shoes were soaked. The boys did have fun and at the end I let Teague out of the stroller to splash in the puddle. It was worth it.

On Thursday, we headed to the train and rode it uptown to the Panther's stadium. When we arrived at the station, Neland was super excited to see a freight train, a diesel freight train. Teague was nervous (it made the ground shake a bit).

The Panthers were having an open practice. I didn't realize how crowded it would be (and I don't think they did either, they ended up having to open more sections and the line for concessions was almost out of the stadium). I'd hoped for 15 minutes, and we made it 30. Teague kept saying whatever was happening on the field, "He kicked it" "I want him to kick it again." "He kicked it again." or "He throw it" "He catched it" "He missed it". There were a few looks and smiles from our section. Neland had an okay time, but complained about the sun in his eyes (it was behind us and he was wearing a hat). The quarterback, Cam Newton, was out on the field. To keep Neland interested I asked him to find #1, and told him that was the player that did "the superman". Neland was very excited to find him on the field and yelled "I see superman." 

 It was a bit of a walk to and from the train, so I threw Teague in the Ergo so I wouldn't have to deal with a stroller (and I knew he'd want to be carried anyway). Definitely one of my favorite baby items (and technically NJ could still ride in it too).

 The train back was packed. It was standing room only until the last 2 stops. I thought the boys would be nervous standing, but they acted like the bars were jungle gyms.

 After we arrived home, Stewart had some good runs in our backyard.

I'd felt a little bad the boys had spent no time with friends this week so Friday was a perfect day to meet up with friends at the splash park and playground. It was a perfect morning, hot but breezy. The boys were exhausted afterwards.

 Neland was the only guy to brave the splash pad. He said it was a little cold.

 Teague ate most of the time we were there. Actually he eats most of the time anyway.

 We ended the week with frozen yogurt.

 Teague took forever to finish, so we had him walk and eat.

 He dove in with a hand instead of his spoon.

 Then decided the direct route was much better.