Happy 8th Birthday Jamison and Peter

The boys are waiting....waiting.... not all that patiently for their first ever sleep over birthday party.

Each boy could invite 2 friends to sleep over.....and it went as good as it could be expected. No injuries, no major fights, and yes, everyone eventually slept inside the house. (the original plan was tents in the back yard)

Home made pizzas and homemade icecream sandwiches. Although with the heat and the excitement not all that much was eaten.

In order to find your goodie bag you had to find a series of clues....." I dont want to hang you out to dry while looking for this clue!"

Eventually the loot was discovered in the tree house! Flashlights and glow sticks for the tents tonight.

 And a Cullen party is not complete with out a water balloon fight.

 Three boys in a tent....you would think they would be brave enough to sleep out there..... and all 6 have been camping before.

But there was one boy who was able to convince himself that it was too spooky to sleep in a tent. Oh well. And if one boys goes in, they all have to go in. Other than that the party went off without a hitch! I would probably host one again...as long as they actually sleep outside.

 The boys had some money burning a hole in their pockets so one really hot day we went shopping and they blew the whole wad...returning home with about $0.26...but super happy with their purchases! Jamison bought a video game, and some pet suppplies for their soon to be owned new pet.

And Peter a bigger Ninjago Lego set. Pretty happy kids.

 It did really happen one day....that is what they call rain. We got some! not enough but some!

 ome of our friends are moving away and we are pretty sad about it. We had to have one more playdate with the whole group. There are 14 kids in that group....that is a lot of kids.

With the Cavnars leaving....that means Bosco, Peter's favorite dog, is moving too. We had to get a little Bosco time in too. 

After our playdate we came home to a very disturbing site....the lemon cream pie that was made for the boys birthday celebration was gone...eaten....licked clean. I know I had it in a safe location but I think Indy and Wini conspired to eat it. Gone, Gone Gone. There were two really sad boys. Fortunately it does not take a long time to make a new one.. and I had most of the ingredients to make it again.

 Birthday dinner: Culvers Fried Chicken, corn and cucumber salad and Jamison's famous cole slawed eggs. Yum!

 Is it time for presents?....hugh hugh hugh?! Peter gave Jamison a pocket knife and boy is he excited! How long will it take to get stitches? Jamison gave him a Munchkin expansion pack...Need for Steed. Got to love adding a dragon to the mix! Pat gave the boys a couple more expansion packs, we do love that game!

 Long long time ago the boys asked if they could have a pet not recognizing that Wini and Indy were their pets also. I foolishly told them when they were eight they could have their own pet, thinking that Wini and Indy would no longer be with us. Well, the boys are eight now and they remembered that at eight they could have a pet. RATS...and yes Peter wants hamster. Here is his highrise condo for it. Jamison is talking lizard. Stay tuned for august when the critters are in their new homes.

 The new birthday pie. Wow, I cant belive they are 8. I cant be that old to have 8yos.

Jamison's final summer sport is golf. This golf course has watered their greens so they are actually green. No where else in MH can you find that color.

 A Keiko package arrived! the boys love Keiko packages! Thanks Keiko! Now that they birthdays are over...when does school start???

Fishies with Awesome Sauce

The latest brother vs brother baseball game. Jamison's Marlins (also known as fishies with awesome sauce) against Peter's cubs.

Peter up to bat! Nice hit Peter!

I guess there is a battle to be the catcher....Jamison won the battle this time. Gma and Gpa Van were able to come down for some early birthday celebrations and were able to catch the game.

Grandma and Grandpa gave the boys their own waterproof, locked treasure box for their tree house and boy are they excited. Special treasures, locked safely away in their tree house. Man, if there was only a toilet I dont think they will ever come back to the house!

And they used the awesom pulley system to get the boxes inside!

 Saturday we dragged the boys to Little Norway. I found myself saying "We are going to have fun! so stop complaining!" I guess the boys were really tired...and hot...and bored...and whatever else they could complain about. At Little Norway the boys were tasked in counting the nisse, or gnome like creatures scattered all over the grounds. There were 23 in all!

 Thanks Gma and Gpa for coming down to celebrate our birthdays...

 See, doesnt it look like everyone is having fun?

4th of July Holiday

Our summer has been going pretty fast! The ladies gave the boys a cool new game, Munchkin. We have been spending a lot of our time playing it.

Here Jamison is envoking the spirit of the Cleric and will use his Chainsaw of Bloody Disemberment against the Drooling Slime. Thanks again ladies!

We were also treated to a Mallards game by the company Pat is working for. We left when the game was 13-3, Mallard totally winning. Honestly the boys enjoyed watching the mid-inning entertainment a little more than the game. A little too slow to keep their attention.

"I said please smile for a picture" says mom. And this is what I got!

4th of July is here! and up to the cabin we go! Grandpa takes the new, newly restored rowboat for its maiden voyage! Looks good!

Grandma gave the boys their birthday presents early....looking good guys!

The boys spent a lot of time fishing...i had to dress them up to get the full northwood fishing look.

No beer was consumed by individuals under the age of 21 for this photo.

We also broke out the tube from our boat owning days. The guys really enjoyed this!

We thought they were old enough to go tubing behind the pontoon. After a little training...thumbs up means faster, thumbs down means slower, and yes, see your life jacket will actually keep you float in water over your head, they were ready to go! Jamison wanted to go first and Peter wanted Jamison to go first.

You cant see in the pictures but there were smiles from ear to ear on both kids! Way to go!!!

The boys fishing again!

The boys have been watching American Ninja Warrior and were inspired to build their own "quad steps" Now watch..i will be having some parkour challenges set up in our back yard.

Peter does have some unique facial expressions when trying hard.
For over a month I have been hoping and wishing for rain. I have washed the cars, left laundry out on the line and performed a number of rain dances in hopes that it rains. We have only had 0.3 inches of rain in the month of June and so far 0 in July.Our flowers are dead, grass is crunchy and it is downright miserable.

But this freak think happened Friday night. We went to the waterski show up at Grandmas and this crazy phenomenon occured. They call this rain...it felt good, but unfortunately it happened at the same time as the waterski show. Sadly we missed the show. Still no rain at our house...and it reached temps of 104!

Saturday was the second annual Kids Fisheree. The boys were up early and ready to catch the big one! Actually they were hoping to win the award of the "smallest fish"

Both boys caught some fish and had a great time. Peter even walked away with a trophy, Largest Rock Bass and a true fisherman's fishing story. He reeled in his small countdown, thinking that there were only weeds on it, and then he discovered that there were TWO fish on it, one of which was his winning rock bass. Next time he tells the story I am sure there will be three fish on it!

All of the fisherkids! What a great group and a great activity! Thanks Big Bear Skin Lake Association! The kids has a great time!

Jamison was competitive with a perch and a bluegill but did not win anything. Better luch next year!. Peter also caught a 2 inch bluegill and he thought would clench the award for the smallest fish, but he was inched out litterally with a 1.5 inch fish. I think they put a anchovy on the hook and called it good.

The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxation. The boys and Torre played a lot of "keep away". Tired all three of them real good. One day I had to wake Jamison and 10am! either he is becoming a teenage faster than I had hoped or he played hard and needed the rest. I am hoping for the later.

The boys with a buddy of theirs...Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. I dont believe it one bit!