summertime

FINALLY!  After the winter we had here in Michigan, I have such a great appreciation for the beautiful weather we've been having.  Last Saturday we made our first trip to the cottage for the summer, and it was PERFECT.  Caleb and Logan were so excited!  (Levi was excited, too, but he didn't really know why. :) )

The boys played great almost the entire day - later on in the day (as tiredness was setting in) there were only a few small issues.  Levi pretty much just played in the sand by himself all day, other than a waverunner ride with me (for which we put his ever present hat backwards, and he still ride with one hand on his hat and one on the handle).

Monday we were able to help with baling hay behind our house.  Each of the boys got to ride one round with my Dad while he was raking.  Then, in the evening, they rode along while I drove and Mike loaded bales on a wagon (the baler didn't have a kicker!); and then we went over to my parent's and I unloaded bales while Mike stacked them in the hay loft.  Definitely would have gone better if the boys were old enough to throw bales around, but it didn't go TOO bad.  :)

On Tuesday Mike unexpectedly pulled in the driveway with a dump truck and dropped off some extra dirt from work.  Yay for the garden!  Not so good for keeping little boys out of trouble.  I had enough patience in me to let them play and get dirty once, but after that it was trying.  This isn't any ol' dirt - it's black muck.  It's gets in clothes and skin and doesn't just easily wash out.  I've got black hand prints on various doors and walls.  Thankfully it was rainy Wednesday so we weren't really outside much, and then last night we let them get dirty again while we worked on getting the dirt into the garden, and now the pile in the driveway is gone so that temptation is gone.  :)  As long as they don't go play in the pile of extra by the woods...  Last night while working with the dirt Mike and I enjoyed observing Levi.  He was so determined to pull the wagon OVER the dirt pile.  He tried for several minutes going around the pile before Mike stepped in and helped him push the wagon over.  He didn't whine, complain or get frustrated - he just kept working at it.

Wednesday evening we paid a visit to Grandma Krol at Sunset Manor.  It works out pretty nice to visit her there as there is a large bird "cage" (not even sure if that's what you call it) near her room that the boys enjoy looking at, and then we can go for a walk down various halls - it's a nice way to visit with Grandma and not have to try and make three little boys sit still in a small room.  :)  Levi especially enjoys getting a ride on Grandma's walker.  :)

Yesterday was Mike's 38th birthday!  The boys and I were able to visit him at lunchtime, and in the evening we had a nice steak dinner and birthday cake that the boys helped me decorate.  Caleb and Logan colored papers for Mike, and I'm still amazed at how much they've grown intellectually over the last several months!  It's really fun to watch how they improve at things.  I write "Happy Birthday!" on a whiteboard for them to look at, and then they wrote it on their papers themselves with just a little intervention from me.  They still need to work on the size and spacing of their letters, but the fact that they can even write the letters and will do it without a bunch of whiny, "I can'ts!" is neat to see.