Hide and Go Mow

Just a random post to show how much Ramsey likes to be like his Big Brubby Connor.  While Connor push-mows....

so does Ramsey!

Then, when Mommy turns her back, Ramsey disappears

and scares the living daylights out of her!

I lost a few months of my life, panicking about this short-lived mystery!

Summer Nights

We had a visitor last night; Connor's other little brother, Bridger!   As per usual, Bridger was practically mauled when he walked through the door (by one ridiculously excited preschooler and a young-but-overwhelmingly-huge-to-a-visiting-little-boy yellow lab).

There wasn't much time for formal greetings; it was more like "HI THERE, bye there" because the race was on.   Ramsey and Bridger started running around the house feverishly, playing chase and Star Wars.

Getting them to pause for water breaks and to catch their breaths wasn't exactly easy, nor was getting them to STOP for a picture!  Big Brubby Connor later took the boys downstairs to play more, before it was Ramsey's bedtime.   I made the boys my super treat specialty (caramel malts), then the big boys got ready for their outdoor excursion.

While I read to Ramsey and put him to bed, Eric got all of the fishing gear ready for Bridger and Connor so they could nab some fish from the lake.   The boys went down and fished for quite a while.

Bridger grew weary of plain ol' fishing, so he went to do more "boy stuff" (finding perfect sticks to snag spider webs, hunt for wild bunnies, etc).

Connor caught a few crappies to add to our fish cage.  They actually netted a turtle from the dock too.  Bridger was rather excited about that.

 

 Eventually, it was time to go in (bummer!) and get all of the fish cleaned.   In addition to the bluegill, bass, and perch that were caught over the weekend, Eric reeled in a nice healthy catfish on Sunday night.   He estimated her to weigh between 10 and 12 lbs.

The boys sat at the counter and visited with Eric while he filleted the fish.

Then, off to bed... and on to another day and another summer adventure.

Firecamping and Other Amazing Summer Activities

Prefacing Definition-
Firecamping: A term created by an adorable 3-year-old.  The compound word supposedly means playing outside, hanging out by the fire, chasing a dog, and eating S'mores.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, we played in the pool 'til fingers were pruny and wrinkly, chased the dog until little legs couldn't run anymore, and basked in the sunshine that a June summer can bring.

Fishing is also a necessity, albeit in a pool or in the lake.  "Fishing... like Daddy", Ramsey says.  Yup, Eric has another mini-me.

Firecamping has been a much-requested activity the last month or so.  This afternoon was no exception.  When it got a little later in the day, Eric built us a [ridiculously large and robust] campfire.  This might have been a bit of overkill for marshmallow roasting!

 I joked that we could start sending smoke signals to other tribes.  No lie- this ravenous inferno roared and smoked like this for 15 minutes before it decided to simmer down to something considered normal.    I had thrown in some old door and floor trim (the remnants from the downstairs bathroom that I just redid) into the fire pit.  Apparently that trim had some crazy chemicals in it!  Either way, I am glad that stuff is no longer in our house!!!!!  Yikes!

Eric had realized that Ramsey  had never eaten a real S'more before (only some of the actual components), so we roasted some marshmallows and threw one together.  Albeit a little reluctant to try one, Ramsey dug in.

 And happily smiled and said "cheese" upon request.  Nice.  :-)

 He liked it, except the marshmallows.  The texture is what might have turned him off there.  But, he continued to woof down the graham cracker and the chocolate (of course).

Our stick-loving boy had found his perfect twig, among our kindling, and played with it, pretending he was roasting imaginary marshmallows.   It might have been a sword too.  *cough* 

Riggs contemplated how to obtain this perfect stick for himself!

"No Riggsy", Ramsey uttered (a common phrase in the household).  Sorry buddy, you're not getting this stick.  Go find your own!

 

Before heading into the house (and getting to bed!), of course we had to have some fun on the playset too.   Daddy let the fire die down, then did a bit of fishing.

These kinds of days are so nice.   ...too bad the summer flies by so quickly!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my sweetheart!  WE LOVE YOU!!

Well the days just wouldn't be complete without a little bit of chaos in the Big D household.   This weekend was really no different!   It was Father's Day weekend.  Other than being good to Eric, the only real ticket item on the docket was to get the boat in the water (finally)!  Until this point, a myriad things had kept that [seemingly] epic event from occurring.

Saturday was drizzly and a bit windy, but, between the rain, the boys completely the usual checklist to prep the boat for water-readiness.   We won't talk too much about the issues we had (plug was still in the boat, batteries were acting dumb, trailer connection issues), but we launched the boat on Sunday, late morning.  And... she wouldn't start.   Fiddling with batteries, grumbling like mad, breaking the battery connection wire, wondering why the motor was trimming fine two minutes prior,  grumbling more, the boat went back on the trailer, and we came home.  I gave up (only cuz it was Father's Day).  

Eric decided we're getting new batteries...today.  A quasi-quick trip to Walmart later, the new batteries were purchased, installed, and a few hours after that, the boat was ripping through our happy little lake.  HOO-RAH!   Too late for fishing or a tool around the lake, but at least she was IN!

Between the time of the first initial "test launch" and Connor going to the YMCA to be on Lifeguard Duty for a few hours, the boys gave Eric his gifts and card.   He got a movie and a fun t-shirt.

You're a good daddy, Eric.   Love you SO MUCH!

Learning Government....at Age 3

The other day, Eric started quizzing Ramsey on something many adults couldn't tell you; the leaders of the US government!    Of course, at the time, Ramsey didn't know, but Eric started to teach him.   After a few times of hearing the names, he now knows many of them.

Eric's expanded his teachings to the names of the Secretary of Education, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, etc.

Ramsey seems to think this is a fun game!   It's funny to hear a toddler ramble off the names of the President of the United States, Vice President, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, Secretary of Defense, the Chief of Staff, etc.   And, he doesn't seem to be affiliating himself with any political party just yet!