the great outdoors

We managed to salvage spring break by spending the final weekend at the Bryants' lakehouse. Even I (homebody extraordinaire) needed to getoutofthishouse! Peter is of course quite familiar with the lakehouse so upon arrival he went on his merry way to find the logging truck Reenie keeps for him. Not to mention the oodles and oodles and oodles of (ahem) vintage toys from when Hayes and McCall were little. Honestly, I'm so glad she kept them because they sure don't make toys the way they used to. Davis is somewhat less familiar given he has the memory of a goldfish, so we explored a bit before naptime. Peter was on the mend at this point, but Davis was still suffering from the world's most persistent fever. Honestly, I think the change of scenery and fresh air was really good for him.

 Last year we implemented the June rule, mandating that Peter cannot even so much as ask to go swimming in the lake until June. Poor Boopah got suckered into going swimming in April of last year and I'm afraid even his grandfather's hypothermia wouldn't have gotten Peter out of that water before he was good and ready. So June it is. Maybe we'll surprise him in May since it's been such a mild winter and warm spring so far. But we won't tell him that quite yet. Instead of swimming, we went on boat rides, we took walks, we lazed around the house and had picnics. Pretty much a dream weekend.

the first (and coziest) boat ride of the season

But the biggest activity of the weekend was teaching Peter how to fish. His Mickey Mouse fishing rod got quite a workout with 48 hours of "casting practice." He actually got pretty good at casting without hitting anyone! Next up - we add a hook and bait. Looks like I may need to run to Bass Pro Shops to "outfit" and "equip" him properly.

Davis had his own agenda with his fishing pole (a stick with string handmade by Resourceful Reenie) - how many times can I splash Reenie/Mommy/Callie before I swing around and hit them with my stick?

Hayes had his first race of the triathlon season in Birmingham on Sunday morning and he won 1st place in his age group!  Out of 140 participants he finished 35th, so he's off to a great start.  He's worked really hard in preparation for these next three months, so we're super proud of and excited for him.

As for me, I was so happy to return to normalcy on Monday.  Yay for school!  Yay for no more fever!  Yay for life beyond our house!  We could finally go play outside and got busy picking up sticks in the Gator and dumping them in the brush pile.  It's never too soon to put these boys to work!! Peter began his digging season so he and Chief are competing to see who can dig more holes in all the flower beds.  Davis is more than a little obsessed with bubbles so he would occupy himself with that or by playing on the playscape.  Although, I do recall a few time outs for throwing rocks at me, Peter, Chief - and even himself. (?) Our week culminated in a trip to the zoo on Friday to see the new dinosaur exhibit.  It's a fantastic setup outside with robotic dinosaurs that are life-size and LOUD.  Peter loved every bit of it, but of course his favorite was the T-rex at the end.  Davis growled back at them but I think he was a bit overwhelmed by their size and volume.  They weren't quite as cutesy as the dinos in the cartoons.  I so wish I had pictures and video but to be honest, my hands were full with the double stroller.  Peter kept hopping back in the stroller because his legs hurt... if only he cared how much mine hurt pushing 100 extra pounds up those hills!  We won't even begin to discuss the extra weight that has taken over my torso.  Suffice it to say, Mommy needed a nap yesterday.

Today we took advantage of the sunshine and went straight to the dirt pile after our breakfast date.  For three hours the boys climbed, dug, scraped, slid, climbed, ran, built, dug, hiked and splashed all over.  We saw a snapping turtle and watched tadpoles, hiked along the creek trails and even waded into the creek.  Peter (not surprisingly) maintained some sense of cleanliness, although (not surprisingly) Davis was covered in dirt and mud within 60 seconds of our arrival.  Both boys were in heaven, so Hayes and I just got to enjoy watching them do their thing.  How nice to just sit back and watch them get along with each other and other random kids without having to play referee or get in there and do the work for them.  We were so proud of Peter for offering some of our shovels and rakes to some other boys there - without a prompt!  This is the same kid who got in trouble two weeks ago for demanding tickets from random children before going down the slide at the park.  It's good to be reminded of his sweet-natured heart.  It also reminds me how hard it must be to be 4 and keep track of all of these rules and expectations while still trying to remain the center of the universe.  (sigh) 

 

Creek study

Tadpoles everywhere!!

Petting the bird

so, so, so very dirty

"Addy!  Lp! Addy! Lp!" [Daddy! Help! Daddy! Help!]

King o' the Hill

Houdini - headed for the hills...

While uploading these pictures, it has become apparent how negligent I have been these past several weeks when it comes to the blog.  Another post of various adventures will soon follow.