It happened in May! (yes, I know its almost August!)

Brad earned his Eagle Scout rank!

Uncle Tom (also an Eagle Scout) presented Brad with his honors.

Aunt Barb and Uncle Don look on proudly!

Brad and Bryan

Quent wanted to do a speech after the ceremony was over.

Brad, Uncle Tom and Bryan pose for a handsome picture.

Mid-May is always the big Railroad celebration on our town.  Its a carnival downtown, lots of activities and a big parade.  We always have fun at the parade and enjoying all the fun festivities!  This year Momma, that's me, was on a "Mom's Day Out" trip to IKEA with some Mothers of Multiples  friends and visiting with Amy and Natalie, so I was not at the parade and such this year.  But the fun went on without me and Daddy took lots of pictures too!

Alex, Quent, Gramma, GG and Aunt Barb (Jack and Daddy too) were all there for the parade.

Hmmm, there must be something loud passing by.  

You'll see Jack like this often during a parade, he does not like the sirens and horns.

Ooooh - where's the candy, where's the candy?!

The crowd looks on.

The parade choo-choo (it is a Railroad Days celebration!)

Aunt Margaret was walking her dog in the parade with the vet clinic she works at.

Alex (L), Quent (UP), and Jack (R)

on the race cars!

Quent, Alex, Jack and Gramma on the Dragon-go-rounds,

I hear that they got that thing spinning pretty fast!

AND, just because its so darn cute...

He just might want to kill me one day when he sees this, 

but how can you resist an adorable shot like this - 

a boy on the throne wearing a  birthday cake hat!

(what? - everyone doesn't do their business this way?)

 

Oh so overdue! (and much more to come)

Been slightly overwhelmed by life lately (with the good and the not so good stuff) and so I am really far behind on my pictures and blogging. I wanted to share some pictures of Alex's Birthday and the day Brendan came to play with us. Two REALLY fun days (in the pack of a lot of fun days we have had lately) for us all - especially Jack and Quent!

Alex got a motorcycle for his birthday - but guess who really, really liked it?
Jack (posing with Uncle Rob)

Avery taking a spin after dinner

Tessa and her Momma cuddling up

What the Smurf?!
Special thanks to Aunt Barbie who picked out the Sonic the Hedgehog
ice cream treats that were blue. LOL

Very Blue.

Quent was this color until the next day.

Jack, on the other hand, was not feeling very smurfy.

Bigger boys always have the funnest toys!

Aunt Ky-Ky is teaching Quent how to cheer -
Let's here it -
Loud and proud!!

But Quent and Avery found a new use for the traffic cones.

The Birthday boy, Alex, with even more cone-fun.

Tessa needs a change.
And Daddy's just the man for the job.

Cheesy little Avery - CUTE!

When you are just so cute you can con anyone into doing anything.
Perfect example: Jack charming Aunt Anne into pushing him around when the battery was dead on the jeep. Guess she too is a sucker for the cuteness!

Brendan, Quent and Jack on the new playground equipment at our local park.
He came to stay with us for a day and he is such a big help with the boys and they LOVE playing with him and just having him around!

Um.
Can you stop with the dirt while I take your picture?
Hello!

Just love these little guys!

Boys, Trucks, and carnivals!

Last Saturday we went to the Touch a Truck event. It was so much fun for the boys. Jack and Quent got to climb in and explore so many vehicles. Including trucks, tractors, buses, police cars, race cars and fire trucks. They also had a bunch of activities for kids and info for parents indoors. We all had a really good time.

Jack especially liked the school buses. He just went back and forth between the two buses, in and out in and out. He said, "Momma I'm going to school!" Soon enough my baby, soon enough!

Quent's favorite seemed to be the race car, he did not want to get out of that. He kept asking, "Can I drive this? I want to turn it on!" Oh, I am so not ready for the driving YET, Quent!






Later on Saturday was the Railroad Days Parade in out town. We took the boys over to watch it and also Gramma, GG, Aunt Jean, Alex, Uncle Dan, Aunt Sue, and Caleb came over to watch the parade and check out the railroad days carnival downtown. The boys had a good time chasing candy, waving to all the people, and seeing all the firetrucks!

On Sunday, Julie, Mike, Sierra and Brendan came over and we wnet downtown to have lunch and ride rides with them. Jack and Quent are at a great age for some of these cool rides! They loved the race cars, and going on the bumpercars and the big slide with Sierra and Brendan. They both were very upset when Daddy went on a big fast ride with Sierra. I think they were concerned for him , but they were very happy when he was done and he could hold them. Poor babies :(
It is so nice to live in a small town with its festivals and parades, all within walking distance of our house. It makes for interesting summer fun!

Fun Happenings

As promised, here are some pictures from our zoo trip, playing outside at Gramma and Papa's. and from GG's birthday party. These are all from last weekend, it was a busy weekend of fun and excitement with family!

Quent and Alex looking at the wolves, they were actually out this time (I think it was feeding time).


Alex, Quent and Jack all lined up looking at the noisy crow


Jack was taking a spin in this old truck, everyone else was in the butterfly house, but Jack and I hung out here instead.


GG,
Quent, Gramma,
Jack and Alex
riding the train around the zoo. This has to be one of our favorite things to do!


Its was hilarious how they were all crouching down to talk to this pig!


The boys were so excited to feed this cow, but a little afraid of him actually taking the hay from their hands. So, Gramma helped out. And after the cow was done, Jack and Quent were picking up any little bit of hay on the ground trying to give it to the cow!



Watching the ducks swim - don;t worry we did not lose Jack, he is missing from the photo because he is on lockdown on the stroller. The little booger kept running away from us and when we would go after him and tel him to stop, he would run faster - and laugh! So, his consequence was some time in the stroller, which he hated, but I don't really know if that deterred him from running away or not. He spent a lot of time in there that day.


Oh Boy! The penguins actually were swimming!!
It was hard to tell if the boys were following the penguins back on forth or if the penguins were following them!


All the boys loved this and we stayed here until all the penguins were out. And from this angle and when they are dressed alike, Jack and Quent do look very similar.
It was a fun, fun zoo trip!


Avery is getting Gramma's toes with the cool pool water!



Rob was chasing all the kids and splashing them.
Avery was pretty good at getting him wet too!


Tessa thought those kids were pretty funny!


Daddy giving Jack a spin!


Quent just got a big splash! He loved it, he loves the water!


All the guys (Rob, Len, Tom) chasing after all the kids
Ky-Ky is getting some cool shots, I'm sure


GG, Aunt Jean and Tessa swinging. GG's birthday party was at Aunt Margaret and Uncle Eldon's house. It was a beautiful weather day.


Avery and Rob in the water, Tom and Quent behind them.
Avery is so brave in the water and with her swim vest on, she wanted to go on her own! She really swam around pretty well.


Quent taking a big jump into the pool with Daddy's help


Jack is a little more timid, but he likes to jump too. Uncle Lenny is ready to catch him!


GG (my Grndma) opening her gifts. She is wearing the bracelet that I made for her, I loved how it turned out, she seemed to like it too. It had her and my Papa's birthstones, their wedding date stone, and all their children's, grand children's, and great-grand children's birthstones in it. 42 stones in all!! What a legacy!


Kyle and Tessa helping GG open her gifts.
Fun birthday party and we had a good time visiting with everyone!