Summer bugs

Each summer I have grand visions of all of the fun outdoor activities we'll do together as a family. Then, the harsh reality crashes in - nature and I are not BFFs.  Bugs seem to love me and flock every time I am outside.  Scott can mow the lawn and not get a bug bite; however, I'll step outside to take him water and get four mosquito bites.

I'm on several Facebook groups to learn more about essential oils, and as summer approached, there were lots of posts about DIY bug spray using essential oils.  I figured it was worth a try because I wasn't a fan of spending the summer smelling like bug spray, and worry about the chemicals I was spraying on the boys.

We've been using our DIY bug spray for a while now and I'm happy to report...IT WORKS!  The boys and I are not getting bitten. Plus, I feel confident spraying it on the boys knowing it's just water, witch hazel, Citronella oil, Peppermint oil and Purification oil. As an added benefit, it smells good!

There is a downside.  I've been spraying our arms, legs and neck when we go outside and no one has received bites there.  The boys have had bugs fly up their shorts and bite them (ouch!).  The bugs are clearly mocking us to prove they can still find somewhere to bite that we haven't covered in spray.  Now we are wise and spray it alllll over.

I'm loving all of the ways I'm learning to use essential oils to replace chemicals in our home.  If you've ever thought about giving essential oils a try, Young Living is currently offering a 10% discount on the Premium Starter Kit through June 30th.  You can get started here. Let me know if you have questions about essential oils - I'm learning a ton and love to chat about them!

Lunch Date

Scott and the boys came to have lunch with me at work today.  We decided to do something a little different today and Scott brought a picnic lunch and we ate at a local park.  It wasn't too hot outside and as soon as we finished eating, the boys raced off to play on the playground.  

After we took the picture above, this cutie wanted to take a silly face photo.  I wasn't quick enough to catch the silly face - but luckily, his silly face cracked him up!

Karsten showed us his monkey bar skills - he's doing a great job swinging across those bars.  See him on the left side of the photo?

I wanted to go down next to the lake and walk out on the dock, but the boys didn't want to go near the water. So, we compromised on a photo with the lake in the background.

We even spent some time on the swings - fun for the young and young at heart!

Karsten wanted to prove that he could fit into the baby swing, but when he got this far, he realized we were right and he wouldn't fit!

Game Night!

We're continuing the tradition we started earlier this summer of playing board games or cards together in the evenings. It can officially be a tradition after doing it several times, right? 

We've played countless games of Sorry, Race to the Treasure, Jenga, Hoot Owl Hoot, Battleship (Karsten loved it, Liam was not a fan), and tonight we played Candyland.  I'll have to say, after many of the other games, Candyland wasn't near as exciting as I remember it being when I was little.   

I think Candyland will not be in our game rotation as often as some of our other favorites.  It's just one more reminder that the boys are growing up and outgrowing some of the games for super little guys.  Sigh - time needs to slow down.

Night at the K

For our summer event, the company I work for gave us the choice of taking our family to a Royals game or going to Worlds of Fun. We have Royals fever at our house, so the Royals game was an easy choice.

Alcides Escobar is Karsten's favorite Royals player, so when we heard it was Escobar bobblehead night for the first 20k fans, we arrived early so we wouldn't have a disappointed little boy.  Arriving at the park so long before the game began gave us time to go see the Hall of Fame and World Series Trophy!

George Brett was number five, so they built a giant FIVE from the same number of balls that he hit during his time as Royal!  It was very cool to see!

I think Scott and I were more excited to see the World Series Trophy than the boys were!

I told the boys to pretend they were holding up this giant ball - I don't think they really understood what I meant. :)

There was a ton of fun Royals stuff to check out.  We didn't read everything on the walls - if you are a museum person, you would love the Hall of Fame!

We watched the Astros batting practice for a bit, then walked around the stadium on the lower level.  I took this picture while we were cutting through the Diamond Club section - oo bad our seats weren't there!

Liam chose popcorn for his snack at the game and Karsten chose cotton candy.  Liam very carefully doled out the popcorn piece by piece.

The Royals started out strong, but the second inning didn't go so well and they scored 7 runs!  We still had fun!

We were getting a little bored towards the end when the score was 10 to 3 with the Royals losing.  Sunglasses are always entertaining.

Happy Birthday Papa!

My dad is notoriously hard to shop for, so when my mom and I had the idea of going to a Tbones game as a family, this seemed like a good gift.  We invited them over for smoked ribs before the game - Chuck is a bit fan of Scott's smoked ribs! 

We love going to T-Bones games because you can usually get seats in the first row and be super close to the action.  Karsten brought his glove because he was hoping to get a baseball from a player like he has in the past when Trent and Taylor have been with us.

Happy Birthday Papa!  Liam did not want to have his picture taken and he was NOT happy about sitting in the front row because he was worried Sizzle (the mascot) would get close to him.

He was ready every time the players ran past him, but no luck getting a ball!

