Uncle T weekend!

This past weekend my brother flew in for about 50 hours of fun! 

The boys were SO happy to have him here. They love having family come stay with us! And he came bearing gifts which was extra special! 

Friday evening we went out to Dad & Dudes Breweria for dinner. Tyler is used to much more calm and peaceful and upscale dining. Breadstick fights and fork patrol made for an interesting dining experience for him, for sure. But he jumped right into our chaos and we had a good dinner out. 

On Saturday morning we headed over to Nolan's soccer practice. 

Tyler enjoys watching soccer and following his favorite football club, so it was fun for he and Nolan to mess around a bit on the field. 

Oh Nolan...what a funny EXCITED smile! Love that kid. 

After practice we chilled around the house for a bit. The boys LOVED all the extra attention. 

Uncle T and Nolan worked on his new Ninja Turtles Lego set, which he has played with NON STOP since. 

Then we headed off to the Rockies game. We decided to drop Brooks off at Oma & Opa's for the afternoon so that he could nap and we could have less stress at the game. 

I love these pics of the boys! So cute! 

We had great seats out in left field. It was the perfect location for the kids. We didn't have to walk too far to get up and down to our seats. We were close to bathrooms and food. And we were right in between two play areas. 

The boys were super excited to get Cotton Candy. Nolan ate half of his bag right away. Heath didn't end up liking it. He said it was "fuzzy". 

We took a break from the game to go play on this playground. Heath loved climbing this little wooden arch and then running down and around to do it again and again. 

Tyler likes to try new or interesting foods at each ballpark he visits. At Coors field he had an Elk Dog and Cajun Fries. He said they were both good. I had a Rockie Dog and Mark had a Helton Burger. All delicious! 

Oh my...did we have some good food. A vanilla milkshake for this sweet tooth! 

Taking yet another break from the game, and the sun, at the new play land. The boys both loved climbing in this area. 

Me and my #1 Rockies fan! The weather was perfect. It was hot, but we also got a good cloud cover, and it was very pleasant. 

Uncle T got some ice cream in this cool Rockies bowl. He was happy to pass it along to the boys as a souvenir. 

For the last couple of innings we moved down to the front row. The boys had a little more room to move around and we got to see Cargo up close. 

Johnson kids

I love Nolan's Rockies shirt. He got it a couple of years ago from the Sloothaaks and it finally fits him now. 

He wanted to catch a Home Run ball in his hat. There were plenty of Home Runs and good hits, but none in our direction. The Rockies won and the boys had a great day. They made some fun memories. And Mark and I left thinking that it is nice that we are now getting to a point in life where it is easier to do fun things like this with our kids. 

We picked up Brooks, went home, and put our exhausted boys to bed. We all sat out on our deck and chatted and enjoyed another beautiful sunset. Then Tyler and I watched the series finale of our favorite old T.V. show- Everwood. It was only on for 4 seasons in the early 2000's. But it is seriously one of my favorite shows of all time now. I've been watching the DVDs non stop for the past few months. And I have Tyler to thank for introducing me to it! So it was fun to be able to watch the last episode with him. 

Sunday morning was Father's Day! The boys woke up early, as usual, they tried to stay quiet for a bit to let Daddy sleep in, but when that didn't really work, they rushed in to shower him with cards and kisses. 

We had a lazy breakfast and then Mark headed out to golf with Wes and Brad- their Father's Day tradition. (Brooks loves eating with a spoon. I love this cute moment- sharing cereal with his FAVORITE person.)

Here are the cards the boys made for Mark. I made these with my students at school as well. (See the hearts!)

Since Mark was gone for most of the day, Tyler and I were on kid duty. He got a real taste of a typical day at home with the boys. 

They wore these cool soccer uniforms that Uncle T bought for them. They are the home and road jerseys for his favorite soccer club- Aston Villa. They looked so cute. Heath LOVED his soccer socks! 

We ran to King Soopers for a few things we needed. It's not a stop at King Soopers without a ride on the horsey. Nolan looks so huge on the horse...this may have to be one of his last rides...I think he's getting a bit too big! 

Then we came home and Skyped with Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie. It was fun to Skype with Uncle T here. And the boys got to "see" Grandpa on Father's Day! Then we made Father's Day Funfetti cupcakes. The boys thought they needed party hats to celebrate "Dad's Day". Then they pretended to be unicorns (ha!) and enjoyed their beaters. Yum! 

