Pick Your Own

We met up with the Pauleys and the Ehlerts at Crooked Run Orchard today.  We picked blackberries, peaches, and summer apples.  It was SO much fun!

 

 

Look closely- Evan's showing me his pick (not showing me The Bird, which is what it sort of looks like and seeing this pict makes me laugh every time!)

 

Sylvie disobeyed the orchard lady's rules and ate her weight in fruit.  The evidence was (literally) written all over her face And clothes! :p

 Yay! Haylie's here!!!

" Say cheese!" er, "Say apple!"

 Picking break in the shade...

 

Afterward, we went to Subway for lunch.  My heart smiled at the kids' table.  I LOVE it! (and I told Chad, I was making notes for the "ideal Poppies neighborhood" that we want to create: Must have Subway nearby and/or designated kids' tables throughout!  Chad and I came up with a brilliant plan to buy 10 acres nearby and then for all of our families to build our ideal homes on the lot.  The Pick Your Own Plan...hatched while picking our own today!)  :)

Planking: Preschool Style

I'll take the preschool version of planking over the trend that's hit youtube any day!  Papa got Brady these planks (laser-cut blocks) for Christmas and lately he's become quite the architect and builder!  (He even applies his skills at school with dominoes and blocks. The teachers have been commenting on what how amazing and creative he is with these things.)  My (blog) muse requested that I take a picture of today's creation so that he could prove that it was almost as tall as he is-

Workday

Brett had a proposal working session at the office today.  The kids and I met the Pauleys at the pool this morning and then met Daddy for lunch at his office.  Brady asked to wear a "little suit to work."  I told him it was Saturday and "business casual" would do. :p So he wore his tie shirt and plaid shorts (more of our $4 finds- whoohoo!)  Sylvie wanted "a pretty dress" and also accessorized herself with sunglasses, a hat, and a stuffie. :)  We got in the car around 12:15 and it worked out pretty well b/c after splashing in the pool this morning, the kids were tired.  So they each took a nap on the way in to wok.  Sylvie was out within moments of getting in the car and putting her sunglasses on (which she consistently does upside down- it's so cute!):

 

Visiting Daddy's office is always fun!  We ate lunch, talked with Mr. Mark and Ms. Marlene, ran around the office, practiced putting on Daddy's green, and then got to work!  :p  (iPhone picts are not my fav, but it's all I had)

Caption: "You want that when?!  And for how much?! hahahaha!"

(He's actually talking on the phone to Sylvie and Daddy 

who called him from Mark's office, next door.)

The kids took their shoes off to race around the office.  Mark walks by, looks at the shoes placed outside Brett's office, and says, "So, are we not allowed to wear shoes in Brett's office now???"  lol!
 And ha! look at Sylvie in the pict on the right- yes, she's definitely right at home being the boss and giving orders! :p

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

We met up with our preschool pals at the pool today...and were promptly evacuated after 20 minutes due to a thunderstorm.  At first we thought the lifeguards were exaggerating.  So we stayed at the playground, playing and eating (we'd all brought dinner for our brood) in the rain...until it started lightning and thundering and Brady started Freaking.Out.  Thinking back on it, we ALL crack up.  In one of my shining examples of truly deserving the mother-of-the-year award, my son is SCREAMING, "Mommy! We HAVE to go! We're gonna get strucked by lightning!" and I'm assuaging his concerns by Shouting (you know above the booms of Thunder!) in a calm voice as I'm laughing, "Oh, we're fine. Would you like ketchup on your hotdog that Ms. Jenny gave you?"  Next, Tiffany (the other one; Cam's mom) opens the cupcakes she made and Sylvie beelines to her.  Then another thunder boom and lightning streak appear.  Brady's Screaming and crying.  This makes Sylvie start screaming and crying...and a bunch of the other friends follow suit.  All of us adults are laughing.  At one point, Graeme says, "Man, it totally sounds like a horror movie, doesn't it?"  We decide to pack it in and everyone will come play at our house.  Sylvie was h.i.l.i.a.r.i.o.u.s running Screaming towards our car with her cupcake jammed up against her face- oh she might have been terrified of the storm and her brother's reaction to it, but there was no way she was missing out on a cupcake!  We had a BLAST at home though- recounting the previous half hour until our stomachs hurt from laughing while the kids also enjoyed each other's company.  Melissa took the twins home, but Colt spent the night (which was awesome b/c both Brady and Sylvie had been asking when he could sleepover again b/c it's been way too long since the last time!).

