Art Fishing Easter Soccer Boys

Oh goodness SPRING is here.  Thank goodness.  The boys are overjoyed at being able to play outside, Ed and I are grateful for tired boys at night.  Graham is exhausted at night.

Last weekend we took Jr. fishing - thankfully Nanny came over to watch Graham.  Jr. did great in the boat and enjoyed fishing for a couple hours.  We only had troubles when we woke him up to soon from his nap.  We didn't catch anything, and he was bummed, but Ed and I were hopeful that there would be more days like that to come.

Easter weekend was a blur.  Nanny came to town, we had the Wileys over and the kids rocked out on easter eggs filled with candy.  We had a second egg hunt at Nona and Papa's in the afternoon with Faith.  The boys got so spoiled with candy until their mom ripped it out of their mouths.  She is so mean.  So unfair.  Honestly, I love my kids, but those two Gremlins they turn into after sugar ingestion - stink.  I know I am an old stick in the mud...

Jr. started soccer this week!  He was kind of spacey and full of energy, but he is a good athelete and he LOVES to play with the boys.  The coach has twins Jr.'s age so he is well preparred for a lot of energy and a lot of explaining.  This is where it starts.  The start of activities...

Graham is so busy these days, busy keeping up with his brother, busy terrorizing us with his "terrible two-ness".  He is getting his two year molars and man he is a stinker boy.  He still has bouts of amazing sweetness which melts our hearts.  Damn he is cute too - super curly hair and beautiful blue eyes.  He is a super flirt too. 

A sunshine over buildings. Jr. draws some AMAZING pictures.

Fishing on the Missouri with my buddy.  It was cold, but he did great. 

Mr. Fish

Fire tender.

Graham and Uncle Brian.

New boots!

Jr. helping his little brother put his boots on.  He is an awesome big brother and helper.

Mr. Cool.

I LOVE those blue eyes.

Jr. sharing his peep Easter morning.

Easter family photo.

YAY!  Nanny!

Helping Graham gather Easter eggs.

Graham chasing Greta.

Easter loot!

Jr. wowing Janeen.

Easter egg hunt #2 at Nona and Papa's.

First soccer practice.

Jr.'s first soccer practice. 

Florida

I can't believe it has taken me this long to write about our Florida adventure.  When people ask me what we did in Florida - I tell them - we went to the beach.  The boys loved it.  I loved it.  We also went to the zoo and took an awesome boat ride on the Naples Bay, but mainly we went to the beach.  MIL and FIL have the best beach.  Jr. also swam like a little guppy.  He wall walked and hung out  on the steps of the pool.  He was wet most of the time.  We had our own apartment that was nicer than our house, the boys got to meet Uncle John and Colleen.  It was a fantastic trip.  I can't wait to go back....  Thanks MIL and FIL for the amazing week.

Flying was okay on the way there and on the way back, um, less than okay.  Graham was a little monster.  Jr. was a champion though.  He did get pretty crabby when he was woken up from his nap by his brother screaming Eddy and slapping him in the head.  Who can blame him?  Next time we fly, he will be better, or Ed and I will drink more...

Jr. still says that he misses Grandma and Gramps.  Graham says Ock all of the time.  It is either about Uncle Ock or short for Walk.  The boys loved seeing their Uncle Ock and Aunt Patty.
My favorite photos from the trip - just looking at them makes me feel tan again:

Monkey boat at the fabulous Naples Zoo.

Jr. got to feed a giraffe.  Graham was hiding back there.

Joshua the camel.  Jr. was thrilled!

Graham on the beach.

The Naples Bay boat tour.

Gramps and the rasin boys.

Best photo!

We bribe Jr. to pose in family photos with us.  He is only there under penalty of death.

Sand crab.

More Winter. More Snow.

It is February.  Happy Valentines Day.  Less than a month and we are in Florida.  Our vitamin D levels are at a critical low, but we manage.  We had a nice chill weekend with the Moog sledding date.  It took is 45 minutes to dress all four kids in their outdoor gear, they sledded for 15 minutes.  Oh, I exaggerate, they sledded for 10 minutes.  Kidding.  It was so nice to have those buggers outside to play and burn off some energy.

Sunday we took the morning to go ice fishing.  Daddy and Jr. set up on the ice and after Graham's morning nap, we joined them.  It was a PERFECT day.  The snow on the ice made it safe for kids to walk on.  The sun in the sky warmed us up.  It was Graham's first trip ice fishing.  He was so serious and very interested in the holes.  These overly friendly strangers came by to tell us that we were breaking the law taking these young babies out on the ice.  Ha ha.  They also insisted that Graham looks like a girl and that we need to get a snowmobile.  Oh funny.

Moog sledding date. 

Dads preparing for the sled race!

The babies had the most fun.

Look at those blue eyes.

He loves her.

Graham snuck in too.

She is very sweet.

Coleman men fishing on the ice.  It was a beautiful day.

Baby Graham's very first ice fishing trip.

Graham really wanted to put his hand in the hole.  Jr. demonstrates how you ice fish to his little brother.

Riding in the sled.

I love this photo.  I love this boy.

He is a great fisherman.

He was watching his brother play with worms.  I took the opportunity to snap some photos.

The worms.

A lifetime of fishing obsession starts now.

Perfect morning on the ice.  If only there was some fish...

Ice fishing isn't classy.  See my getup.  Ugh.



This is a video.  A good one.