Sizzle only got close to us once, and he walked by quickly enough that Liam wasn't scared.  WHEW!

The moment Karsten had been waiting for finally happened when a foul ball want into the dugout of the other team, and a player who was not playing tossed it over to him.  Karsten actually missed the catch the first time and the ball went in the pit where they cameramen work, but the player climbed in and got it out for him.   So nice of him - he made Karsten's whole night!

 There were scattered sprinkles throughout the game, but towards the end of the game, everyone was looking up at the lights on the stadium.  It was so odd - you could see all sorts of rain falling into the lights but it was not making it to the ground!

Go Fish

To continue the game theme we have going, tonight we played Go Fish - aka Gold Fish according to Karsten.

He was having trouble holding all of his cards so we couldn't see him, so we got out the ipad holder and it worked perfectly!

 Liam was my partner for a bit but then floated off to help Karsten for a while.  

Karsten seems to have a great memory and ability to remember who asked for a specific card so then he could ask them for the card later.  These memories served him well because he was the big winner of Gold Fish!

Happy Father's Day, Scott!

I asked Scott what he wanted for breakfast on Father's Day - I offered biscuits and gravy like I have done in the past.  He had other thoughts in mind - he was in the mood for cinnamon rolls.  He's the cinnamon roll master, so he made them on Saturday night and I popped them in the oven this morning and I made eggs to go with them.  Liam only said 'that's not how daddy does it' once, so my egg skills must be getting better!  

Karsten and Scott played Sorry for a bit while Liam and I were finishing breakfast.  Karsten got Sorry from a friend for his birthday, and it's been a big hit, we've been playing it almost daily!

Scott's choice for the afternoon was a movie - Finding Dory in 3D! 

The movie trailers were a bit scary for Liam - one of them was kind of dark, scary and very loud.  He wanted to leave until we were able to convince him that this wasn't the real movie, just a preview of another movie.  Then, the last preview was a short movie and Karsten kept saying 'this isn't Dory, this is the wrong movie!'

I spotted this guy in the lobby on the way in and the boys didn't see him.  When I took them over to see it, they were thrilled!

Since Scott was smoking the salmon and corn on the cob for dinner, I told him I would make whatever dessert he wanted.  He chose key lime pie and after reading a few recipes, I was pretty sure I could handle it.  I even made homemade whipped cream!  He had two pieces, so I think he liked it!

While we were cleaning up dishes, a heard of cowboys came galloping into the kitchen!

We ended a fun Father's Day with another game of Sorry.  This game was serious - the boys understand the rules more and are following them carefully.  There were several gleeful cries of 'SORRY!' as everyone sent someone back to start!

For some reason, this is the celebration when you win Sorry!  I don't get it, do you?

Hopefully Scott had a great Father's Day and knows how much we love and appreciate him!  Check out Liam's card on the right.  After Scott opened it this morning, Liam decided that it needed a cape...just like Superman.  So, he used the envelope from the card and created a front and back cape for the card.  Pretty creative!

Pool Days

Today was my first trip to the pool this season - the boys have been several times with Scott, but this was my first trip.  Karsten was so excited to use the shark raft that he received at his birthday party - it was all he could focus on all day!

We're going to have a lot of fun with the raft this summer - what a fun birthday gift!

Wordless Wednesday - Who needs toys!

Karsten's Birthday Party

This was the first year we had a 'friends' birthday party for Karsten.  He was so excited, we had a countdown to his party this week. 

Didn't the shirts my mom made turn out super cute?  I wasn't sure if Karsten would want a birthday shirt this year, but when I asked, he said YES without hesitation!

I've been wanting to try these adorable cookies from a bakery called Icings by Ang.  The cookies tasted just as good as they looked!

We were able to snap a family photo before the party got started.  This photo wall was the perfect backdrop, and I love that the boys are getting better at smiling for the camera!  

And these four - how grown up do they all look?  When did that happen?

After a few of Karsten's friends showed up, they went out to play.  This warrior course area ended up being quite the favorite that they returned to many times.  

Toward the end of the party, they were getting worn out and spent more time here, in their secret hideout - a little nook in the playground area.

Until the very end, Liam didn't hang out with the big kids too much.  But then it was like a switch flipped and he was ready to play and hang with the boys.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen until there were only 10 minutes left to play!

I was able to keep a few of the boys in one place for a quick minute to get a photo.

This giant pit to jump into was also a favorite as they each perfected their moves into the pit!

Elam loved it - he was even doing flips into it!

Liam had a slip on the floor that sidelined him for a bit with a sore elbow.  It didn't last too long and he was back out to play!

Liam even checked out the warrior course and was able to do pretty well!

I wish I knew what Karsten was so animated about in this photo, but I'm not sure.  It just made me smile so I thought I would share it with you.

Karsten had a great time celebrating his birthday with this crew.  So glad everyone was able to join us to help celebrate.  We sent everyone home with a baseball that said 'Thanks for coming!  Hope you had a ball!'

The cookies were a bit hit - everyone loved them!