Carter Goes Fishing

Carter continued his week at Grandma's by going on a fishing trip with Uncle Jon.  According to Grandma, he really enjoyed it. The pictures seem to side with that retelling of the events as well.

Proud uncle and nephew

Swimming and a Movie

Carter is busy having his week at Grandma's!  Today he got to go swimming, and Grandma sent us a picture!

Swimming...

While Carter was catching some rays in the water (with lots of sunscreen, of course) I took Parker to the local theater to see the movie Planes: Fire and Rescue.  We got a big tub of popcorn and tall sodas, myself Diet Pepsi and Parker "Caffeine-Free Root Beer" as he accurately called it.  It was especially nice because we got to try the new reclining seats the theater recently installed that Holly and Carter raved about earlier this month.

Soared into a 2:05 showing of animated action

The movie was great, and we refilled our popcorn and soda on the way out to share with Mom and Anderson when we got back.

Great Great Great Great Grandpa Sanders

I found this picture of my great great great great Grandfather doing family history today.  I love his beard and shy smile; there are not many pictures of "old folk" with smiles like that!  He was an early Mormon pioneer and knew Joseph Smith personally.  His son, my great great great Grandfather, was born in Far West Missouri on Christmas after the family was thrust from their home by an anti-Mormon mob.

Great great great great Grandfather Moses Martin Sanders
Born 1803 

I need to get more involved in my family history and become more familiar with stories such as Grandpa Sanders'.  Tonight, after I did an 8 mile training run for the Green Lakes 50K, we got Coldstone's ice cream as a family for one of Parker's treats while Carter is away at Grandma's.

I wish old Grandpa Sanders could have joined us, but I trust he was there in spirit.   After all, he does seem to have Parker's face and smile!

And the faces of these guys too!

Carter Goes Shopping

So I blew it.  I will be the first to admit it.  I was supposed to pack Carter's bag for his big week at Grandma's, and I did a halfway job.  I tossed a whole bunch of clothes into Carter's bag with little rhyme or reason and simply hoped for the best.  Turns out Carter wasn't a big fan of the clothes I selected. (Of course, in fairness to me, anyone who has dressed Carter knows he is very picky about his clothing.  It has to be just right.)

New Clothes

Anyway, to rectify dad's poor packing, Grandma took Carter to the store and got him so new clothes that met his specifications: namely, soft pants and shirts that don't itch.  You can see one of this new outfits above.  Sorry, Carter!  Dad will do better next time.  But look at it this way, at least you got some new clothes out of dad's goof!

Holly Goes Downtown to See "The Stones."

Holly was in pain this afternoon and went the to ER with a friend to see what was wrong.  Turns out she had a kidney stone which she passed while waiting for test results.  Ironically, she was wearing a "Hold My Stones" graphic T-shirt.  Holly thought a picture of both the shirt and the stone would be appropriate.  She is one tough gal.

What are the sartorial odds?

Dad is in!

Last year I ran the Green Lakes Endurance Runs 50K.  I just signed up for it again this year!  Here is hoping to another safe and productive race, as well as bagging another marathon (my 8th) towards my goal of 100 by the time I hit retirement.

Someday, when my four sons are older, I hope to run one of these races with all of them!

Carter Goes to the Movies

Since Parker is having his week at Grandma's, Holly took Carter to the local movie theater to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.  They were super excited because our movie theater just upgraded their seats to the electric reclining ones.

Relaxing in good cinematic style

It was funny because this was only Carter's second time in a movie theater.  His first time was going to see the Lego Movie back in February.  Carter was surprised this time to discover he was going to watch a different movie.  Apparently he thought movie theaters only showed The Lego Movie!

Not The Lego Movie, but it was still good enough for Carter. 

Camping Critters for Consumption

Grandma sent us this picture of Parker as his big week continues to unfold. He went camping and visited the camp store.  Grandma told him he could pick out anything for a snack.  Did he get an Snickers bar?  Nope. A tasty Cookie-wich?  Negative.  How above a colorful box of Nerds candy? Notta.  Parker picked out a box of crickets!  Yup, they had Bacon and Cheese flavored crickets at the store.  Real crickets!  No joke.  No word yet if he has eaten them...

Tasty Insects in a Box!

Update!  After coming home with crickets in tow, Parker did indeed eat a cricket!

Parker Gets Crafty

Parker is having his week at Grandma's and went to Vacation Bible School at Grandma's church. Parker went last year and had a wonderful time.  He brought a CD home from last year's event that we ended up listening to in the van many times as a family.  Hopefully he will get another one this year.  Grandma sent us a picture of him working on a class at the Bible School today.  We'll be excited to see it when he comes home later this week.

Parker gluing like a champ!

Parker also went fishing with Grandpa.  Not a bad catch!

Fishing!

Brother Love

Carter made this Thank You note for Parker at church today.  Such great brothers!

Brother Love

Birthday Party in the Park

Parker left for a week at Grandma's today, and we trust that he will have a good time. Nonetheless, there is still plenty for the other boys to do in town while their oldest brother is away.  All of them were invited to a friend's birthday party where they grilled hamburgers and hot dogs in a park. Just before the cake, they strung up the pinata, and Carter took a few good whacks at it.

Going for the big swing!

The loot eventually spilled out and Carter and Anderson scampered around getting their fill of candy and little plastic toys.  Beckett contentedly watched from his seat in the safe shade of a big tree.  Holly was working, so I was left to handle all three boys myself, but they all behaved wonderfully.  A successful party for all involved.

Boys by a Lake

Camping with family by Lake Ontario.  Holly took this epic shot of me hanging with the three older boys.  Everything looks great, especially Holly's awesome panoramic photo skills.

I once went to a beautiful lake with my three sons; everything afterwards in life was gravy.

Little Anderson's Big Jump

Anderson's latest stunt, which he surely learned from his older brothers, is to climb on top of the head board in mom and dad's bedroom and catapult himself onto the mattress below.  Holly captured this photo of him before one of his big jumps.  Geronimo, little buddy!

Notice the swim suit from playing in the sprinkler...