ahhh...outside is my heaven

I am loving the nice weather. Outside every night after work with the boys has been so fun. We all know the drill when we get home...we put all the stuff in the house, get the mail, ding the wind chimes, go in the house, unpack all our stuff and the boys head outside to play. And play. And play. In the sandbox is Emmitt's favorite part. Parker loves his four-wheeler to no end.

I am starting to think I may never get another nice picture of Parker...I get the squinty-look or the scrunched-up-nose-look, or the get-the-camera-out-of-my-face-look. But I really think it is just the look of a boy who is 3 and a half.

Cruisin' on his wheeler. Last night Jillian came over for a spin. She hopped on back, wrapped her arms around him and off they went. Of course when she decided it was time to get off, he kept going as she is being dragged by one leg, trying to climb down...

Yep, eating sand as an appetizer is what this kid does best. Well maybe second. The first being climbing on anything and then half falling or jumping down. He climbs up the little 3 step slide ladder and then stands at the top of the slide, yells to get my attention and then as soon as I start mommy-stomping towards him, he sits down and rushes to go down the slide. Sometimes it is on his butt, sometimes it's head first on his belly where he gets, in his eyes, a big reward with a mouthful of sand.

As if the handfuls of sand aren't enough, he upgraded to filling the bowl with it and then drinking it. My nephew Peter actually did this too. I know every kid has tried to eat sand at one point, but Emmitt is following in Peter's footsteps by craving it and shoving it in his mouth by the fist fulls.

A little bit more balanced diet...he is loving corn on the cob. The first night I shaved it off the cob for him and he ate it, but when he was done, he squealed for the whole cob on the table. I handed it to him and he started gnawing away at it. Last night was gorgeous and we actually got to eat outside on the new deck. I didn't even have to sweep the kitchen floor, I just left all the extra food and crumbs on the deck for the birds or squirrels to eat. I am really looking forward to each day this summer to be like the last few. The kids are happy to get out and play. They are quiet when they are outside playing or I just don't hear the noise as much. They aren't driving us crazy by being in the house all the time. The evening passes so quickly that they are ready to go to bed when the time comes and they crash until morning. Amazing what fresh air and sunshine can do to your spirits...