Touch-A-Truck

A couple of weeks ago it was time for one of our favorite events of the year, Touch-A-Truck.  Touch-A-Truck is where a local boy scout troop is nice enough to find trucks and other vehicles from all over town and bring them to a local mall parking lot for toddlers to crawl in and investigate.  We couldn't miss it!

We saw helicopters from Duke and UNC land in the parking lot.  Then, we got to go investigate and sit in the helicopter.  They also checked out an ambulance, a fire truck, a police car, a canine police car complete with canine, a dump truck, an army helicopter, and a digger.  Evan's favorite part was definitely finding the loudest horns that he could and honking them.  Both boys loved turning on the sirens in the police car, much to the dismay of anyone standing in front of the car.  Ben just loved crawling around in every vehicle, especially the ambulance. 

What could make for a better day than a parking lot full of vehicles?

Tar Heel Ten Miler

Last weekend I had another race.  I ran the Tar Heel Ten Miler taking you around scenic Chapel Hill, and it was a lot of fun to not have to run 26 whole miles at once.  My goal was to run under 10 minute miles, but I wasn't sure if I could do it because in the marathon my pace was 11 minutes, and this course was VERY hilly, especially the infamous Laurel Hill between mile 8 and the end.  I was also a bit nervous because everyone at the race looked like good runners.  Plus, I had come with my incredibly fast friends Abby and Bob, and I knew they would be way ahead of me. 

However, the race started and I felt good.  I tried to go as fast as I could from the beginning because I knew the hill was coming at the end to slow me down.  I did slow down on the hill, but I didn't stop running.  We finished by running back into Kenan Stadium which is UNC's football stadium and that was a really cool experience. 

I didn't see my boys watching when I crossed the finish line, but they were there.  It was so nice to have them watching me cross the finish line.  When I looked at my pace, I had actually beaten my goal finishing in 1 hour 37 minutes which gave me a 9:40 pace!  It was a lot of fun and now I'm looking ahead and wondering what I'm going to run next!

 (Crossing the finish line-don't I look fast?)

 (Me and some handsome boys)

(I love my supportive little family!)

No...Ben

So, my sweet little baby has figured out that he's about to turn two, and he's certainly began to act like it.  He's favorite word has become the ever popular, "NO!" and he's been using it so often that we've even taught it to him in a different language for a little variety.  So, now he also loves to tell us, "NYET!"

We get "NO" when we ask him if he will eat another bite of food.  We get "NO" when we tell him it's time to put on his shoes.  We get "NO" when it's time to go to bed, and ironically "NO" when it's time to get out of bed as well.

In addition to "NO" he's also began to run.  So, now he can run away from me when I try to catch him for a diaper change or to get in his PJ's after bath time.  Unfortunately, with the running comes Ben's ever present klutziness.  So, when he's running around the house or out and about he frequently trips and falls or runs into something.  This week it was the coffee table (a big goose egg on his forehead), and the slide at the mall (a scratch under his eye).  With the excema on his face and bug bites, he certainly looks like the little mess monkey that he is.

Fortunately, with all of his opinions, he's also extremely cute.  That's always what saves him. Recently, he's really figured out who he is.  So, we'll say something about him like..."Ben, you're a mess!"  or "Ben you're so silly!"  and he'll look at us in all seriousness and say, "No...Ben!"  He is adamant that we know that he is Ben and not any of those other things that we're saying...soooo cute!

(This face can get away with anything!)

Little Explorers

Last weekend we decided to head back up to one of our favorite places, the Eno River State Park!  We headed on up there with the whole family for a little afternoon walk.  Everyone had a wonderful time.  Ripple, of course, has a come apart every time he gets there because he's so excited.  He barks and yips and sniffs and pees.  Then, he gets close to the water and starts whining.  We throw sticks and he paddles out into the water to get them.  Sometimes he gets a bit excited and swims too far out to get back.  Then, we have to reel him in with his retractable leash.  This time it was a bit cold, so after Rip's dip in the water, he stood on the shore shivering and begging to go back in.  The Eno has got to be Ripple's favorite place ever!

