Latest Pictures

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

The first few are from our visit to the pumpkin patch today.  We went back with our playgroup, and they got to jump in the bounce house.  Joshua has done this several times, and he loves it. He spent most of his time in the bounce house instead of looking at pumpkins.  Benjamin really enjoyed his first experience in the bounce house.  He is happy that he is finally big enough to participate with the other kids.  At first, he just stayed flat on his tummy and tried not to get stepped on.  Our playgroup kids were the only ones in there at the time, so they are all pretty small and he got used to it quickly.  It didn't take him long to sit up and watch the other kids.

Here is Joshua using the toy lawn mower to carry his pumpkin.  They had wagons to do this, which he used last time, but this time they had a toy lawn mower that he couldn't possibly give up, so he improvised.

On Saturday, we went to the CG Spouses' Club's Fall Festival.  There was also a bounce house there, so Joshua has done a lot of bouncing lately.  After a few minutes of  jumping with the big kids, I noticed him sitting down with an older girl who had her arms wrapped around him.  I left him in there for a few more minutes and just kept an eye on him.  When I went over there, the older girls said that he had fallen, and they needed to protect him so that he didn't get hurt.  Let me tell you that he enjoyed this attention, and did not 

mind at all being treated like a little kid.  The three girls who were "protecting" him are in 1st and 3rd grade.  It is amazing how girls already have that mothering instinct even at such a young age.  Tomorrow night we are going to dinner at the 1st graders' house (they are twins), so I am sure that Joshua will get lots of attention.

This is Benjamin playing with one of the games.  It was also his birthday.

The last two are of Benjamin with the baseball toy that he got from Great Grandmommy.  In the video, Joshua is trying to show him how to swing the bat, but really he is just hogging the toy.  Benjamin's laugh is too cute though.

Pumpkin Patch

Here are a few pictures of us at the pumpkin patch today.  They had a lot of fun even though it was really crowded.  We are going again on Monday with our playgroup, so hopefully they will enjoy it again.

Mall visit

We went to the mall today, and the boys played in the indoor play area.  This is really the first time that I have let Benjamin play on his own in a play area/playground, so he really enjoyed the independence.

We had Joshua's hair cut which I have been putting off because I wasn't sure how I was going to do it with both of the boys, but his hair was so out of control, that I couldn't put it off any longer.  Benjamin was pretty patient while he waited in the stroller, and Joshua sat about as still as I have ever seen him sit.  Here are before and after pictures.  In the before picture, he was a little nervous which shows on his face, but he was very good once he got in the chair.

This is after his bath and after I had brushed it, but it doesn't take long for the curls to take over.

Bubbles, Bubbles

I have been trying to post this video for several days, but it wouldn't work.  I guess that it finally decided to load.  Joshua is reading his Elmo book called Bubbles, Bubbles.  The words actually say, "Bubbles, bubbles on my nose.  Bubbles, bubbles on my toes.  Bubbles, bubbles in my hair. Bubbles, bubbles everywhere.  Etc."  I just enjoy watching him read.  He has been reading books to himself a lot lately, but we are working on the fact that he can actually read some of the words in the books.  Right now he just tells the story by memory or by looking at the pictures.  He is doing the sign for bubbles with his hand.

By the way, you can pause the music so you can hear better by clicking on the pause button in the black box at the bottom of the blog.

Pictures

There is nothing very exciting going on around here, so here are a few pictures of the boys.

Notice that Joshua's mouth is open as he coaxes Benjamin into taking a bite...not that it is hard to convince either one of them to eat.

Pictures

Joshua hanging out at supper

Benjamin during "naptime"

Joshua pushing Benjamin.

Action shot

Golden Gate Park

Our playgroup went to Golden Gate Park today in San Francisco.  We actually only saw a very small part of it; I think that it will take several trips to see the whole thing.  It is really pretty, but I didn't get any pictures of the scenery because I was driving.  We only went to the children's area where there is a carousel and children's playground.  They said that it is the first children's playground ever (1887 I think), but it has obviously been redone several times since then.  After I got home I realized that I didn't get any pictures of Benjamin.  There were too many bigger kids to let him run around very much, but I did help him down a slide a few times, and he rode the carousel for a few minutes.  Both of the boys were a little nervous on the carousel, so Benjamin wanted me to hold him, and Joshua attempted a smile for the camera.  We had to come home after the children's area because it was naptime, but I can't wait to go back.  

Joshua's Pumpkins

Because I am not brave enough to carve pumpkins with the boys by myself, I let Joshua make pumpkins that are a little less messy.  Here he is with his masterpieces.  

Below that are a couple of pictures of our house since no one has seen it except for my mom.  I will take some pictures of the inside to post later.  This is our half of the duplex.  The houses were built in 1933 which makes them very unique.  We have one of the remodeled ones for which we are very thankful.

I was trying to describe our front door to some of you, and I wasn't very successful, so here is a picture.

Pictures from today

None of these are very clear because (as usual) Benjamin is moving, but I had to post them because they are too cute.

Riding on the Sit 'n Spin

They loved playing in the box.

Benjamin's TMX Elmo that he got for his birthday...yes, it is early

Random Pictures

I am afraid that the next few posts are going to be a little boring to most of you. Matthew's ship left this morning for 5 weeks, and therefore I will be adding lots of everyday pictures of the boys for him to see.  I know that they will not be very exciting to most of you, but they are very exciting to a father away from his kids.  Thanks for bearing with us.

Ginger

Here are two random pictures from the last few days.

Traintown

Our playgroup went to Traintown in Sonoma on Friday, and I took a few pictures of our adventures.  It may not seem very adventurous, but it was very exciting to two little boys.  Traintown is in the middle of Wine Country, so the drive out there was beautiful.  We stopped at one of the wineries on the way home where they have picnic areas and animals for the kids to see.  They enjoyed it so much that I was distracted chasing them down and didn't take any pictures at the winery.  

The train stopped at a child-sized town replica complete with goats and a sheep that the children could feed.  

One of the other moms was holding Benjamin when he looked through the window of the bank building and saw Joshua and me.