Pasta and a Car Wash

I have been scrapping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with fun activities now that summer is winding down.  Ryan and I love to cook so we of course have two little helpers who love it too!  We made pasta with them recently and had a blast.

 We set up the "cranker" on their little table to make it easier for them to reach.  I made the dough and then they did all the cranking!  Ryan would stand at the pot of boiling water and Graham would bring him the cut noodles as they finished.

 Ellie kept saying "this is teamwork"

They were so proud to eat the pasta that they made!

Ryan and I both recently got new cars so the kids have been loving talking about cars and driving them around so I decided to let them have a car wash!  Well it was really a tricycle wash!

 At first they were very quiet and serious....

 Then came the giggles and spraying each other!

Loving summer time and all the fun activities that come with it!!!

Olympics and Uncle Jake

Why are the Olympics only once every four years???  Although officially the Olympics are over. we have several swimming and gymnastics events recorded and the kids could watch them over and over!  They were even pretending to be Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky the other day!  Back up two weeks....we went to a friends house for a super creative opening ceremony party.  Each couple invited brought a dish to coordinate with their assigned country.  We had Japan and I could not think of a good dish to make so instead I made a meat/cheese plate to look like the Japanese flag!  

 There were lots of creative costumes, dishes, drinks and even nail art!

 We may have overstayed our welcome just a little haha!!!

 Every morning the twins watch the main events from the night before while eating breakfast.  They are very into it and ask a ton of questions.

 Last weekend my brother came to visit.  He usually comes and stays at least a few nights every summer.  We used to call it "camp sissys house" but not that he is 16 thats not as cool haha!  These two were super excited to have him come visit.

 We got him all his favorite food and candy and made a fun weekend around his requests.

 Ellie and Graham helped me make mint oreo ice cream.

 Ryan took Jake to play golf and we had lots of ping pong tournaments the first day.

 Friday night we went to a new(ish) bounce house and basically had the entire place to ourselves.

 They even had a 30 min night time bounce where they turned the lights off and gave us glow sticks....best.night.ever.

 At night we played ping pong and watched the Olympics.

 Saturday morning we hit up the pool.

Ryan and Jake stayed to play golf while I took twinkies home for a nap and then we all went out to play 9 holes before eating dinner on the patio.
Not sure if you can see well in this picture, but Bobo brought his pretend kitchen phone because he wanted to be able to take pictures at the golf course.

 At the first hole Bobo ran around the cart and got out his fake binoculars (he thinks it is a rangefinder).  We all cracked up when he handed Ellie the real one and they both looked through them to see how far it was to the hole.

Ryan has always loved golf, but I just adore how much Graham loves it too.  He talks about golf non-stop and gets giddy when he gets to go too.  Luckily he is sooooo good on the course and Ryan is able to take him alot.

 This spunky girl is more into driving the cart and coloring the course map.

 We watched movies and ate a lot of junk food Saturday night.  Sunday we made a big breakfast and ran a few errands before Jake had to leave.  The twinkies just love their Uncle Jake so much.

I am actually taking the kids to my parents house this weekend because as much fun as we had with just Jake, it made us miss the rest of the gang!

Summer update!

We have been filling our days with fun activities since we are not able to use our porch or back yard.  Our sweet contractor has been working hard though!  The twins love seeing him work through the windows!

 Ryan didn't work last Friday and we took kids to the Asheboro zoo.  It was the best zoo day I have ever had!  It was very overcast which helped with the heat and all the animals were out and playing!

 Ellie was obsessed with the baby monkey.  Best part was the mommy and baby hung out right at the glass so kids could see them up close.

 My happy little monkey loving girl.

 The sea lions and seals swam around and it made the kids giggle every time they passed by.

 The highlight for us all was defiantly the polar bear!!!  I have been to this zoo countless times over the years and usually see the polar bear sun bathing or laying around.  This time he swam around for almost 30 min!  And we were able to watch him above water and under water!

 After a long morning at the zoo we went to The Table for lunch and then took naps in the car home.

In other news.....I was over the moon when I was asked to be this little nuggets Godmother.  Seriously I can't tell you how honored and excited I am to watch him grow and be a part of his life.  Brooks is already so blessed to have the most amazing parents and big brothers!

Ellie just adores Brooks already. 

 Brooks was baptized recently and we were able to witness his baptism at our church and celebrate with his family after!  His baptism gown was his grandfathers and has been passed down to every family member since.

 Godmother and Father with our Godson!

 He is the happiest, cutest and snuggliest baby ever!

 Other than that we have been going on bike rides, playing at the park, watching movies, swimming at the pool, visiting all the museums Charlotte has to offer and just enjoying summer!

Although most moms are ready for school to start back, I am looking forward to one more month before our lazy fun summer days must come to an end....