We spent the afternoon playing games. Candyland...

dominos...

and Guess Who? After I played a few rounds with Nolan, Tyler and I decided to play each other for old times sake. He beat me, 5 to 4. 

When the guys were done golfing, Bruce & Barb and Brad & Jayne and the kids came over for cupcakes on the porch. We had intended to go to the pool, but a storm front came in and it was cloudy and drizzling and cool. It cleared up, but it wasn't exactly great weather for the pool. 

We gave Opa his new flip flops- perfect for Cancun! 

Father and Son

After a taco dinner, we snapped a quick pic with Tyler and Brooksie and then we were off to the airport. 

Thank you Uncle T for coming into our crazy! We loved having you! The boys adore you and think you are oh.so.funny! We can't wait to see you (and Laura) next month! 

The boys fell asleep on the way to the airport. They were exhausted. They slept almost all the way home as well. Once they were out of the car they got their second wind and we gave Daddy his Father's Day gifts- shirts, shorts, and a Tigers hat! 

And the evening ended with pushups. Daddy time is always super fun, no matter what you are doing.

We sure are thankful for such amazing Dads in our life! 2 special "Grandpas" and 1 awesome Dad! Mark, you are fun, funny, patient, and loving. Thank you for giving me 3 wonderful boys! I heart our family! 

Summer{ish} Fun!

Well, MOST schools around here are out for summer! Not mine of course! This year round thing has it's many, many perks. But June is not one of them! The weather is gorgeous and I'm still getting showered and wearing a dress every day. The neighborhood kids are all outside playing and going to the pool and I'm still carting my kids off to Oma's and Auntie Kim's for the afternoons. Boo! But I only have 11 teaching days left, so I guess that's manageable. Despite me still having to teach, we've definitely got the Summer Fever around here. We've been spending a lot of time outside and have been doing a whole lot of relaxing! Here are a bunch of photos from the last few weeks. I think that I'm just going to become a blog photo dumper and do a bunch of mishmash posts when I actually take the time to blog. So hang in there with me...there are a lot of pics. 

Friday evening Happy Hour on our deck. Mark picked up Chili's chips and salsa {with Ranch of course!} and that's what we ended up having for dinner! Yum! 

We learned that Brooks LOVES chips and salsa! He kept dipping one chip after the next! 

After Happy Hour, we went out looking for rocking chairs for our front porch. 

We found these two for a steal of a deal. And we all LOVE them. They are super relaxing. And YES, we are a front porch kind of family at our new house. We feel like old people rocking away while we watch our kids play, but it's great. 

 On Memorial Day, we were lazy and took our time getting up and going in the morning. Then we went to Panera for breakfast. Our boys are SO into bagels lately. So it was the perfect place...and they are a cheap date! 

After breakfast, Mark and I got a little necessary coffee fix at Starbucks {thank you gift cards!} and then we headed up to the cabin for the day. The whole way there the boys were chanting, "We get to go to the cabin. We get to go to the cabin." They love it up there. Boy paradise! 

Heath and Cohen were pretending to be caged horses. 

Of course, Nolan went straight to the sandbox to play Cowboys and Indians. {Native Americans as Mommy likes to call them, Mark tells me it just doesn't sound right.} Nolan has an incredible imagination and loves setting up the figures and creating a whole new world! 

He enjoyed playing a couple of rounds of Horse Shoes with JUST his Daddy! 

These two had fun on the swings! 

refreshments

We took a little walk...

the boys liked throwing rocks and sticks. 

And they thought it was so fun to run WAY ahead. Can you spot Nolan, Heath, and Cohen in the distance? 

Dinner time grub! 

This is what you will often find everyone doing at the cabin...chillin'! 

Time to celebrate Cohen's 3rd Birthday! 

We got him his cool, new, purple Rockies cap! 

And one last shot from the day- crazy climbing Heath. We had a ton of fun chatting and catching up with the whole family. And it is always the perfect way to escape our real lives for a day. 

More pics from home...

Heath drew this alien the other day. I thought it was so cute! We really don't know if he's a righty or a lefty yet. One day he does something so well with his right hand, but the next it's with his left. That would suit his personality, wouldn't it...always keeping us guessing! 

Nolan drew this picture the other day as well. He's already dreaming of Cancun! Check out his palm tree, the rocky beach, and the sun! We can't wait! 

