New fingerpaints

We got bath fingerpaints for Christmas.

Tonight seemed like a good night to try them out.

How do I look in yellow?

Wes, sporting the blue

Cool!  Look at his fingers!!!

Look at MY fingers!

They look good on us AND on the wall

 They are soap, you say?

Scrub-a-dub-dub, Wes!

What do red and blue soap mix to make?

PURPLE water!

And LOTS of bubbles!

Top it off with a good book,

and "It doesn't get any better than this!"

(a direct Jack quote)

Random Silliness

We've been keeping ourselves busy around the house...

I've been perfecting my photography skills

and Jack's been working on his dancing

I learned the colors "peeng" (pink) and "lellow" (yellow)

and Jack finally got to make the car craft he got for his birthday

 Pretty cool, huh?

They must have known he loves "peeng"!

Jack's been riding his bike

Haven't quite mastered peddling uphill...

A bit of digging

It may be January, but it feels like spring!!!

And then of course there's wrestling...

I love to join in too!

It's our favorite thing to do after dinner!!!

Poor Dad!

We LOVE to gang up on him...

Happy #6!

Adam and Michelle invited us to 

My Big Fat Greek Restaurant for dinner tonight

to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

It was really fun!

There was music and dancing and even FIRE BREATHING!!!

I ate my first Gyro

and Wes chowed on lamb chop.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Reed!

Superheroes Party!

There was a Superheroes party at Paradise Park today!

Dad was excited!

(He was going to get a whole morning and afternoon to himself!)

We put on our favorite superheroes T-shirt,

grabbed our capes,

and headed out!

We got there before the Heroes did,

so we started out in "Pizza Hut" whipping up some tasty food.

I've got the pizza!

Wes served the drinks

 Then,

the Superheroes arrived!

I was not thrilled.

I hid.

But Wes walked right up to Spidey for a picture

While Batman, Superman, and Spiderman went to find some more kids,

we headed for the tunnels.

Did I mention our friends Asher and Eli came too?

They were up for a last-minute Superheroes party!

Asher brought his Captain America gear

We played in the water room

Wes and Eli really had a good time

And I literally climbed the walls

After all that action,

we paused for some refueling

(we made honey muffins in the kitchen)

Then it was back to the action

(I'm still hiding from the super men)

The ball pit is ALWAYS a good time!

But seeing as it's nearly 2:00,

Weston has had all the fun he can stand...

Whew!

Me too!

Super Jack and Westerman

need a nap!

Daddy's wish

We headed to the boat show again this year.

Daddy has wanted his own boat his whole life,

so this is big fun for him every year.

I test-drove a few pontoons,

Weston welcomed visitors in the back door,

and we hit up the fishing pond to see if we could land some fish

(not so much--there were tears over that--

"Why won't they just eat my bait???"

to which Mom and Dad replied, 

"You don't eat when we tell you to, 

so why would fish eat when we tell them to?")

However, unlike years past,

this year, Daddy's dream came true.

We bought a boat!!!

Not at the boat show, but from a dealer in Indiana.

Pretty cool, huh???

Now, if we can just figure out how to get it to Missouri...

Dino in the tub

 Don't even try to tell me I'm not adorable!

We both know that's not true!

Westers and Jackisms

We bought books at Costco that have a story in the front and little cars or trains and a playmat in the back.  Weston LOVES the Thomas the Train book (although he calls it "Chung-ing-tons") and gets it out nightly to play.  Jack will let this go for a few minutes and then, seeing all the fun West is having, will scoot closer and closer and eventually pick up a few trains to play too.  Weston is usually a really good sharer, but NOT with this.  He will grab Jack's arm and yell "NO, JACK!  Jack, Cars!" and point to the other book (Cars 2).  Jack will then reply "I'm just watching" and again, West will yell, "NO!  Jack, Cars!"  He's so emphatic, it cracks me up every time.

Weston has given up the word "Yes."  He now says "Aye!"  Do you want some milk?  "Aye, milk"  Do you want a snack?  "Aye, 'nack."  He's either part pirate or part Japanese.  We haven't decided.

Weston also doesn't just nod.  He nods and opens and closes his mouth really fast as if he's whispering "yeah, yeah, yeah!"  Kinda hard to describe; absolutely adorable.

We went to eat at T-Rex last weekend, which has resparked Jack's interest in dinosaurs.
Jack:  Mom, how did the dinosaurs die?
Mom:  Well, that's a good question.  We don't really know.  Maybe a meteor or volcanoes or an ice age.  No one really knows.
A long pause from the back seat...
Jack:  I think God killed them.
Mom:  Hmm.  God is a pretty nice guy.  I don't know.  Why would he do that?
Jack:  Well, he's the one who made everything, right?  And he made people?
Mom:  Yes.
Jack:  Well, so I think he killed all the dinosaurs when he made the people.
Mom:  Why did he do that?
Jack:  Well, you wouldn't want a dinosaur living in your house, would you?  He had to kill all the dinosaurs to make room for the people and to be sure they were safe.  Dinosaurs eat people.
I can't argue with that one.

Swimming in January

For Part 2 of our mini Stay-cation,

we headed to Coco Keys for some pool fun.

We were in such a hurry to get here this morning,

we forgot the camera.

Sorry, grainy iPhone pictures will have to do...

It was a blast!

First, we played in the little kids pool.

Jack and I went down the slides more times than I can remember.

Then we headed for the Lazy River.

Then we braved the big kids play area.

I say "brave" because about every 10 minutes,

this HUGE bucket of water tips and drenches EVERYTHING.

It's a little overwhelming

and little scary.

But the big kids slides were too enticing to keep us away.

I went on all of them--

2 curvy tunnels and 1 blue rapids.

About 10 times.

Jack would only brave the blue rapids.

He did go down one of the tunnels once 

when Dad literally stuffed him inside.

We paused for lunch...

And then headed back to the little kids pool for more

little slides and fountains.

(Jack was too busy to pause for a picture--

you can see him on the edge there!)

Way fun!

Thanks for the Stay-cation, Mom and Dad!

Presenting Jack "Ansel Adams" Reed

I got a camera a few years ago for Christmas.

I've been perfecting my photography skills.

Here is a sampling (there were over 1500 pictures on my camera to choose from)

Snapshots of books I've been reading

 A documentary of Costco

 A shot Betty (our truck)

Not sure how I got that on there

A few family portraits

 A series I like to call

"Out a Car Window"

 Weston even snapped a few

 Our house

 And event a few self portraits

What do you think?

Do I have a calling?