Soccer

Both boys have had soccer this spring and loved it. It looks like both of my boys will be pretty excited about sports which will make their father quite happy.

Braden is now old enough to do some soccer that actually involves games and it is very cute. He is pretty aggressive about getting the ball and wants to be in the action all the time.

Conner is just starting his taste of sports with tot soccer for 2 and 3 year olds. This is very slow and really most kids just do whatever they want. Conner is not into trying to get the ball and would really rather just kick his own ball. Luckily, most of the time spent in tot soccer is with everyone having their own ball. They do a lot of practice kicking and they play red light, green light at the end of every practice. This is Conner's favorite part. They are supposed to kick their ball and run when it is green light and then stop and "trap" their ball when it is red light. Conner loves this new skill of holding the ball still with his foot on top. However.....every time he goes to stop his ball this way he falls and rolls over the ball because he is not tall enough to get that leverage on the ball. It is so funny but he just gets up and puts his foot on top of his ball everytime with a big smile.

Words of Wisdom from Conner

Yesterday, Braden got very upset because he didn't get to do something first (this is a very big deal in our house lately). I explained to Braden that he didn't get to go first because he was whining about it. Mom's do not like whining. Then Conner calmly says "Yea, I don't have much whine". Ah, brothers......

Pumpkin Patch

We spent a beautiful sunny day at Gordon's Pumpkin Patch today. The boys both picked out a pumpkin.

Conner was overjoyed at his choice.

Braden picked the biggest pumpkin he could find but my picture of it didn't turn out.
We enjoyed all the photo opportunities (most of which I had to bribe my children to pose for) and went through a small "haunted area" with pumpkins, skeletons and ghosts.

Here they are dancing with the skeleton.

Conner told all the people that came in that it wasn't scary because it was just pretend. He came to this conclusion all on his own and seemed very proud of his bravery. He was more afraid of any dog he encounted, even though they were all leashed. The kids had a great time with mom, grandma and papa (thanks for the pumpkins and apples), and their aunt Tina and their cousins.

Oh my goodness sakes....

This is Conner's new favorite line. He'll say it over and over again. It's pretty cute though.....

Woodland Park Zoo

The last week of summer we decided to take the boys to Woodland Park Zoo. Conner LOVES animals so we had been wanting to take him before school started. Now, he loves real animals but detests the stuffed walking kind like Chuck E. Cheese (we've found out from experience). So who is at the zoo on the day we decide to go? Yes, the Tillamook Cheese cow as it was Tillamook Cheese day and he was handing out little stuffed cows and cheese sticks. Since he was at the front part of the zoo this was one of our first experiences. While both boys loved the zoo, Conner still talks about the "Cow scared me". People are confused since you don't normally see cows at the zoo. Conner's favorite part was the elephants. Braden's favorite part was the lions and of course the cow game (Conner's least favorite part). My favorite part was the otters and I think it was Jeff's too. It was a great way to end the summer.

Chelan

We had a great family vacation last week in Chelan. We stayed for 4 days and this was the first time Conner and Braden have been away with us for longer than 1 night (we went to Great Wolf Lodge earlier in the summer for one night). They were both so excited the day we left and the morning we were leaving as we were packing up to go over we couldn't find Conner for a few minutes. I looked in the garage and he had got himself in the car and buckled himself in his carseat and was quietly waiting for us. I guess we were taking too long for him! The boys slept in the same room and did great! I was so proud of how well (and late) they slept. I guess it helps to tire them out so much during the day. We did a lot of swimming and Braden loved it. He swam the whole time by himself with the help of arm floaties of course and loved jumping in the pool. We don't go swimming very often (maybe 3 times in his whole life....with the exception of kiddie pools) so I was proud of how well he did. He went under water, jumped in, the whole 9 yards. He also swam in the lake which was very, very cold. Conner also enjoyed swimming but insisted mom hold onto him the whole time. The boys enjoyed having us at their beck and call for 4 days. We swam, played at the lake, played basketball, trak ball, soccer, on the playground, went on walks and enjoyed our family. It was a great weekend! The day we left Braden asked "Now, does everyone have to leave today?" When I told him people would come and go at all different times he was wondering why we should have to go and begged we could come back again another time.

Mini golf

Today we went to play mini golf with our friends Ryan, Jack and Kate. We had a lot of fun. I shot a 58 (yes, I"m awesome), Jeff shot about a 42 I think and Braden continually told me he was better at golf than I was (yes, modest). Conner played a few holes but eventually entertained himself in other ways like rolling on the ground, picking weeds, you know fun stuff like that.

Carefully sizing up his shot.

A great golf stance.

Ryan and Braden

Are we done yet?

No? Well, let me just roll around for a while on the green. Yes, he did not fall here, he is actually doing this very much on purpose. Oh it is fun being 2.