I think we may have put too many bubbles in the tub 

(that's why Sylvie's a little cranky in these picts).

Water Wednesday

I found these on my phone. Omayma sent them.  Wednesdays in the summer are "Water Wednesdays" at Ms. Omayama's.  The kids love it!  For some reason, Sylvie freaks out and doesn't have a good time unless she has her goggles on.  Uh yes, it's just a sprinkler, but then our kids just love goggles! ha!

Super Poppies and Poppy Princesses

It was Superhero/Princess Day today in the Poppies classroom.  Even Ms. (Princess) Chadney and Ms. (Batman) Yenny played along! 

 

Spidey Brady, The Thing Evan, Batman Rohan, Princess Taylor, IronMan Colton, 

Spidey Cameron, Princess Nayni, Princess Hannah, Princess Haylie, and AJ

Beach Fam Fotos

Attempts at a beach fam foto were made.  Mildly successful???  I forgot to have Brett adjust the lighting settings first here...

 I love how Sylvie is holding on to her daddy's leg. sweet.

Now Brett's testing lighting settings and Aunt DeeDee's photo-bombing- lol!

 

 love.

 sweetie peetie.

 love

 love

 love them!

Wonder Works

While Sylvie napped today, Daddy and Brady went to WonderWorks.  I'm really not sure who had more fun- big B or little b!  Today's our last day here and Brett said, "Wow, you know there's a TON of things to do here that we didn't even know about!"  My reply was, "But we have a 2.5 and 4.5 year old. All they wanted to do was go dig in the sand and jump in the waves. An oceanfront beach house is ALL the vacation they need right now."  Pretty awesome!  (But yes, we'd like to return and see all that Myrtle has to offer.)

 

Brady Buried

Dom buried Brady today.  SO fun for him!

Mimi

Mimi headed home this morning, but not before we took a few picts of her with the kids-

 

 

Child's Play

The "big boys," as Connor and Dominic were known, were So great with the kids.  Dom cracked me up when he said, "Sylvie will chat your ears off!  Granted, I only follow about 30% of it, but she's chatty!"  No worries Dom.  She repeats herself, so if you're getting 30%, you're likely getting all of it- ha!  Some other funnies- Brady and Sylvie built a "forest" in the sand by taking debris/sticks that had washed ashore, breaking them in to small pieces, and standing them up in the sand.  It looked like about 1,000 toothpicks sticking in the sand.  Dom was telling Connor about it and he goes, "You'll have to go down to the beach and see the Vietnamese Death Trap that Brady's created.  It's pretty cool."  LOL!  Deanna also relayed the sweetest story to us of when she, Ms. Jenny, and the older boys were at lunch one day.  They were talking about the someday when Connor has kids.  Connor said, "I think I'd like two boys. I was going to say I'd like to have a cute little girl. But Tiffany and Brett have already spawned the cutest little girl Ever."  :p Love you Connor...perhaps our kids will be in your wedding, like you were in ours!!

The "children," pre-schoolers and the college kids (Connor goes to college in three weeks! yikes!), played so cute together!  Today is was more shell coloring and then some paint-by-number and model painting.

 

Beach Bums

Mimi had the kids coloring seashells today.  I totally remember doing that (at her suggestion) when I was little- awesome!  They are prepped and ready for sorting with the gloves that Mimi's friend Janet gave them. haha!  They insisted that they "needed them for our work."

Brady's a total beach bum...happy as a clam just sitting in the sand digging away!

Daddy built Brady this cool sand shark.

 This is Brady's version of "jumping the shark" ha!  And apparently riding the shark too.