Kids Castle

Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to try a new outing with the kids. Immediately the Kids Castle at Central Park in Doylestown came to mind since I have heard great things about it and have wanted to try it for quite some time. So, we drove a little further than we usually do for a park outing (about 25 minutes) and were not at all disappointed. This place was amazing - the kids had such a great time and I really couldn't get over what a neat play structure this is. We had the best time exploring! The entire thing is wood and it is just chock full of slides, monkey bars, swings, climbers - anything you could ever imagine at a playground, actually. Likely in multiples! About half of it is covered with sand on the floor so this made my sand-loving boys very happy. After exploring some of the other parts of the castle, they migrated to a few of the sandy areas and just had a great time.

Are these two charmers or what?!?! :)

Picnic break after some heavy-duty playing for quite some time!

Of course the space area and the wooden rocket ship were extremely popular with our crew! They recognized the N-A-S-A "ABC's" from their rocket ship birthday cake - lol!

This little village in amongst the sand area was my favorite. It's similar to the Safety Town atmosphere at Mason's Mill Park and (naturally) depicted all Doylestown localities, instead of the Abington ones you see at Mason's Mill. Of course the boys immediately noticed that Thompson Toyota was featured, which is where we bought our car last year. They recognized the Toyota logo! Um, observant?

The little Doylestown Bookstore store front has the Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle) painted on the front. Nate was jumping up and down to see "my caterpillar!" It's his favorite book; he knows it by heart. Literally :).

The Depot! We know our orange friend well :)

I can never escape the sandbox (actually, the loose sand that winds up in the house due to the sandbox!). *sigh* These two construction workers have the huge sandbox at home, where they love to dig and dump all day long. And they always migrate to the sandbox at any park that has one. Actually, it's only a *really* good park if it has a sandbox and swings, in their opinion :)

This was a great family adventure for us today. I highly recommend taking your families there. It's close (enough), free, and just a lot of fun. We will surely be going back again soon!

Garden!

Finally, after some setbacks with Andrew's frst garden because of his shoulder surgery in mid-April, it is all planted and is really starting to bloom. A few of the crops will be harvested a few weeks later than most people since Andrew had to hold off on planting until his shoulder was back up and functionning. But, otherwise, the crops are doing great and Andrew has developed a new hobby.

Here is Farmer Andrew tonight with his two apprentices. The crops he has planted are (let's see if I can remember everything!) - several varieties of sweet corn, eggplant, regular tomatoes, grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, cayenne peppers, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, green beans, cantoulope, watermelon, and pumpkin. I think that's everything!

Yes, you will find me at the farm stand out front in a few weeks. Seriously, I am considering it if we get the over-abundance we could get if things come up as they are supposed to. :) I don't know where the heck we will put so many canned or frozen goods, but we'll figure something out!

The boys like to "help" water the plants. Ben tells Nate that he (Ben) has bigger muscles so he can use Daddy's watering can but Nate has to use the little one until he is 4. :)

The biggest zucchini so far will be ready to pick in another day or so... our first harvest!

Gotcha!

Scenario: Mom is out for the morning at a meeting so Dad has all three kids alone. Abby gets placed in her Pod seat on the counter and Dad turns his back.

Evidence: Note the fruit basket within reach of Miss. Now note that there are no longer any grapes in said basket. Hmmm...

Exhibit A: Take note of the smiley one with dark hair and a pink bow, wearing a Little Sister tee and mysteriously holding a bunch of grapes. Uh, oh...

Crime: Going behind Dad's back and surrepticiously "borrowing" the fake grapes to see if indeed they taste like real grapes :)

Summer Fun

Summer is here with the heat and humidity to prove it! Yes, it has defintely been hot this year so far, which means we have been spending lots of time outdoors. The kids love it. They could play outside from morning until evening and never get bored. The only bad part is that they are usually filthy by evening so every night has become bath night around here, unlike the winter when we can get by on an every-other-day schedule. :)

Benjamin completed his first week of camp this past week and had a blast. It was the Bucky's Bay PEAK camp at our church and they have both indoor and outdoor activities for the kids to do, including tons of wading pools and some huge blow up water slides. He had the best time and is asking for more camp, so we signed him up for two other weeks of camps at different churches in the area in July and August, one each month. He cannot wait!

We visited NJ last weekend for my birthday and also for Father's Day and have just been spending some time at home this past week in the afternoons, since Ben had such busy mornings at camp. Here are some photos of the kids at play, both at Pop and Nana's house in NJ and also at home. Water activities are very popular since it has been so hot and humid!

Hi! :) Abigail started waving hello and goodbye last weekend, just before turning 8-months old.


I LOVE this picture of dear, sweet little Natey. Such a Mama's Boy! :)


Our little character, Benjamin. Such a funny guy with such a huge heart :). We need a faster camera to capture him in pictures lately; he's always being silly and doesn't stop moving or talking all day long!!

Having fun under the sprinkler at Pop and Nana's house while the babies nap and the big boy gets to stay up with the adults :).

Lounging in the kiddie pool at home. I put it on a slight hill so that one end would be very shallow for Abigail. Clearly, the cool pool water is not among her favorite things. She looks absolutely peeved that I have placed her in this situation, especially with a two-year-old in her face asking her if she is having fun yet! ("Do I LOOK like I am enjoying myself, mister?") I did, however. want to show off her girlish figure in her pink fairy bathing suit, so she'll have to deal for a few minutes :).

Abigail's 8-Month Photos

Abigail had her 8-month-old photos today (about a week shy of 8-months old) and was the perfect subject! She napped in the morning, had a big bottle before we left and was happy, cooing and smiley the entire time. The only time she fussed was when they tried to get some tummy shots of her, which was always her choice position for photos in the past. I think she thought it was naptime and just wanted to play some more!

This was out first photoshoot of hers without the pillow to lay her in since she now sits up on her own. So, we made sure to capture lots of sitting photos since that was her most noticeable milestone since the last round of photos.

Ta-da! Introducing our little lady...