mall rats

I'm not sure the boys went a day without ice cream when we were in Ohio, but Mitchell's wins the prize for the most delicious ;) We went to the mall for the grandparents to spoil the boys with Build-a-bear - thanks!

big bro

So many smiles buried in hundreds of photos of this new big brother and his giggles with cousin buddies... Check out that family resemblance on the right ;)

His big brother gift were these giant waffle blocks. He will tell you he got some new "pancake blocks!"

baby!

I'm swimming in a sea of photos and good memories over here... Now I just need to start throwing them up here, so get ready for some cute business:::

happy bday Austin!

My new nephew, Austin Douglas Krpata!  Born 7/3/16 at 2:45pm - 8 lbs. 12 oz, 19.75"

Born on chocolate wafer day 🍫, the day the Statue of Liberty was dedicated 🗽, the World's Greatest Lizard Race runs in NM 🏜, National BBQ Sparerib day 🍖, Koko, the sign language speaking gorilla's birthday 🐵 along with Tom Cruise, Dave Barry, and Montel Williams 

happy 4th

Happy 4th of July!  Freedom to eat cake and so much more!

goodbyes

Man, the past few weeks, as school ended, there seemed to be a big shift as so many friends prepared to say goodbye to our neighborhood (most were reassigned military/govt contracts which I guess I common in an election year) and also our preschool.  There's at least nine families moving and it makes my heart hurt just thinking about it.  There were so many goodbye moments and farewell parties that I think the boys were getting used to it.  Probably the biggest for Keaton was our carpool buddy and his favorite preschool friend, Sydney... They shared their last swim class with Ms. Caroline and a really fun pool farewell party... They were such a good match and we will miss them so much.

My good friend who was on her way to Scotland had that little plaque on her doorway. It struck me as a little bit funny but also sad because I don't want to see any of these friends go.

Keaton's last day as just a tag along at the bus stop, next year he can get on with his brother and he is pumped!

TV Bear I

kitten school

One of the first comics of the summer from Aiden:

school's out

School's been out for just one week, and time is already flying this summer.  Aiden came running off the bus with his newest favorite comic drawing book and his new yearbook.  His backpack was bursting with leftovers from a great year.  His second year with a teacher that helped bring out the best in him. He made her a weaving that he designed and I actually taught him how to weave. He described it as an island with waves that roll in, and said his teacher is like the island and he is the wave that can always come back to visit her. It was sweet to see him so excited to give it to her. He is lucky to be at a great school where there is a sweet tradition where all the teachers gather to wave the kids home for the summer as the buses pull out on the last day. 

Not sure if this link will work, but this enthusiastic third grader ran straight off the bus:

https://instagram.com/p/BHFHzOghzMSRM0DkQWnLZDxMlxwTNBjtqzQ_8Y0/

class party

I helped out to get Aiden's end of the year party organized at his buddies' house that is within walking distance of the school.  We lucked out with a perfect weather day for sprinklers and relay games.  The pizza lunch, snacks, popsicles, annnnd cupcakes were a cherry on top.

chuckie

While his brother is at birthday parties this guy got a treat with a quick visit to the Chuckie... A mini party just for him ;) where it's pretty unique to have alone time with both parents.

camp olympics

I found a half day camp for Keaton before Aiden got out from school which he was pretty thrilled about.  The theme was the Olympics in Brazil!  They made Brazialian bath fizz spiders the first day and dissolved them the next day, which I heard a lot about from Keaton.  He seemed to love the blue teams' visits to the science room the best. Very close second was water play day!  He met a ton of new faces that will join him in kindergarten next year.

dad's day treats

J is tough when it comes to gifts/treats, so the best strategy is letting him pick out his own big present.  In this case, it was a twelve string acoustic guitar. Isn't it cute?

But the kids still had some treats for him too...Aiden wrote a cinquan at school and made a paper Gtown bulldog card. The Italian teacher had them create shoe cards.  Keaton made a cute card as secretively as possible - "nothing to see here in the kitchen dad!"  He also helped dad pick out a blue vinyl Who album.

But possibly the thing the boys were most excited about was the Battle Cards game board they created.  This is a game Aiden and J created that is sorta like checkers meets Dungeon and Dragons.  

Aiden even created a custom deck of cards with his own logo.

I'm missing a photo of the air fryer I bought him as sorta a joke (small appliances are not his idea of a gift) but I knew he would like it.  So far a batch of chicken wings was a hit!

The best part of the day was a BBQ with his music buddies where they jammed. It's not quite a weekend getaway to a wool festival, but he seemed happy. ;)

party hardy

A and K know how to do parties. They have a smile on their face before we get there and are game for pretty much anything.  Aiden had a really fun backyard birthday party to attend with a huge water slide adding to their super fun backyard full of rope swings, zip lines, and balance cords.  Then the next day while J rocked out with his buddies, the boys cruised in some hot wheels, invaded a tiny gingerbread house, and climbed some good climbing trees.

happy father's day!

Happy Father's Day from these funny guys!

Happy Father's Day PopPop from LB on Vimeo.

KC's Father's Day Interview from LB on Vimeo.

AB's Father's Day Interview from LB on Vimeo.

field day

Aiden's field day was a really fun day.  They kicked off with a morning full of outdoor games - including Aiden's favorite "Niagara Falls" (catching water off a huge tower of pvc with holes in it).  Aiden was in charge of adding up all the team points while everyone enjoyed their popsicles. They also had two birthday celebrations and more lip dyeing treats.

hams

These little giggle hams are so much fun out on the double hammock with funny faces and the selfie camera:

luau

Man, this group of neighborhood friends is the ultimate group for a Murder Mystery Luau. The costumes alone would do the trick, but you would not believe the funny voices, costumes, mustache envy, kleptomania, renditions of Elvis and luau food they prepared.  One of our friends is getting ready to move and I think this was the perfect send off from a group that loves to laugh together.

more luau

The kids probably had just as much fun as we did at the luau.  They busted open a tiki piñata in between games and the perfect day to play in the tiki hut swingset.  Hang Ten!

The drama and the laughs!  The Pineapple Princess (Tammy) won most in character and the winning dish was her pecan pineapple dip.  Most creative went to Starr Bright (Samantha), who showed off many different costumes and shared her upcoming movie plots.  The improv moments were capped off with funny emotions from April Showers (Tre), who went home with the Sad Sack, most emotional award, although it was close with Susie Curl's (Carmen) dramatics.

parade

The neighborhood parade had a huge turnout this year!  I think it was because they invited all the Girl Scouts to carry banners and the politicians were all out shaking hands as we gear up for election season.  Aiden had two different birthday parties to choose over the parade, so he was off at a water party probably getting whacked with a wet pool noodle. But Aiden and Keaton had fun together getting AstroKeat's Astroscooter ready to parade. They recycled some of the poster board we used at Keaton's space birthday party for all the control panels.  His space suit was essentially like wearing a roaster bag in the sun, but this turkey mostly kept his cool in his spaceship jammies underneath. There is no such thing as a grumpy astronaut! The course looped around to the free ice cream party, where the raging economist in J couldn't help but express how the huge line meant it was far from free.  But the wait allowed time for the judges to pick their favorite bikes/scooters. Keaton was so pumped to win Funniest for the five year old crowd.  He got a $5 gift card to Five Below which was burning a hole in his pocket - and I realized I'd never taken the boys in there and Aiden had tooth fairy money to spend.  So we went there before dinner and it was like they unlocked a whole new world in there - ha!