We love our evenings playing in the yard after school/work. 

Nolan really needs a Razor scooter. We've been talking about him earning one this summer by doing chores/good behavior. Christmas and his birthday would be a long time to have to wait! Poor guy only gets presents at one time of year. {Well, really not a poor guy...he has so many great things. He is not deprived in any ways. It's just that we don't really just buy our kids things unless it's a holiday, so summer items always seem to be received in the winter.}

 Heath loves riding his tricycle. 

But he is learning to ride a big boy bike as well. 

He's doing pretty good. Just need to work on steering and speed! 

If you look really closely, you can see Heath's name. {Click on the picture to enlarge it, and you can see it better.} He wrote it all by himself when I wasn't looking. 

It's really light, but he did a great job! He will be so ready for Preschool! {2 mornings will be just right for him!}

And then there's this guy. He loves to write and spell. He wrote the name of each person in our family all by himself. Just need to work on spaces! 

Then we worked on this message for Daddy to see when he drove home from softball that evening. 

Oh, these two. Heath is naughty and eggs Brooksie on. When Brooks is naughty, Heath will laugh and laugh and then Brooks will find himself so funny and keep doing the naughty behavior. I'm going to have my hands full for sure! They love to wrestle and jump on each other and hit. Oh my! Nolan likes to wrestle with them too, but as soon as Brooks starts hitting, he'll stop and say, "Brooksie, no hitting!" Such a rule follower. 

Last weekend, our neighborhood had a Summer Kick Off Party at the big park. 

We got there just as it was ending, but we enjoyed listening to fun music the D.J. was playing. And the boys had fun dancing and running around in the sand volleyball court. 

Then we hit up the park for a bit. I just can't get over how cute Brooks looks in his Rockies hat. {When he actually keeps it on!}

Saturday mornings will be filled with soccer once again. 

Nolan is playing the summer indoor session. When we got to the field house, he ran over to the soccer ball and shouted, "Mom, we're ready for our picture." Think I may take a few pictures of them...they are well trained! 

He is on the red and black team this season. And his coach is great. Very organized and experienced. 

His first practice was great! He had a lot of fun! 

 After practice, we headed over to the Antelope Ridge Spring Fling! The boys had fun jumping in the bouncy castle and playing some carnival games. 

We played game after game after game. Heath impressed everyone with three scored football tosses in a row and earned the highest amount of points! And Nolan had good luck as well, winning the highest score possible at Plinko! They were so proud of themselves! Ha! We also enjoyed a snow cone and the boys won these cool snakes and a few other prizes. They had SO MUCH FUN! 

That evening we headed over to the Syers' house for a little backyard fun. 

We sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows. 

Nolan and Heath were happy to roast the marshmallow for me to eat, but preferred the plain marshmallows for themselves. 

Payton got a trampoline for her birthday. The boys loved jumping on it! I only snapped this one picture of them bouncing. It's blurry, but funny! Later that evening, the adults had a little fun of their own on the tramp! Thanks Cara and Wes for a fun night! 

 On Sunday, after church, we hit up our pool for the first time this season! And it was such a good time! The weather was perfect, the boys splashed and played for almost 4 hours! Brad, Jayne, Cohen, and Arie joined us as well. It is much easier this summer without an infant at the pool. I even managed an hour by myself with all three kids before Mark and Brad's family joined us. I can't wait for July when we can hit up the pool everyday if want to! {Although, I did have a "Mommy Fail". When we got home, we realized that all three boys got a little red! I felt so bad. Heath was really uncomfortable sleeping that night. So, we'll definitely be better at sunscreen application for the rest of the summer.}

We feel so blessed that our boys will grow up being able to enjoy a pool all summer!

This kid doesn't start T-Ball until the end of July. He doesn't understand why Nolan has soccer, but why he doesn't have T-Ball yet. So we've been playing a lot around the house. Once again, one day his glove is on his left hand, and the next it's on his right. Ha! We were practicing grounders, one thing I never thought I'd say. Ha! 

Oh, and Brooksie. How he loves all balls! {hee hee!} He really does swing the bat well already. He's always trying to get in on the action. Soon, buddy, soon. 

And that's all for now! We have a busy couple of weeks coming up with a garage sale, my brother visiting, finishing up school, and preparing for vacation! All fun stuff.