Someone else feels as strongly as I do about Sunday School curriculum. :)

I really REALLY like having two boys in the house...

but having a girl isn't so bad either. :)

Fans of Daddy

The kids are big fans of Daddy. And who wouldn't be? I am quite a fan myself. :) Since school has been out, Chip and I have both been off. The kids are really relishing in this time that they get to spend with him. I caught a few of the fun things they have been doing together. He reads them their bed time stories EVERY night. This is nothing new really but I thought I would snag a shot of it. I know that Adam really cherishes this time because he wrote about it in his journal at school. In the second picture they are making sun tea together. And the last few they are playing airplanes. You can see the landing pad they created. Each night when Adam goes to bed he asks Chip what he is going to wear, and then bases his attire on his father's response. Van HAS to wear a belt if Daddy does and will wear sneakers if Daddy is wearing sneakers or work boots if that is the choice of foot wear at the moment. And you can see the matching green hats in the first picture. :) I am very thankful for the father of my children. He is a wonderful dad.

Haying

Well, one of the pictures posted twice. That's ok I guess. :) 'Tis the season for haying! Chip has been on vacation for the last week which for him of course doesn't mean vacation. There is always a lot to do around the farm. In the summer, the first and foremost priority is haying. For the last 8 years that we have been married I have discovered that haying really depends on the weather. You can't hay when it is raining and since haying is a multiple day process, you have to have a few days of dry weather. At times, Chip and his dad will be out until 9 at night if the forecast calls for rain the next day. You can't leave hay down when it rains because it gets ruined. Thankfully, Chip picked a perfect week for vacation because it has been dry and he has been haying every day. There have been summers where it has been really wet and he and his dad get anxious thinking they aren't going to get enough hay in for the winter. Our cows really depend on it.

The process goes something like this: First you cut the hay. It has to dry a day or if it is really hot, you may be able to start the next process that afternoon which is: ted. This takes step takes another apparatus attached to the tractor. The tedder I guess? You go along the cut hay with this and it basically stirs the hay up to dry it out. Then for the next step: raking. This is yet a third machine attached to a tractor which puts the hay in rows. I had a good picture of this but instead I posted the other picture twice. After the hay is in rows, you are ready to bale which of course takes a baler. They are using the round baler in these pictures as you can see. We have a round baler and a square baler but our square baler just broke the other day so we are getting a new one. Round bales are faster. I thought baling was a pretty easy task but Chip explained to me last night that you really have to watch the gauges on the baler to make sure it is even, and then you have to do something else with the gauges to makes sure it is tied correctly. Yesterday, his dad was raking at the same time as Chip was baling. I think the fields are pretty much done. But often times they will do a second cutting for bedding hay and any extra hay we may need.

Yesterday after Anna and Van woke up from their naps we went out to watch them hay. We have been watching a lot. Chip will often take Adam with him when he is getting the bales. Today he did and when Anna and Van woke up, they were coming back with a load of bales. We went over with them and I drove the truck through the fields (while singing if you're happy and you know it to Anna because she was getting antsy) and Chip put the bales on the trailer. The boys really enjoy being involved. I will post in a month or so when the calves are being born. It is SUCH a fun time. :)

Piano lessons

We started Adam in piano lessons a month or two ago? The woman that plays the piano at our church is amazing and we asked her if she would be willing to give Adam lessons. She said that five was a little young but we could give it a shot. He surprised us all and has been doing really really well. He goes for a half hour each Tuesday afternoon and has worked through over half of the book. He seems to have quite an ear for it because he has memorized most of the songs and can even play them on his little toy clarinet that he has. I don't know how to play any musical instruments and it is really important to me that our kids do. Chip can play the piano a little so he sits down and helps them. He learned the F sharp a few weeks back and was SO excited. Mrs. Miller said she has never seen a child so excited about the F sharp. I am very proud of him though, he will often just sit down and start playing like you can see above, that was Anna's little birthday party and he decided to play. I hope he always enjoys it.

Sea World

I decided (totally on a whim) to take a trip to Florida. My mom has never been on a plane before and since we had 5 days off for Memorial Day weekend, I thought, why not go to Florida for a few days? My plan was for my mom and I to take all three kids to Florida and just hang out. I don't want to do Disney yet because I want to wait until all three are a little older and we can enjoy the experience as a family and go for an extended time.

After my mother in law found out we were going, she really wanted to keep Anna home. So I called the car rental and cancelled the baby car seat, and called the hotel and got the crib out of the room. When I realized we were going with just the two boys, I decided to do something fun and that was Sea World. I didn't think it would be enjoyable bringing a baby in the 90 degree weather and sit in a stroller all day so if Anna were going, we wouldn't have went to Sea World. I went to Sea World when I was in fourth grade with my family and loved it.

We went to Sea World for two days and saw every animal, and every show they offered. They started Memorial Day weekend to stay open late and have fire works every night. In the one night shot you can see the show 'Shamu Rocks'. It was rock and roll music and the Shamu did different tricks. I really liked that show.

There was an Elmo show too and the boys got to see the characters and I have pictures. The boys really enjoyed the show.

I highly recommend Sea World. Everything in Orlando seems over the top. I think you could stay in Orlando for a month and not see everything. We just did Sea World and it took us two days. They also have an Aquatica park which is a water park and Discovery Cove where you get personal interaction with the animals or something? It's all part of the Sea World family or something like that. You could get a ticket to all three parks but we're not ready for that yet. I would like to do that some day when the kids are older maybe. But Sea World was clean and everyone was nice. There were lots of places to park strollers and you could get everything you needed such as bathing suits and towels. We found this one spot where the kids area was, that was like the mom's resting area or something. There were bathrooms where the toilet was close to the floor for little kids, and there was a baby high chair and rooms to nurse. There was also a vending machine outside where you could buy pacifiers and wipes. I thought that was cute. But I think that Sea World is part of Busch Gardens and Sesame Place is as well. And you know how much I love Sesame Place.... I just looked online to book the breakfast with Elmo in July.

It was a wonderful trip and I hope to go again sometime with the five of us.