Dozer Days!

This Saturday Holden turned 5, and for his birthday, Ben and Mark took him to Dozer Days! The boys had a blast - they got to "help" operate a variety of bull dozers, diggers, and other heavy equipment of which I don't know the name (I'm sure the boys do). They got to dig in the sand for treasures, and got to meet some real live firemen. After lunch, they even got to take a ride in a dump truck!

Here are a bunch of pictures - sorry about the weird blurry lines on all of them, Ben's phone camera was accidentally set to a weird setting when he took them. But you still get an idea for all the fun the boys had!

I am not sure what these are called in English... Dampfwalze is the German name. Steam roller?


Drilling deep holes...

...searching for treasure... Mark unfortunately got a bunch of flea bites while he was digging in the sand.

...Holden meeting a fireman...

Mark holding the hose

Mark in the fire truck

Holden in the fire truck




If you look closely, you can see that Mark is operating the digger with the help of a professional guy.



Holden operating the orange one.






Time to take a ride in the back of a dump truck!

Lunch time

...still eating...

And here are two very happy boys!

Family Photos

We had our friend Dawn take a few pictures of us. Here are 2 nice-ish family pics. :o)

Sliding down the Fireman pole

On Saturday we went to the Elementary school playground together. Mark's school is just down the street from where we live, and I think it is great that he will already have learned how to do all the cool things on the play set before he starts school. I also found that it is a lot easy to play on the playset myself when I'm not pregnant! This time I showed Mark how to slide down the fireman's pole. He was apprehensive before the first time he did it, and wanted to be spotted. After that he did it all by himself, again and again and again!
...climbing up

"Hi Momma!"

"Yeah... this looks pretty high, Momma!"

Never fail, there's a silly goofy face for my camera...

Sean, of course, thought this was all VERY INTERESTING. He commented in depth. Too bad we can't understand him yet.

Alright, let's do this!

Wheee!

*Plunk* - see? That was easy!

Remember when this jungle gym was still hard? Mark has mastered this one like a champ now, and doesn't even need someone to stand nearby any more.

I'm so proud of my big boy and all the neat things he's learning!

Visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Griffing

Last week we had the wonderful treat of having Grandma and Grandpa at our house for a visit (Katie's parents). Mark and Sean both enjoyed spending time with them, and of course Ben and I did too!

Grandpa playing with Sean.

...I think Grandpa is having fun!

Snuggle Time with Grandma in the morning!

Mother's Day Photo shoot

For Mother's Day, Ben surprised me with some wonderful professional pictures he had our friend Kim take of the boys and of himself with the boys. What a treat! I know how much Ben hates having his picture taken. That makes the fact that I now have a wonderful framed picture of Ben with Mark and Sean, in which Ben is actually smiling, even more special! Here are a few of the pics:

Mark's Easter treasure hunt

Now that we have a big 4-year-old in the house, I decided it was time to step up the Easter egg hunt a little: we did a treasure hunt, and the hints were WRITTEN (rather than pictures). In order to find the treasure, Mark had to read the clues all by himself. He did a really great job, and found the treasure in no time.
Mark reading the first clue.

Mark reading the second clue. I put a few hard-ish words in it...

...but this didn't stump my boy.

Mark reading another clue. There were 8 clues altogether, I didn't take pictures of each, but I LOVE that I got some good shots of Mark this time... and by that I mean, I love that I got some pictures of him in which he isn't sticking out his tongue at the camera!

Yet another clue to decipher.

Whew, this one is hard to read!

Who knew - the dryer was a great hiding spot for the treasure!

I love catching the look of joy on a child's face as he unwraps a gift.

You can tell he is thinking "could this really be true???!"

YEP! Meet good Darth Mark. He exists in an alternate universe in which Darth can be cool AND good, at least that's what I've overheard Holden and Mark saying (minus the alternate universe part) during some of their play. I bought this costume last year after Halloween (when it was marked down 80%!).

Good job reading all those clues, Mark! Errr, I mean, good job reading all those clues, Darth!

We have a tooth!

...it may only be very small, but it is finally here! Sean won't let me near it with the camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It has been a while since I posted last. In the meantime, Sean pulls himself up well, and has moved into the crib in Mark's room.

Dear rubber elephant, you delight me!

(just wait 'til he can bounce on it!)

Sean can get up and down on his own. Sometimes he still tips backwards, but it doesn't happen often any more.

Sean is VERY proud of his new skill.

Look who fell asleep on the bathroom rug!

Mark gets his very own post - I will post it as soon as I've put Sean in his bed.