Summer-time wind down

Any given Sunday afternoon in this house. 

Last week, we visited the Asheboro zoo. The boys truly loved it (as did Daniel and I- it had been nearly a decade since we'd been!)

 

Both boys happily hatching with the dino's.

And both boys zonked out within minutes of starting the car (Jacob impressively passed-out first). 

Our garage box-boat. Everyday it looks a little different! 

These boys love their swing-set. With the cooler temps, we've been spending hours outside.

And Thomas has fallen in love with the idea of mowing the lawn. Both the toy vacuum cleaner and golf bag have become stand-in lawn mowers.

Now, time for random video tidbits:

Though kiddos have smaller attention spans than adults, it sure is impressive how long a joke stays funny to them....

Thomas in Green Pond

 This post will have Thomas pictures with captions. It just seems like the right thing to do.

"Why are you not pushing me?"

"Hey. "

"No, You you youuuu!"

Heartbreaker

CORNHOLE!

"safe!"

Oh Ma and Pa. We love you two!

(uncle love)

Triple-Mos!

"Yes, aunt Emily, I want to be on the trike for-ev-ver."

"I like this guy."

This rocks. 

Plus Dana!

Jacob in Green Pond

Yay! Thanks to Grayson (and uncle Josh who has the camera and took many of these shots), we have more precious Green Pond joy to share with everyone!

 First, we'll do a close-up of Jacob's time this summer with the whole Chell group.

What kid doesn't like corn-hole? 

 Or being swung- which still makes his parents nervous. His left arm gets stronger everyday, butttt....

 And of course, that kid LOVES meat. Especially when he 'assisted' in the day long smoking process (meaning he tasted the apple juice being sprayed on the meat, chatted up the cook, and shredded the pork as seen below).

 Jacob is huge. And he now has a huge-boy bike that he is so great at riding. (And obviously Thomas wants to do the same thing- just listen hard and you may hear his precious and desperate "mine toooooo").

 He continues to be our strong,

kind and gentle,

clever and hilarious Jacob every single day. 

Let's make a deal.

Alright faithful blog readers: Our camera went on a 2 week hiatus (we thought it had found its way into the trashcan with a Thomas assist- fortunately, it was hiding a Ma and Pa's house!)

The deal: catch-up on our August lives and pictures but very quickly.

Nature of Green Pond...

 My boys.

Green Pond fire pit time: awesome.

Flash forward: our backyard!! We absolutely love it.

  Jacob attended VBS (pandamania for another summer- he loved it -again). As a child, I'd get shy/anxious/cry-ish when it came time for 'recitals' and the like...apparently Jacob is similar. Though, he insisted it the crying was because he didn't want to wear the yellow shirt. He's the tiny blond head in the middle front.

 Playground exploring in Winston-Salem.

 DP ripping up grass to make space for a bit of gardening.

 After breaking up the soil and adding so much good dirt, Jacob and I planted seeds. (Thomas assisted but was just so fast!)

 Jacob is such a tender child; he delicately placed the lettuce seeds and patted them 'safe' in the soil bed.

 I'll update photos of our garden soon- we've got lettuce, green beans/peas, spinach, cucumber, and pumpkin plants looking great. Bring on more rain!

In the meantime; Jacob and Thomas have started school and LOVE it. Jacob is already spelling and writing the word r-e-d and making more friends than last year. There are only 5-6 pre-K students and the teacher is long-time teaching veteran; a perfect match for our sweet boy! Thomas cried under 3 minutes the first day and 0 minutes yesterday. Seriously, no tears.  We couldn't be happier with how this is all going!  Now, if I could just land a great job.