Fall clean-up...and a boat excursion!

It was a lovely, summer-like day here today...so after apple picking, we seized the day and went out on the boat. Will donned his favorite mud boots for the occasion, and "cleaned" the driveway while Justin hooked up the boat. I tried to get Patrick and Will to smile at me for pictures on the boat. I told them to say "Fish!" Ha! That word does not lend itself to a smiling face! It was a gorgeous late afternoon boat ride. The boys love the boat--it has a calming effect on all of us. And that's a good thing on a Sunday afternoon. We wrapped up our day with roasted chicken and apple crisp. Happy Fall (but summer weather, STAY with us, please)!! P.S. Will does have a life jacket...he took it off for about 5 minutes, and only when standing RIGHT next to Justin. He needs a new one that fits more comfortably. 

Apple picking

Today was my "Sunday Funday," a day during which I TRIED not to do school work. (I succeeded until about 8:00 p.m.). I did almost all  the not-so-fun tasks yesterday so that we could fully enjoy today. Here are some photos from our trip to Chapin Orchard in Essex. It's a gorgeous place with delicious apples! It was surprisingly warm today, so the boys were a bit sluggish. But, that did not stop us from picking a half bushel of apples! Yikes! You will also see my attempt at getting a portrait type photo of the two boys together...since neither would look at me, it didn't quite work out. But they're cute anyway! 

Will's other adventures at the apple orchard...

While Patrick chilled in the stroller, Will checked out the other sights at the apple orchard...the pumpkins, tractor, and cool vine house. Big boy stuff! ;-)

Mickey Mouse!

Justin was at school for Open House, so it was just me and the little guys for dinner. I tried to be amazing by making Will grilled cheese in the shape of Mickey Mouse. You can see how lousy my attempt was. But I tried! He loved it...as you can see in the photo below. :-) "A" for effort, right?!

Our little pizza chef

It was a busy Monday. I spent much of Sunday doing school work, which meant that grocery shopping happened after school today. I swung by our house to pick up one child--we believe firmly in the "divide and conquer" strategy, especially during those "witching hours" that are the hours between 5-8 p.m. on any given school night. Patrick was the boy who elected to shop with me. He was HILARIOUS at the grocery store. He noticed everything with a point and a comment (still unintelligible). When he saw something he liked, he would clap! It had been a while since we shopped, just the two of us. It was nice. :-)  I was really there to get basics and some ingredients for a lasagna making evening. I made one lasagna for us and one for our neighbor who is single and recovering from surgery. I know I loved having meals provided after having babies, so I figure anyone recovering from anything (except maybe a hangover) ;-) deserves a hot meal delivered to their door every once in a while!

But, I digress....grocery shopping so late and not getting home (officially) until 6:00 p.m. meant having a  SUPER easy dinner tonight--English Muffin Pizzas. Will was getting a bit antsy, so I recruited him as a helper. AHH! So sweet! He loved every moment of helping make our simple (but DELICIOUS, actually) dinner. I added veggies on the side for the little guys and a spinach salad for us. Here are some photos of my little helper. Will's heartbreak of the evening was having to go take a bath while the pizzas sat under the broiler. But, again, Justin and I believe in the "divide and conquer" strategy. So, by the time Will returned, the pizzas were ready and he was clean! He did see SOME of the baking process...efficiency was more important. :-)

Will camps out

Will decided to go on a napping strike today, so I decided to pull out a big trick from my bag of tricks--a tent! Peso looked pretty comfortable in Will's bed, anyway. :-) Will was VERY into the idea of taking a nap when he saw that he could sleep in a tent! And guess where he's sleeping now...I might have to find a small air mattress for it! Somehow I doubt a blanket will suffice for the whole night, but we'll see. He IS a pretty heavy sleeper, once he goes to sleep. Or maybe I can find a tent to go over his bed. He is a guy who loves his forts, so I shouldn't be surprised by this. Sweet dreams, Will!

He fell asleep SO quickly!

Don't worry--there is really nothing wrong with his hand. Just a dried up blister with a flap of skin. We got the skin off tonight without him even noticing. But, he wanted his hand "bandaged" (as he said) all day long. DRAMA! :-)

Fisherman Will

Will likes to fish. Well, Will likes (LOVES) his Daddy, and therefore likes (LOVES) anything Daddy likes (LOVES) to do. :-) So, tonight this stick became a fishing pole. He was very good at casting and reeling in. He caught a big fish, a seagull, socks, and Peso. Well, at least that's what he caught in his imagination. LOVE IT!

 

 

 

Hide and Seek

I hate to be redundant, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that my boys are now playing together. They find joy in one another. They seek each other out for play times! It's so reassuring. And heart-warming. It makes me feel like the craziness that was/is having two children 19-months apart is absolutely, 100% worth it! We've basically had two babies for a long time...two who needed diapers and to be carried around everywhere it seemed. Two who were at the developmental stages of absolutely dependency.

It's starting to change...which is exciting and sad at the same time. Will is ALMOST fully potty trained. The last two days have been HUGE for him. He has pooped in the potty at his own initiation THREE TIMES! Woo hoo!!! I never thought that would be headline news for me, but I swear I almost posted that as my Facebook status but thankfully stopped myself just in time. :-) They can both  now get up and down the stairs by themselves, which helps immensely in the morning (since we live in a split-level/raised ranch). Those stairs were such a pain for so long. Will can open the fridge and pull out his own milk cup and snacks. He can turn navigate the iPad to find a video if he's up too early and we want to keep sleeping. Milk, iPad, dry cereal, and he's in business! I do get nostalgic when I see babies, and I even still ponder the idea of #3. But, we're coming to a really neat phase in our boys' development, and I think this is one that will last forever: they're becoming friends!

Tonight Will decided to hide under the kitchen rug, which Patrick of course thought was HILARIOUS! It became quite the game. Will did not want his photo taken, so this is what I got...