Evan really surprised us during this Eno excursion.  He turned into a little nature explorer.  Once we got down to the river, he had to immediately jump out on to the rocks.  Then, he kept having to creep out further and further until Ian had to go out with him to make sure he didn't accidentally slip and fall in.  Finally, we had to make him come back to the shore.  I've never seen him so brave.  Once he got back onshore he had to find the nearest rock pile and climb to the top.  He literally lit up the minute we were out in nature.  We will definitely be taking him out on more nature hikes.

The rest of us had a great time too!  Little Ben loved exploring too, but he wasn't quite as into it as Evan.  When he got down to the river he just wanted to wade right out in, except it was too cold on this trip.  So, he was VERY disappointed when I wouldn't let him in.  That sort of soured the rest of his time by the river, but he did have a good time hiding in the rock formations and walking on the trail.

As the weather warms, I'm sure there will be many more fabulous trips to the Eno.

 (Rip loves the Eno!)

 (Benny in the woods.)

 (My boys with their walking sticks.)

 (Tree-hugger, literally)

 (Evan the adventurer)

 (Look how far they made it across the river!)

 (Evan and I climbing the rocks.)

(tree climbers)

Strawberry Fields

It's that time of year again..it's strawberry time!  The warmer weather brought it a little earlier than usual this year, so we were happy to head out a little early to get our yearly crop of strawberries.  We always have so many different ideas for what to make with the berries.  This year, our choices were strawberry wine, jam, pie, and ice cream.  We've made them all before with our fresh strawberries and they're all delicious.  So, my mission was to pick as many strawberries as I could with the boys help.

We headed out to a new strawberry patch and part of my mission was accomplished.  We managed to pick 8 lbs. so we managed to pick enough strawberries for lots of strawberry treats.  However, I have to say that the boys were not much help!  They both dove in initially and started eating every strawberry they could see.  Then, their attention wandered.  Ben spent the rest of the time wandering the strawberry patch and Evan played with the flag that they use to mark where the strawberries have been picked.  However, as I've always said, strawberry patches, with their straight long rows, are great for toddler containment so it was fine for me to keep picking while the boys roamed safely.

In the end, a good time was had by all, and we came home with a bunch of yummy strawberries.  Now, we are happily enjoying homemade strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream, and strawberry pie...yum!

 (So, at first I thought they might pick some strawberries.)

(See, he looks like he might want to pick some strawberries.)

(However, eating them is soooo much more fun...)

(So much more fun!)

(Yum!)

Blustery Ballgame

With the warm weather arriving so early this year, we were really surprised when we had to bundle up to head to a Durham Bulls game last week.  It was one of their rare day games so we were going to have Daddy meet us over at the game during his lunch time.

It was a chaotic outing from the beginning.  Evan had a time-out for some forgotten reason as we were on our way out the door so we were late.  We rushed to the game to meet our friends because we had their tickets and they were waiting for us.  We rushed and we rushed, but when we arrived everyone was excited and we were ready to head in.

We were sitting in the outfield in the front row which turned out to be a great spot.  The sun was shining on us, which was a benefit on this chilly day.  It was an empty section so no one minded if the boys climbed the seats, and we had a great view of the game.  For the first couple of innings the boys climbed around the seats, occasionally pausing to watch the game, and the mommies got to sit and talk.

After a few innings, we were all getting twitchy and a little cold.  So, we headed up to the playground to get a little energy out.  By that time Daddy had arrived so it was nice to spend a little time with him.  We played for a while, but then, even the playground was getting cold.  So, a few of our friends threw in the towel and headed home.

I headed down to get lunch while Ian stayed up with the boys.  By the time we got our lunch, it was about time for Ian to head back to work.  Fortunately, our other friends chose that moment to meet up with us, so it worked out perfectly.  We ate our lunch behind a shelter, played at the playground for a few more minutes, and then headed down for one more view of the game.  This time, the boys actually had fun leaning on the railing and watching the players.

As we left the ballpark all I could think about was how harried I was.  However, I looked at the boys and realized that they had had a great time.  When we went to the grocery store later in the day, Evan even had to pick up a baseball glove so he could learn to play baseball.  Hopefully, the next game will be a touch warmer and less chaotic, but the boys didn't mind, so....let's play ball!

 (A view of the field from our seats)

 (Evan, Ben, and their friend Nathan take in a little of the game.)

 (Quinn, Nathaniel, and Evan are equally entranced.)

(How can this be true?  Look at the same 3 boys when they first met!  How are they so big already?!)

