Monday, July 29, 2013

Swimming Pool Stargazing

I have a list of things I wanted to do with the boys this summer, and I'm happy to say that a good number of activities have been crossed off! One thing I've been super excited for is stargazing with Liam. We waited for Max to fall asleep the other night and then filled the empty inflatable pool with pillows and blankets. It was a perfectly clear night, and we cozied up in the pool together for a good few hours. We saw constellations, satellites and bats. We talked about how far away the stars are, and where heaven might be. We talked about The Big Bang, and how the universe works. We snuggled and laughed and snuggled some more. Liam suprised me with how much he knows - asteroids smashing into the moon created the craters we can see, and bats use their squeaks to bounce sound off of objects so they don't bump into them!

We counted 18 satellites and 4 bats, or, as Liam announced it - "18 satellites and 4 bats, here on Bobby Bam's Weather Channel!" Not sure where he came up with that one, but it made me laugh!

Love this kid. And love making memories.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Oh, Liam!

Liam was sitting next to me in the garden the other day while I worked on the foundation for our future chicken coop. He had a large metal cover that he'd covered with dirt, and then he asked me to come over and see what he'd made.

"See, mom, pretend this dirt is the houses. Then, pretend my breath is the tornado. When I breathe, all the dirt gets blown away, just like a tornado blows away houses!" Liam has a fear/fascination with tornadoes right now, and apparently building a tornado simulator is part of that!!

Science Fair, here we come!

***

Ellie was just spayed yesterday, and in preparing the boys for her surgery we tried to explain why we were doing it. We talked about how many dogs and cats are in the world without homes, and how letting Ellie have babies wouldn't be responsible of us. Both boys were confused and thought that the doctor was going to remove babies that were already in Ellie's belly! We had to explain again that she didn't have babies in her belly, and it takes a boy dog and a girl dog to make puppies.

You can see where this is going... :)

Liam said, "So, like, when a boy dog gets close to a girl dog and touches her, something MAGIC happens?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA. We laughed about that for about an hour.

We explained the process in a very basic form to him, and then he ran off to swordfight with Maxwell.

Oh, Lord.

(Ellie is fine, still sore, but bouncing back quickly!)

Strawberry Fields

It was the first time the boys had ever been strawberry picking, and it was the perfect day for it! We went to Blaser's Acres in Suamico and picked a flat under a clear blue sky on Tuesday! The boys kept yelling, "Wow! Look at THIS one! Ohhhhh! I found another one!" every time they would lift a leaf and discover more berries! They ran up and down the rows squealing and brought their finds back to help fill the flat.

Strawberry picking is something we used to do every summer with my mom and Grandpa Richie, and I think the last time I went was probably with them back in high school! I missed the smell of strawberries in the air and the taste of a berry warmed by the sun. The boys couldn't get enough of them, and kept asking for "just one more?" It was a great day.

I made homemade pound cake and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert that night. The next day, I made a batch of freezer jam, and we still have plenty more berries for eating and freezing. And maybe some more jam, too! Happy 4th of July!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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