Four Boys: Days 3 & 4

Finally it stopped bloody raining and we got a day outdoors! I took them to Slate Run Historical Farm and it was, well, all about poo. Every damn animal we looked at was pooing, and because of the rain the whole place just stank damp & pooey. They used the old fashioned privy too - guess what that smelled like? And the boys loved the meat curing shed with smelly meat. So then, poo and smells = heaven for boys. Plus hammocks and an old fashioned water pump. The water pump Nazi told them off for pumping too loudly and pumping too much. It's in the kid's section lady - everything kids do is too loud and too much! I gave her the stink eye - not because I disagreed with her reigning in the kids,  but because I knew she got a power-kick from her Nazi job.

Parkour in the woods

No chance lads! haha!

Happy lad

Stinky outhouse antics

Look! A cow!

Liked the lambs

And the horses

Prior to their aggressive pumping felony

Picnic!

After the farm we went swimming. It was great as usual...

Day 4 of 4 Boys was dealt with by Craig as I went to work.

He took them to Inniswood Gardens. As he dragged them away from video games and then pulled into the parking lot at the gardens he said they were all complaining how boooooring it was going to be because they read the sign that said "Gardens" and they wanted a "Park". When they entered the gardens they all got maps, and still grumpy, they said "What do we do first?" and Craig said - "We get lost!" and took all their maps off them and had adventure and they LOVED it. They got lost (no they didn't), they found a fantastic water game, searched for frogs, found their way out of a maize, found a secret garden & tree house and scared themselves silly as they walked through the woods.

At Knight's Homemade Ice Cream Shop

Four Boys: Day 2

Wouldn't you know it, day 2 it rained 7 1/2 hours out of the 8 that I had the boys. I took them to work again and they ran around for half an hour before the heavens opened. This time I took them to the research farm and I made them chase me on a golf cart (exercise!) then I let them fool around on the golf cart too. They loved playing on the golf cart. Years ago I did the same thing for my nieces and nephew and they still remember it to this day.

Trying to do cartwheels. Not very successful. Ha!

Speed demons

At lunch time we had a big party for my boss who is retiring so the boys got to eat a lot. I'm pretty sure Daniel ate 5 cookies but who's counting. Not me. I am determined not to stress over such things this week.

My lovely boss with the boys

We got home about 3, in a total rainy downpour, so I let them play Minecraft, watch WWE Raw and bounce on the trampoline in the rain. Then I sent the two boys home wet, happy and exhausted, which I count as a success.

Four Boys: Day 1

It's my turn to watch four boys this week. They are good friends and rarely argue so I'm not too nervous about it but the damn rain won't quit. 19 days of  continual rain is too much, even for someone from the north-west of England!

Columbus is a fabulous place for kids, with loads of free things for them to do. Outdoors. There are plenty of indoor, free places to take toddlers, like playgrounds in shopping malls,  but no options really for 4 boys between 6 and 10 years old unless I want to spend $50 each time. I am not one of those "crafty" parents who comes up with ideas to keep kids busy all day making collages, wool pompoms or cupcakes. I just don't have the energy (or the desire if I'm honest). I could just let them play video games all day I suppose but I'm not a total parent failure. So, I took them to work with me and let them play putt-putt outside my office then I showed them some football landmarks on campus. They loved it.

OH-IO with the 2002 National Championship trophy. The 2014 trophy is still on tour

Practice fields - they ran for a touchdown

The Shoe!

Heisman Trophy poses...

I snuck them up to the press box

Woody Hayes' boys

After the Buckeye tour I took them home for fish, chips and peas (they ate it!) then I let them play video games for an hour while it poured with rain. I saw a break in the weather from 3-5 so bundled them in the car and we went to Scioto Audubon Metro Park, which might just be my favorite park in Columbus.

The Audubon center is closed on Mondays (of course), but it actually worked in our favor because the assault course at the park is for kids older than 12 and there should be an instructor present to use it. But no one was there, so you know, I just let them do it (one of those "screw it" moments). We were the only people at the whole park and we had a blast.

Daniel, oh Daniel....

Found a turtle

Looking for birds & frogs in the wetlands

At 5pm the rain came again so we called it a day. They called themselves rebels, since they snuck into the press box and snuck into the assault course, and that's fine with me. Everybody needs to be a renegade sometimes.

Day 1 in the bag and a success!

Comfest!

What better way to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage than to spend the weekend with the boys at Comfest 2015!

The highlight for Jack was seeing the women with bare breasts (it's a liberal free-spirit kinda' thing) and some of the other interesting people who attend. The highlight for Danny was seeing his friend and making die dye shirts. He was oblivious to all things nude. Ha!

Luchadors!

Yes it does!

Cheers!

With his friend Asher

Making tie-dye tshirts with their dad

When we got home we let Slinky out for the first time

Father's Day 2015

What a wonderful, relaxed day it has been today. Craig had a lie-in then we made him breakfast (skinheads on a raft), then we hit the pool for FOUR HOURS. It was great. Tonight we are watching Jurassic Park and then we'll probably have a drinkie on the porch. Perfect.

Craig is such a great dad, he really is. He's kind and funny and got such a good heart. When I read the quote "Don't marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son exactly like him" I think it could have been written just for him. I would seriously be more than happy if both our boys turn out exactly like him.

Enjoying last year's present - his recliner

This year: cast iron dutch oven and scratch cards (won nowt)

Lovely glass from Leanne, made his day.

Panorama shot made Daniel look a bit funky

Carpe diem

This past month has had more that it's fair share of sad moments. My work friend Pablo lost his teenage son and another work friend Mark died from brain cancer. Then my dad's aneurysm has grown a little so he's having scans and seeing specialists. And this week I found out that someone I care about in England, David,  has had surgery to remove bowel cancer and he's not doing so well.
I'm typically a positive, happy person but blimey enough is enough!

Then at Mark's memorial last night they gave out these cards and I thought YES!  I love this message, so thought I'd share it on here.

Summer Pictures by Erika

These pictures were taken by my friend & neighbor Erika. She had her 2 boys and my boys for a full week on her own. I hope I can be as fun and not completely lose my mind when it's my turn at the end of this month.  And yes, Daniel is giving the bird.

Jack's WWE Quilt

I finally finished Jack's WWE quilt. I started it last Autumn so dragged my feet a bit on this one but like anything else in life, I get bursts of energy and then bursts of meh!  I love the fabrics, the red polka-dot binding and the pillow case I bought on Ebay. John Cena is definitely one of Jack's favorite wrestlers. So anyway, here's some pictures....
Next I'm making Daniel a "Red Stone" quilt (it's a Minecraft thing).

Triple H & John Cena (from pillowcase)

Used the back of the pillow case on the flannel back of the quilt

Bigger than it looks here. It's 58' x 66"