Too bad it's the end of summer ...

... rather than the beginning! Luke and I have been talking about (and saving towards) buying a motor home for a while. There are a lot of reasons we thought it would be a good purchase, and a lot of traveling with the boys we'd like to do. Luke's been watching Craigslist and the Buyer's Guide all summer, and we've gone and looked at a couple that weren't right for one reason or another. This last week, he saw one in the Buyer's Guide that looked like just what we wanted. We went and looked at it Tuesday evening, and ended up buying it! Here are some pictures, mostly for those of you who have let me know you're anxious to see what it looks like. (Hi Dad!)

Outside:

Standing in the "kitchen" area, facing the front (the couch turns into a bed, and there's a bunk over the cab):

And this one is standing by the bunk/driver's seat area. The sink, microwave, and stove are on the right, and the refrigerator is on the left. There's a small hallway with the toilet and vanity on one side, and the shower on the other. Then there's a queen-size bed in the back.

There's no dinette because it's been modified to accommodate the needs of the previous owner. His son was handicapped, and it was too difficult to get him into the dinette. There is a small table that flips up in between the two chairs; I forgot to take a picture of that.

So what do the kids think?




They love it!

(They also like to make funny faces.)

End of Summer

We start school on Monday, so this weekend was our last official weekend of summer vacation. We celebrated with a family day at the Weston Aquatic Center and a buggy supper! I have lots of pictures of the boys playing in the sand and water area of the Aquatic Center, and a big fat ZERO of them actually in the water. I meant to at least get one of Ethan flying down one of the big, twisty slides, but it ended up being too challenging to have two little people to watch and take pictures at the same time. (Luke was going with Ethan on the slide.) There was a lot to enjoy in the sand area, though.

They had watering cans, cups, shovels ...

The boys were enthralled, and sometimes slightly annoyed to have mama want them to look up from their play ...

There were troughs of water, spigots they could turn on ...

a pulley system with scoops attached to the cables ...

(You'd think I never fed this child, wouldn't you?)

I love how they concentrated so hard on their play.

Benny laid down and rolled in the sand.

We capped off the day with a buggy supper - fly burgers, butterfly pasta, cheese worms, and ladybug cupcakes. I'd planned on having this meal just for the fun of it earlier in the summer, and it got postponed because of all the unexpected traveling we did when my grandpa died last month. I took pictures, and discovered that it's very difficult to get good pictures of food. It makes me appreciate all the beautiful pictures on the food blogs that I see. So instead, here are pictures of the boys enjoying their ladybug cupcakes.

When they got done, I asked Benny to show me his face:

Good-bye, summer vacation! We've enjoyed you so much this year!

Tall Ships

Ethan recently got to go spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa all by himself! It was a rare treat that he enjoyed greatly. They went to a Woodchuck's game, watched fireworks, and went to Green Bay to see the Tall Ships. He had so much fun!



Here he is with Grandpa.


And you can see that steering a ship is serious work!

Lessons from my children

Never ask, "Is it possible for us to be any noisier?" unless you are prepared for a demonstration. And yes, it is possible. Always.


"That will make a mess!" is a reason to do something, not a reason to stop.

An eight-year-old will be willing to go to bed at 7:30 and get up at 5:00 if he believes that it will truly make him healthy, wealthy, and wise. "Wealthy" being the most important of the three.


Never ask, "What are you eating?" when there's no food in the immediate area unless you're willing to hear the answer, "Boogers!".

Seeing your kids cuddle together in a chair will always make you smile, even when you know it's only a matter of time before they start fighting.


"I love you, Mommy!" will melt your heart. Every time.

Photos in this post are completely unrelated to the text. They just make me smile. They were all taken by my talented husband.