Father's Day 2016

Anthony had the Saturday before Father's Day off of work, so he went out to do some night fishing with a friend. He caught a big snook! It was too big to keep and they are out of season anyway, but he was really happy about it.

Sunday morning we were dreading going to church. Sundays are rough enough on us on a regular Sunday, but somehow on special days like Mother's day and Father's day they are extra hard to handle because of the irony of dealing with difficult children on a day when you are supposed to be celebrating being a parent. We even toyed with the idea of not going, but decided to do it anyway. I was so glad we did! Rett actually did great in nursery and didn't try to hit or bite anyone. And James stayed in primary the entire time without having to come get us. We reminded him to ask for a break when he needed one and he took a walk around the church with the primary secretary and then went back and did great. So proud of him!

James did this questionnaire in his primary class for Anthony and it was so funny!! When we read the part where Anthony's favorite sport was baseball, Anthony went, "Huh???" Baseball is probably his least favorite sport because of all the standing around :)

I stayed in nursery with Rett and the leaders helped all he kids make a tie necklace for their dads. Rett chose the decorations and I helped him write his name in the inside of the card.

After church I made homemade cupcakes while the boys watched funny animal videos on youtube. They just snuggled up on the couch and laughed and laughed! Rett started saying "Oh my!" whenever anything happens and he sounds like a little old lady. So funny!

Anthony's parents came over for dinner and afterwards we gave the dads cupcakes with candles on them. The boys were very willing to help blow them out.

Anthony's dad loves to give the boys hugs and tickles and usually they never let him. This time James actually let him do it and it was a great Father's day present!

Keely Dairy

While browsing the farmer's market I came across a booth for a local dairy. I had no idea that we had a dairy just a few miles from our house! They have cows that they milk daily and are open for the public any time you want to come and watch them milk. So of course we had to go check it out!

They milk four ladies at a time with these individual pumps that then get emptied into one large industrial grade container. They sell the milk right there or at the farmer's market, fresh milk straight from the cow (with quality checks to make sure it is clean and all that). We bought some and thought it was pretty tasty! Although at $10/gallon, we probably won't be buying it that often.

A close up of the milking pump. If you look closely at the tube, you can see the white of the milk getting pumped out.

They also raise pigs for meat that they sell. They oinked at us and came to see if we had any food for them. Once they saw we didn't have anything, they promptly ignored us.

James and Rett snorted at the pigs and got them to snort back!

A random pen of ducks. I'm not sure what they use these for. Maybe eggs?

They also had a large number of miniature horses. They were so adorable!

The baby calves are kept in this back pen just for the morning milking, then they go back to their mamas. Their little bleats were so adorable! The farmer told us that in the next few months there are 18 cows that will deliver new calves!

We took a trip to the feed store to get our quail food and they had a bunch of baby chicks for sale. James and Rett both wanted to catch one.

Some friends from our ward keep chickens and we started buying our eggs from them. James has decided he likes eggs, but only the eggs we get from them! You would think they wouldn't be that different from grocery store eggs, but you really can tell a difference. The best way I can describe it is that they taste creamier, like you added cheese to them while you were cooking them. Of course, Rett approves as well!

I had to get photographic evidence of James eating some eggs. Otherwise Anthony wouldn't believe me :)

James decided that he wanted to have a sleepover in Rett's room on the futon one night. He fell asleep pretty quickly but Rett kept trying to wake him up to play. I could hear Rett from the other room saying, "James! James!...Jamesy! James!". I finally had to go in there and tell Rett to lay down and go to sleep.

James liked it so much, that he slept in Rett's room for an entire week! We finally had to put them back into separate rooms because they were staying up too late and getting on each other's nerves from all of the togetherness. But it is so nice to see them getting along for once!

Summer Fun!

Even though it is crazy hot, Rett is usually still up for a walk around the neighborhood. This particular day he insisted on pushing the car the entire time!

Running around and doing somersaults:

I finally remembered to pick up James' soccer pictures. Love this handsome kid!

One morning we decided to go visit the turtle rehab and pet the sting rays.

I tried to get a picture of them smiling and happy to be out doing something. At least Rett let me take a few pictures of him! Isn't he just the smooshiest??

This the best that James would do for me :)

We took a nature walk on the boardwalk that ended at a little observation tower.

The lighthouse is only a few streets away. James really wants to climb it again, but we have to go when someone can stay at the bottom with Rett since he is too little to go all the way to the top.

Some cool mushrooms growing on a tree next to the sidewalk.

Afterwards we went to the park down the street and played on the swings and the slide. James got really excited because he spotted a woodpecker in one of the trees!

One morning Rett slipped into James' room and found his stash of tic-tac boxes that he saves whenever he gets them as treats. Rett ate an entire box of orange tic-tacs and then came into the living room. James was very upset, but Rett had no remorse :) I asked him, "Rett! Did you eat James' tic tacs?". He answered, "Yep."

While Rett was napping one afternoon, James and I sat on my bed and did some mazes out a kindergarten workbook. I was feeling so tired, so I told James I was going to rest my eyes for a few minutes. He snuggled up to me to wait the few minutes and we both ended up falling asleep! This is how Anthony found us when he came home from work. Summer time fun is hard work!

James Preschool Graduation

I can't believe we made it, but James had his last day of preschool! When I went to pick him up, I brought his gifts for his teachers. Both of them got notes and generous gift cards. These teachers seriously deserved every penny and more!

James and Ms. Jodi. She was the perfect teacher for him!

James and his assistant teacher, Ms. Demi:

We gave the director of the preschool the birdhouse painted to look like the school. She loved it! She recently moved into a new house and said it would be perfect in her backyard.

Later that night it was time for graduation! They put the tassels on the hats right when we got there and James could not leave it alone to save his life. He was constantly touching it and making it jiggle. Eventually they put it so that it would hang down the back :) He really didn't want to let go of elephant, so they said he could hold him as long as he didn't swing it around or try to hit anyone with it. He was true to his word and didn't do any of that!

Rett taking selfies while we wait for James' class:

Here they are walking in. James is at the very end of the line. The little boy at the front of the line started crying and stopped walking, so it held things up a little bit :)

James' spot was right next to a little built in bench so that he could sit when he got too tired. There was 40 minutes of singing songs, so it was a long time for him! Some of the time he walked over to the little railing and used elephant as a pillow and put his head down.

And then came time for him to go up and get his diploma and say what he wanted to be when he grew up. Mr. goofball had to come up with a silly answer! Such a stinker!

Walking out:

Trying to get a picture with one of his best friends, Ethan.

There were little gift bags on the table for each parent with a few pictures to keep.

Rett finishing up his cupcake on the ride home:

James was excited to open up his graduation present after we got home. Every thing he pulled out, he was so happy about! Man do I know what this kid likes :)

His reaction was the best when he got to the bottom of the bag and found the candy. Happy boy!

One of the presents inside the bag was a bunch of fireworks, so we had to go set them off in the back yard. You're welcome neighbors!

Happy graduation James! We are so excited for summer!