Family Fun Time

Like every other family in North Carolina, we spent the weekend outside. The parks were busy. The lawn mowers were roaring. The grills were... well, grilling. Perfect weather and perfect family-fun-time.

Spring is always tricky for choosing clothes. The day starts off in a long sleeve shirt, and by the afternoon it's time for t-shirts and sandals. No wonder I've done so much laundry lately.

We took a long walk through our neighborhood and the boys made sure to investigate everything. I think we walk the trail at least once a week, but each time there seems to be something new they find.


(Question: Why do "exploring" and "investigating" require being on your tummy? Again I say, no wonder I've done so much laundry lately.)

You know, as much as I love and adore my boys, they have definitely reached that nerdy cute phase. Fake smiles when saying cchhheeeesssseee. Pants that are actually capri's because you hit a growth spurt and Mom is too cheap to buy new ones. You get the picture.

During our walk, Grady Lee discovered a small bird egg. He was pretty concerned that the egg was cracked and there wasn't a baby bird inside. That's when I created an impromptu learning moment and referred to the Dr. Seuss book, "Are you My Mother?" If you've read it, you know what I'm referring to. Who knew that children's fiction provided such wisdom?!

Grady grilled a couple of times this weekend. I'm pretty sure nothing beats a burger grilled in your own backyard. And, because "Daddy cooked dinner," the boys were excited to eat for once.

Because temps were so warm, I dug our the squirt guns. Mind you, the same squirt guns that we used every day last summer. But, when I handed them to the boys, Grady Lee exclaimed "I love it, Mom! Thanks for the special present!" Now, I'm thinking about rummaging through the toy closet to find some oldies but goodies so that I can forego getting him birthday presents this year.


Micah was beside himself that he got to wear his new sandals. He actually kept tripping because he was so enamored with watching his feet when he walked and wasn't paying attention where he was going.

At one point I was helping Micah add more water to his squirt gun, when Grady Lee rushed over and shoved his hand in front of me.

Yes, he caught a lizard all by himself. I'm confident that the entire neighborhood knew by how loud he was yelling. "I caught a lizard! I caught a lizard! All by myselffff!"

I reminded him that we gently put one finger on his back and our thumb on his tummy, but not to squeeze. "I won't squeeze, Mom. I don't want to give him a tummy ache."

After a few minutes Grady Lee let the little guy go. But the poor lizard wasn't home-free just yet. Grady Lee, in his words, wanted to "give the lizard a bath before he went home."

And now, my boys are bathed and sleeping... and my husband and I are about to indulge in ice-cream and relax.