Do you ever get that feeling?

You know the one, where you feel like you are being watched. But you are pretty sure that you are the only one in the room? Thanks, boys. I found several more of these little hidden creepers around the house this afternoon.

On a Sabbath Afternoon

John and Pat have been out of town so much, that we grabbed at the opportunity to stop by and see them before they are off again. As it turns out, Peter's WWVA class reunion was taking place out by the pond, so we hid out in the kitchen. The boys got to know Isabella and Gabrielle a bit more. And Everett had his first ice cream cone.

Three Little Boys

Some days just call for eating popcorn on the front step.

Who Was That Masked Man?

Tonight Robb found a little gem this evening. The Lego Club website had this fun little tutorial for turning any basic tee into a ninja hood. Zeke and Lincoln are in heaven.

On Assignment

Even though we are currently studying the garden, there seem to be quite a few insects working their way into our study time. We currently have a very well-fed caterpillar getting comfy in its new jar home.

Today, Zeke's task was to photograph all of the ripening produce out in the garden. And while he did a good job of that, he was also excited to photograph ladybugs, honeybees and various beetles. I finally had to draw the line at flies on poo. We will clearly be studying insects next.

The Full Moon

If left to their own devices, I'm pretty sure that all toddlers would be nudists.

The Big Tractor

Finally, the long-awaited day. Christian has been telling the boys to come out and see the big "tractors" for months now. But with Robb's call schedule and harvest, it hasn't happened. Until today. The boys were smitten by the enormity of the machine and couldn't wait to climb around a bit. But Christian surprised them with a ride. Zeke got pretty serious behind the wheel. They will not soon forget this adventure.

Toilet Assistant

You know what little brothers are good for? Reaching the toilet paper when it is just too far.

Museum Playground

I love that we always get this playground all to ourselves. 

Best Friends

Today, Ezekiel informed me that his best friend is Lincoln. I hope that goes on forever. Except for this sharing of underwear, that should probably be discontinued at some point.

Endless Summer Please

We're loving these long summer evenings outdoors. I love the changing seasons, and I bet I'll be excited for fall by the time it rolls around. But for now, I just want summer to last forever.

First Day of School

For the last few years, Zeke has been telling us that he does not want to go to school. So I was a bit surprised when he started talking about starting. I still think he's too young, so we made a deal. When his brothers go down for a nap, I will spend the quiet time teaching him about anything he wants to learn.

Today we start with learning about plants, but he has quite a long list of topics. I'm so thankful for Pinterest right now.

A Two-part Parting

The boys can never get enough adventuring to suit them. They convinced grandpa to go with them again this morning. I think that Lincoln was pretending to be a sled dog. They didn't want to leave.

We finally stopped by Jeremy and Tara's home in Sandpoint. And yet again, they didn't want to leave.

Montana Time

The boys love visiting Montana. They try to drive us nuts with their, "Are we there yet?" questions. This afternoon, Grandpa took them on a walk and they did a little bug collecting along the way. The other big hit today was the building block set that is now nearly vintage (pretty sure a five-year-old Jessica tagged some of them with her signature).

Dress-up Kind of Day

In their world, you can be a sock-monkey shark pirate and sail a ship made of chairs. As long as you've got a Spiderman cowboy sidekick.

Ew

While this probably isn't the grossest thing Lincoln has tried, it is gross enough. Robb claims to have done the same thing when he was Lincoln's age.

Mighty Big Boots

Lincoln ran inside this evening to put on shoes so he could do his chores. But instead he somehow managed to tromp out in daddy's boots. He was ever so proud of himself.

To the Museum (Again)

I know, I agree with you. This is getting old. The boys would not agree with you though. I'm starting to hear things at prayer time along the lines of, "Thank you that we got to go to the museum." So we skipped naps today to spend a little more time learning and exploring. Everyone enjoyed testing out the springboard buggy benches. The boys discovered all manner of wildlife painted into one of the murals. We found Brad Pitt's doppelganger in lockup. There was some strolling through Pioneer Village (Zeke and Lincoln loved the boys play cabin). And we spent a good amount of time at the play structure.