Sprayground...and why I should never have a girl

We went on a little adventure yesterday.

Payton, Parker, our neighbor Avery, and I all saddled up on our bikes and rode to the little Village area by our house.

We stopped at The Village Market and got ice cream (sorry, no pictures of this as I was too busy wrangling a toddler away from everyone else's treats).

Then we rode to the spray area in the back of the Village.

It's amazing how much fun kids can have with water shooting out of the ground.

 

 Literally, his lips were slightly blue when we left, but this kid did NOT care. He would have stayed all day!

 Here's a funny video of Parker trying to grab the water. He clearly doesn't mind the fact that he's getting pelted in the face with water:

(Remember, if you get this post via email, you need to click on the word "Heckman" at the top of your email to take you to my actual blog in order to watch the video)

The kids had a really fun time and I laughed so hard watching Parker stumble around getting soaked. Good times.

On a very random note. This is why it would be dangerous for me to ever have a girl.

This little girl is in my playgroup and we both happened to be wearing Lilly Pulitzer today, so her mom took a picture of us together.

Come on...is she not the cutest thing ever?!?

I would be BROKE if we ever had a girl.

 

 

Weekending

Fairly low-key weekend here at the Heckman household.

The older boys were supposed to go camping on Friday, but it got cancelled due to rain. Payton spent the night at his friend's house instead (heard they stayed up until 10:45 and got up at 5:30????). Then we all went to his baseball game Saturday morning.

He had another great game. We were so proud of him cheering on his friends on the opposing team. He has really grasped the idea that the most important element of team sports is the "TEAM" part. He loves his teammates, and he supports his friends, even when they are on a different team.

(Payton pictured with his two BFF's, Quin & Max)

 After the game Saturday, we just hung out at the house. Payton has his buddy over after the game and then another neighborhood friend joined in on the fun.

They spent an hour making some sort of car track or something...

 Parker on the other hand, was more interested in playing with Daddy. I think he realizes that when he has Brian's attention, he needs to take advantage of it. 

He had no interest in playing with Payton or his buddies. He just wanted to play with his Daddy.

 Of course he had to start some kind of mischief...

 Remind me again when we grow out of the "everything-goes-in-the-mouth" stage?!?!

 Then he started playing peek-a-boo with me and was all irresistibly cute...

Sunday was a pretty typical day around here.

I got to sing at church this week, which is always such an honor and privilege. And once we arrived home, Parker was so pooped he took a 2-hour nap.

The latter-part of the day involved a trip to Starbucks on our bikes...

Enjoying a decaf and a chocolate chunk brownie with my big boy:

 And Parker and Payton shared their treats with each other. Parker actually scooted Payton aside in his chair so he could climb up and sit with him. It was SO precious!

 Then the boys played a rousing game of peek-a-boo while the grown-ups finished our coffees...

 A brief stop at the park on the way home capped off a busy Sunday. We headed home for baths and an early dinner and bedtime.

Now... the house is quiet and temporarily clean.

Time to go rest up for another busy Monday!

Have a great week everyone.

Boys & Dirt

I had a friend once say that she believes that God gave her all boys so that she would be forced to let go of some of her OCD when it comes to keeping things clean & tidy.

I'm beginning to think the same is true for me.

Payton doesn't like to get super dirty anymore - although riding his bike through muddy puddles is about his favorite activity on the planet - but he did when he was little.

Here's proof:

He ate dirt (several times)... 

 And he was a very messy eater...

 So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the number of times each week that I have to strip Parker down (usually to complete nakedness) on the back porch because he's gotten into something outside.

Yesterday, he wanted to venture out in the rain.

I had to hold back every ounce of my "cleanliness OCD" and tell myself, "It's good for him to play in the rain. He's experiencing life! He's learning new things."

Of course he found the one puddle in the backyard that had formed at the bottom of the gutter downspout. Complete with some of the leftover cleaner that was used to pressure wash the porch last weekend...

 Let's just say that 20 minutes later he was buck naked walking into the house. I'll spare you the details of sliding down the wet slide and then sitting in the dirt.

Today, it was nice and dry outside so I let him out back for a few minutes before naptime.

