Mall Walkers

So the temperature read about a billion degrees again on Saturday. We are already looking forward to Fall temperatures! Since it was Saturday though and the children and I barely get out during the week, we went on an adventure. An air-conditioned adventure. It was off to the mall! We maybe go to the mall a few times a year, so the boys were super excited when we got there. Who knew there was so many things to entertain small children at a mall?

The boys rode the escalator at Dillards about 5 times. Eric was a trooper and was the one who took them each time. They loved it.
 

And then this man at a kiosk was demonstrating remote-controlled helicopters he was selling. This was a big hit with the boys. He kept grazing their heads and they would jump up and down in excitement.

And Sassy true to her nature was just along for the ride!

Then we had a snack from Starbucks. It was too crowded in Starbucks and so we decided to make even more of a spectacle of ourselves and eat picnic style outside of Belk. 

But the boys pure happiness when given those little mini donuts was totally worth it. 

And Eleanor had a wheat bagel.

We did not however indulge them in the candy. They liked admiring it though.

And we did not have any cash or change to let them ride the mall rides, but soon realized it wasn't necessary. They had a ton of fun just pretending. 

 

What a perfectly good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We ended our adventure with playing with the train set at Barnes and Noble. While we were there I left Eric with all the kids so I could run to the restroom. I then suddenly heard this blood curdling scream. I knew it belonged to Hampton. When I went to assess the situation, Eric said they broke out into a huge fight over a train. We are seeing more and more of this! They love each other big, but they fight big too. Brothers. One small meltdown though? We'll take it and call the trip a success!

Water Play

The weather has been intense lately. It is beautiful, but hot! So how do we cool off in this blistering month of July?

The boys strip down to their birthday suits and play in the pool in the backyard. It was not my intention for them to be naked, but once they saw the pool it was all over.


They had a blast with the water hose.

I love the look on Everett's face.

 

Sheer joy. I love the memory-making that when on that afternoon. I know I have a few good memories tucked away!

Then today we went to the arboretum for lunch. Once again the heat struck however this waterfall offered some relief.

And my baby Hampton kept dipping his little hands into this pond.

Everett was soaking wet by the end of our adventure and his shorts were at his ankles.

My sweet girl,

She has been all about Mama lately, but I don't mind!

 

We have not ventured to the pool (and I'm not so sure if we will) but we are finding some ways to cool off in this hot summer heat!

Yankee Doodle Babies

We had a great 4th of July! This morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then went to visit Carl Sandburg's house in Flat Rock. I have been wanting to visit this historic sight and the weather could not have been nicer today.
There was a goat dairy farm there where we spent most of our time.
 

Hampton was happy to ride in the stroller for the trail, however once we got to the barn he wanted to get out and explore.

He was pretty brave with the goats. 

It was so pretty there! I love this barn in particular.

Here is Hampton feeding the roosters some hay. He apparently thought every animal he saw wanted to eat hay.

 

My yankee doodle girl.

Everett had quite the meltdown when we got there, but he soon enough recovered and ended up having a great time.

 

Loving his sister. She is awfully sweet.

 

Eleanor is so good. She always goes along with whatever we are doing and is the most happy and content baby.

The boys loved this milk house. I think they thought it was their own personally play house. They kept running in and out and Everett at one point told me they were playing hide and seek.

Everett was a good big brother and consistently helped Hampton by holding the door for him.

And Hampton spotted a cat! Or as he likes to call it, a "meow."

After at least an hour in the hot July sun, the boys cooled off at this water spigot. 

 

 

And finally we explored the garden and this scarecrow.

We had such a great day!

One on One with Hampton

This morning I took Hampton for his bi-annual cardiologist appointment. Eric was kind to protect my sanity and offered to watch our other two so that I could go with Hampton alone. I always love one on one time with each of the children.

Hampton has been taking blood pressure medication to control the growth on the hemangioma on his eye for about two years now. We have had to do follow-up visits with the cardiologist and the opthamologist ever since.

Hampton had a big time with this chalk board in the waiting room. He kept telling me (and everyone else in the room) that he was drawing apples. He is such a ham! He was singing songs, saying hello to everyone, dancing......I texted Eric and said it was Hampton Live! in the waiting room that morning. He is definitely an extrovert.

For this appointment Hampton had to be weighed (32 pounds), measured, have his heart listened to, have his blood pressure taken, and have an EKG. For the EKG he had to have these pink stickers placed all over his chest. When she was done, the nurse took them all off and gave them to Hampton. While we were talking I noticed Hampton putting them all over his chest again very proudly. 

Here he is also putting all the pink stickers on his Ernie toy.

The nurse practitioner listening to Hampton. He did great! He has a slight heart murmur, but other than that no problems. Our plan is to have him continue the medication until he turns three. 

I loved my time with Hampton this morning. On the way home we stopped by Starbucks and got a special treat. I do believe he had a big time as well!

Summer Heat Photos

These are the pictures that were supposed to go with the last post. For some reason they did not upload.......

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Heat

Today was a hot June day! The temperature rose to a scolding 98 degrees in fact. We decided to hide from the heat and spend the entire day indoors at home. This morning after breakfast though Eleanor and I decided to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things. It is so fun to get one on one time with just one child. I love it.

After naps I taught Everett how to play Candy Land. He picked up on the rules right away!

Eleanor was attached to mama all day! The boys decided they wanted to spend most of the day in their pi's so we put Eleanor in her jammies too!

After a lot of play time it was time for dinner! Today was the first day we have grilled this season. We grilled hot dogs (well veggie dogs) and burgers (whole grain tofu burgers). The kids loved it though! Eric also grilled corn and made macaroni and cheese. 

And then for dessert the boys had fruit juice pops! They were really messy but they loved them.

What a perfectly fun way to beat the summer heat! We love fun days at home as a family. Chaos and all, it is good quality time together.

Stairs

Ut-oh! Looks like we'll be bringing out the baby gate again!