Visiting the Farm and Hanging out with Cousin

We finally made it back to visit the farm.  It turns out we haven't been there since last spring.  Oops.  To be fair, we have traveled almost nowhere in that time frame.  There was one disaster overnight to KC, and that was it.  Anyway, we had a really good weekend.

Cousin was also visiting while his mom (Aunt C) had things to take care of.  It was a lot of fun seeing the boys together.  Cousin ended up getting a little sick, so he wasn't 100%, but they still had a good time.

We spent a lot of time up at the shop while the guys were working on a project.  The 4 wheeler was parked nearby waiting for repairs.  The boys took that opportunity to climb up and sit on it.  Here are all 3 boys and Grandma sitting on the 4 wheeler.

Cousin in front.  Alex middle, Ben behind

Colt looks like he is having a rocking good time, but they weren't moving.

Same order.  The boys went binky crazy this weekend.  I don't know why; they were almost off of them, but whatever.

I cut Grandma out in case she didn't want to be on the blog.

Alex camo, Ben orange sitting on the gator while Grandma feed some grain.  They had a lot of fun watching cows.

Alex wearing his most exciting outfit leading Cody down to a tractor.  They loved sitting in the tractor

Ben trying to close the door.

I wouldn't let him

He eventually gave up and started playing with the key.  That was when we started taking the key out when the boys played in there.

Ben using the toy vacuum to "clean up" the floor dry.  

Day 2 left the boys pretty pooped.  Alex actually fell asleep leaning on my arm.  This NEVER happens with my boys. They need their own space when sleeping.

A very attractive Alex asleep pic

One of the issues with travel was a place to sleep.  We found these cots for the boys and Grandma bought one for each of the boys.  All 3 boys ended up really liking them.  My boys are still in cribs.  This was a big step.

The first night was a bit of a disaster.  They stayed up until after midnight and woke up at 4:30.  Alex woke me up by pushing a bag of gummies in my face and saying "NUMMIES?  NUMMIES?" Little monster.  I told him to go get in bed.  He went to his bed and sat there quietly watching us try to fall back asleep.

The 2nd night was a lot better.  There was quite a bit of crying before they went down, but they went down a lot quicker and slept until after 9 am.  To be fair, they didn't go down until about 11pm.  The farm schedule is much, much different from home schedule.  We didn't even eat dinner until 9.  

The 3rd night went really well.  They were absolutely exhausted when we took them to bed, so there was a brief meltdown, but they went down quick.  Their toddler beds should get here Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully this will have helped that transition.

All 3 boys sitting with Grandma in a pickup waiting for instructions.  Alex far left, Ben, Cousin far right

If you can't tell, they spent a lot of time climbing in/on/around the equipment while we waited for things to do.  Playing in a pickup was another favorite place.

The boys were leading Grandpa around. 

Discussing bull stuff I imagine.  

So the boys came to chat.  Ben grey Alex camo

Cousin finally caught up to join the parade

small detour

Cousin and Ben chatting about water, probably.  My boys like talking about water.  or cats.  or cows.

Back in the shop playing in the floor dry

Ben cruising around on the 4 wheeler

Computer break.  Cousin wanted to watch videos about trains all weekend.  My boys were less interested, but still joined him.  Cousin was not always happy with the company.

Cousin left, Alex middle, Ben right

Alex and Cousin watching trains again

Cousin not impressed by Ben pointing at something

Cousin teaching Ben to swing like a monkey on a laundry line

Boys playing in gator.  Alex left, Ben middle, Cousin right

Putting floor dry in a can.  And dumping it out.  As you can see, they spent a lot of time playing with the floor dry.

Fighting over a can.  Good thing there are lots of cans around!  All 3 boys got their own can.

Alex and cousin

Cousin put much more floor dry in his can before he dumped it out, resulting in much larger piles.  My boys would just put a little in, dump it out next to Cousin's pile, then push it all around.

Fighting over the 4 wheeler

Grandma thought of a fun new game.  Use a squirt bottle to spray water on things.  That distracted them for quite a while. 

Alex

Ben joined

Ben and cousin in a tractor.  They eventually started battling it out over the radio.  They were still having fun here

Ben so pooped he is playing with a truck on the floor.

On the way home.  A full van, sleepy babies, and tired parents

Hopefully we can make it back again soon to visit with everyone we didn't get to see.  It was a really fast, really last minute trip.  It was actually part business trip for Cody.  We just took the opportunity to swing by the farm since Cody would be nearby anyway.  We really didn't get a chance to see anyone.  