Boys in the Springtime

Okay, I have handsome boys.  I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  Enjoy!

 (Evan-Almost 4 years old)

 (Ben-Almost 2 years old)

 (Brothers getting in to trouble)

 (A little bit goofy)

(A little bit charming)

The Egg Hunt

So this weekend we went down to Charlotte for Easter celebrations.  Saturday we celebrated with a big egg hunt party.  Lots of family came over and other neighborhood kids.  The sun was out, the eggs were hidden (over 200 of them!), and the kids all had their baskets ready.  The Easter egg hunt began and both boys approached it in different ways.  Ben ran out, found each egg, and immediately wanted to open it and eat the contents.  Evan on the other hand ran out and wanted to find as many eggs as he could.  By the end of the day, Evan's basket was overflowing.

The hunt and the delicious spread afterward were both a success.  My shoes did manage to find the muddiest hole in the backyard, but other than that a good time was had by all.  The boys had a great time hanging out with all their cousins.  Cousin Tanner was good to his little cousins, Evan and Ben, and helped them find eggs in the hunt.  Later he told Evan all about dinosaurs.  Cousin Walker is still learning how to hold his head up, but once he masters that Evan and Ben will be teaching him all kinds of trouble.

Happy egg hunting and happy Easter!

(Gramps and his boys-they all have great smiles in this one!)

(Ripple wants to join in on the hunt!)

(Evan and his Great-Grammy)

(The hunt is on!)

(Where are more goodies for me to munch?)

(The newest Davis boy-Baby walker and his mommy Melissa)

Easter Warm-Up

Happy Easter Everyone! 

Don't worry, we'll have plenty of adorable pictures of our happy Easter celebrations this weekend, but first we had to fill you in on our adventures from last week.  We had a little Easter warm-up to get ourselves ready for the big day.  On Saturday, one of Evan's good friends and his family invited us to their church for an Easter egg hunt.  Even though it was pouring down rain, we were still hoping for some fun.  When we walked in and Ben won a cupcake in the cake walk within the first 30 second we were there, we knew we were off to a great start.  We played some games, made some Easter baskets, and watched a puppet show.  Then, the rain had tapered off and it was time to hunt for some eggs.  The boys had a great time and were completely warmed up for the Easter hunts to come.

Later on in the day, we tried our hand at Easter egg dyeing.  We used every color and even experimented with the traditional "every color" egg.  Ian made the boys' favorite- the "eyeball" egg.  Plus, we had lots of yummy deviled eggs to eat all week. 

 (Evan and Nathan-looks like they're having fun!)

 (Anna and Ben-a little time for romance)

 (Ben finds some eggs.)

 (Evan's got a few too.)

 (A quick attempt at a posed shot after a successful morning)

(Don't these two boys look like they're about to get into some mischief?)

The Cowmonster Pair

I stole this title from an episode of Sesame Street, but I thought it was completely appropriate.  Last Friday, the day after the zoo, we headed down to NC State Farm days to take a look at some more animals.  I always love to check this event out every year and give the boys a chance to see some animals up close.  Evan mentioned wanting to dress like a farmer to go to the farm.  Then Benny wanted to join in.  So, the boys put on their best cowboy duds and headed down to see the farm.

The boys were adorable, the animals were cute, and a good time was had by all.  Last year, Evan was not too excited by the animals at Farm Days because he didn't like the way they smelled.  This year, however, he was excited to see everything.  While we touched bunnies, baby sheep, baby goats, and horse noses, their favorite animal was definitely the little baby chicks that they got to hold in their hands.  Evan held his and just smiled.  He was very gentle and had a good time. I had to assist Ben a little bit.  I was just a little worried that he might love on the chick a little too much.  I held Ben's hands, we held the chick together, and no chicks were harmed in the process.

We finished the day with some time sitting in a tractor and some delicious ice cream eaten on the grass in front of the lake.  Both cowboys were very excited and had a great time, and they looked very handsome doing it!

 (Welcome to the farm!)

 (Evan and the baby chick)

 (The cowmonster pair)

 (Is it safe to touch the sheep?)

 (Boys like tractors.)

 (Yep, boys really like tractors.)

 (Ok, so they're just really cute!)

 (Admiring the farm after a good day)

(Wonder what he's watching)