He walked over to the swing... and immediately fell into the dirt.

 Then he proceeded to wipe his dirty hands all over his face...

 Which just made him more upset.

 Needless to say, he walked inside in his diaper, went right to the sink for a "wash down" and then straight to his crib. Getting that dirty really makes a baby tired!

Lastly, here's a quick video that hopefully makes you smile!

(If you get this blog post via email, you'll have to click on "The Heckman Family" title at the top of the post to go to the actual blog to view this video).

 Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring Break Wrap-Up

What a fun week we had!

We wrapped up the week with a trip to the beach, a date night, a St. Patrick's Day party, oh... and one more trip to the beach!

Let's start at the beginning.

On Friday morning, we headed out to Honeymoon Island, which is a beautiful state park only 20 minutes from our house. Both boys had a great time hanging with our neighbors.

 

 

Payton found an "abandoned" sandcastle and decided to take over and play there for the remainder of the day.

Of course my little man couldn't hang as long as the big kids, so I took him home for a nap while my sweet neighbor took Payton and her kids out for lunch and ice cream sundaes!

(can you tell she took these pictures with her awesome camera?)

 How cute is this kid?!?

That evening, I surprised Brian with a babysitter and a date night at a new local restaurant called Cafe Carmel. SUCH amazing food! And after a week of being run ragged by Payton, I need a calm, quiet night with my sweetie.

The next day, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in several ways.

First, I made green pancakes sprinkled with Lucky Charms (e.g. packing in a day's worth of sugar in one meal):

 Then, we went to our community's St. Patrick's Day celebration... complete with a giant leprechaun. Yikes!

And men dressed in kilts!

And boys playing in the grass listening to the live music.

That evening, we had some friends over for a low-key Irish dinner. My friend Bethany made the most amazing chocolate cake with buttercream Bailey's frosting. OH MY! It was SO good! Sorry... no pictures of it. I think we all devoured it too quickly!

Sunday felt like we were falling back into our normal routine. Church, Sunday School, laid-back lunch at home, read the paper, etc. But then, at the last minute, we decided we just weren't quite ready to part with Spring Break quite yet. So we packed up the car, and headed out to the beach! Again!

 Payton & Brian built a sandcastle complete with a bridge that was "so strong you could walk on it!!!" He was so excited, he made me take a picture:

 My boys just love the beach.

 Who can blame em?

Once Parker made it clear to all of us that he was hungry and ready to go, we headed out for a cute little beach cafe for some burgers & beers.

 Not the best pictures of the boys, but they were having such a good time playing together & listening to the live music.

And let me tell you... after a week of doing theme parks, museums, beaches, play dates, sleepovers, and special surprises in between... we're all pooped!

We're ready for life to go back to normal. Well, some of us are at least. :)

Spring Break - Days 3 & 4

Yesterday & today, I earned my "Mommy Gold Star" for Spring Break.

Yesterday, I went to my most-loathed children's place... Chuck E. Cheese.

Today, I went to an equally loud & obnoxious place... Airhead's.

Both places were PACKED.

Both places smelled really bad.

My kids really love both places... as do their friends.

Day 1: Chuck E. Cheese

 They love the crappy pizza.

 

 They love the rides and games.

 

 Here's Parker up to his old Skee Ball shenanigans...

And they love trading in their tickets for more junk.

Like candy. As if we needed more energy in this place.

Day 2: Airheads

I don't have any pictures of the actual location. Maybe because I was using ever bit of my strength and energy keeping Parker away from the trampoline area, while attempting to keep Payton hydrated after 45 minutes of continuous jumping.

It wore me out to say the least.

On the way home we drove through McDonald's.

This is what I saw in the back seat:

Payton was cooling off french fries and handing them to an ever-willing 13-month old who was very happy to eat them!

Then we had blanket wrestle time in the play room.

Payton with his blanket (which used to be Brian's when he was a little one).

And Parker with his blankie (which used to be Payton's).

 

Peek-a-boo brother!

We're capping this night off with a sleepover and then one more crazy day of fun.

Oh wait, St. Patrick's Day is Saturday... guess we have a couple more days of crazy fun!