It was a fun weekend.  Now we need a weekend from our weekend!  

Lots of Love and Laughs

The boys have been pretty awesome lately.  This is video heavy, because they are awesome.  Lots of binkies because I pretty much only recorded them when they were tired and grumpy.

The boys have been on a sleep strike.  They are staying up until like 11 pm and skipping their afternoon nap.  That has made all 4 of us pretty grumpy.  I'm hoping it passes, and I get my good sleepers back.

They also have been on a food strike.  They are mostly living on fruit and fruit snack gummies.  I feel like an awful parent letting them eat pretty much only 6 oranges and 8 packs of gummies a day, but I'm sure this too will pass.  (I'm exaggerating how bad their diet is a little, but it is very fruit heavy lately.)

Now the fun stuff!

Alex (yellow) decided to wrestle Ben (red and white)

Ben was kind of okay with that

Video

Then he got a little too rough (video)

It looks like Ben hits his head at the end and is really hurt.  He really didn't hit his head.  He caught himself with his hands close to the toy shelf.  The angle makes it look worse than it was.  He immediately stood up, stopped crying, found his boot, then sat on my lap.  Ben was definitely okay.  I know some of you are worriers.  (MOM)

Ben is not innocent.  Here he is wrestling Alex. (video)

Ben  in blue Alex without a shirt.  Yes, Ben is pinching/tickling Alex at the end.

They both can be a little mean, but here is Ben showing his fun side with a balloon. (video)

I finished talking to Cody during our lunch time call, and looked up to find Alex watching tv like this.  Silly monkey.  I'm not sure how I didn't notice him doing this.  He had to drag the toy shelf from across the room.

He was pretty proud of himself.

My neighbor friend brought her 1 year old daughter over to play when it was really nice outside.  Ben is nice enough to her, but mostly ignores her.  Alex is my little charmer.  He always includes her in things and gives her hugs and kisses.  

They rode around in this wagon together.  Ben yellow Alex in grey sitting on her lap, very gently.

Her sitting on Alex's lap

I didn't get a picture of this, but our other neighbor came over to talk to us while we watched the kids, and she was laughing about how well the girl and Alex got along.  The girl was playing quietly in the grass.  Neighbor 2 said something about Alex trying to run away with her.  Just then, Alex ran over and crouched down to talk to her.  When he stood up, he started pointing down the hill and talking to her louder.  She got up and started walking with him down the hill away from our house.  My boy did try to talk a girl in to running away with him!  Already!

going in circles

I blocked her face as usual.  Ben and girl

  

Alex and girl

I couldn't get all 3 of them to look at me at the same time.

They had a good time.

Cuddling on a pillow together.

Alex orange.  Ben stripes.  They were very tired.  They kept saying, "Nap?  Nap? Nap? Nigh-night. Nap"  When I did eventually put them down, they didn't fall asleep.  Of course.

Ben orange Alex camo

We got them bikes.  Well, they are gliding bikes that don't have pedals.  They are still a little short, so we took off the seats so their feet would touch the ground.  They had a lot of fun with them the first day, but they have cooled off on them a bit.  They are a lot better, though.

Ben walking his bike (video)

Alex laughing at himself jumping on his crib bed.  This was a blog video from the last post.  He laughed so hard he threw up in his mouth.  You can see him still hiccuping while laughing.  They LOVE watching videos of kids, but they especially like watching themselves.  And cats that spring up out of no where. (video)

Ben did a great job helping Cody rake.  They cleaned out the old growth from my irises.  I trimmed down one area before winter, but kind of forgot to do the rest.  I'm pretty sure the old iris growth on top of the ground keeps them coming back.  When he cleaned it out, there was bright green grass underneath.

They noticed Cody was picking up the stuff with the rake and carrying it to the trash, so they started doing it too.  Unfortunately, by the time they got to the trash there was usually only 1 or 2 pieces still in their hand.. but still.  Alex in blue shorts Ben in dark shorts

They are finally really good out front.  I'm mostly confident most of the time out there that they won't run in to the street or down to the neighbor's house.  I wouldn't leave them unattended, but it is finally not miserable being out there with them.  That sounds harsh to say, but it was so hard to keep them out of the street and in our yard for so long.  

We've had a lot of fun lately!  The nice weather has just been so, so great.