Pizza and Ice Cream: Summer Picture Overload

I have pretty much decided to chronicle our lives in pictures because my kids are just so cute and I know you all prefer their pictures to all my words. So, here we go...our last couple of weeks in pictures and captions.

A missionary and our two female interns volunteered to watch the missionary kids on Tuesday mornings this summer. Nate clearly had a blast the first week because he scarfed down his food and then fell fast asleep in his chair.

We took the boys to Krispy Kreme - Nate's first time. Nate had a blast, but only took a few bites of his donut!

We have tried to stay cool by playing in the water!
On this particular day, Ben insisted on choosing those pants even though it was 100 degrees!

We walked to a friend's house to partake in their lemonade stand. Ben was a natural! He immediately started trying to take money and pour the lemonade. He wanted a cut!

Mama-D (my mom) came to visit! She came to watch the boys while Ryan and I both worked during our Candidate Assessment Program (World Impact's week-long interview/assessment for potential missionaries).

We didn't just work though - we found some time for fun.

Botanica - feeding the humongous goldfish.

Found a ladybug.

Craft time - in the AC!

Both boys made a caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly! Did I mention it was hot?

This picture has a great story. Notice Nate's hands. He is trying to push Ben off. Ben got off and sat in front of Nate to tell him who's boss. Nate retaliated by trying to push Ben off. Ben jumped off the front and Nate fell flat on his face. Ryan and I call that "natural consequences!" Brothers!

Do you see us way up high?

Nate was hot and tired.

Nate was not loving it and Ben was waiting for a butterfly to land on his hand.

A happy moment.

HOT - we were getting cranky.

Even though we were well hydrated and only outside from 9:30am-11am, Ben must have gotten overheated. He emptied the contents of his stomach on the drive home. It was awful. He didn't keep anything down the majority of the day and ran a fever. We were a bit worried, but he woke up bouncy and happy the next day and has been since.

So, we went to the local peach orchard to pick our own peaches! We had a blast. The morning was lovely, the shade was perfect and the peaches were delicious. The local owner told us to sample as we picked and we did! Nate ate at least four peaches and Ben was thrilled to pick. I hope this is an annual event.

Reach

Delicious

Nate didn't want to take the picture.

Peach pickin'

Our doctor recommended putting Nate on a dairy-free diet to possibly help with his eczema. We noticed an immediate change for the better! We noticed the change when I gave him a yogurt a few days after we started the dairy-free diet. I didn't mean to, just habit. His skin immediately flared up and we new! So, now Nate enjoys his soy yogurt - so much so that he usually puts the yogurt cup on his nose and mouth and sucks out what he can't get with his spoon. He also has been getting about six teeth these last few weeks. Whew. Why do my kids do this? All their teeth at once? It means he gave up his morning nap and is only sleeping exactly 90 minutes during his afternoon nap time (what is so special about 90 minutes?) which means Ben is napping longer than Nate! Oh well.
Nate is also talking like crazy! Lots of words! It is so much fun watching and listening to the boys talking to each other. They have full conversations. Ben seems to understand Nate's little gibberish and words and they have a blast together.

When my mom comes to town she lets Ben use some of her make-up. Crazy! Ben loves it! And loves looking at himself with it on - mostly concealer, especially on his lips.