*Fireflies and Mason Jars*

For Christmas Grandma got the boys matching shirts - navy blue and a little mason jar with fireflies.


And this past Sunday just seemed like the perfect, summer day to break them out... and then have a mini photo shoot on Grandma and Grandpa's front steps :)

And then Grandma got the Mason Jars!....

 

Grandma's silly...♥

Rollin' in the Rain

In continuing the holiday fun this past weekend... the day after the 4th (Happy Birthday, Meggy♥), Mimi took us to Rolling Ridge Ranch! 

The boys and I also went a couple years ago with Grandma and Grandpa (although there was one less boy that trip) and we had so much fun, so we wanted to try it again.

The boys loved it! We rode all around and saw so many cool (and HUGE) animals. And, sadly, my camera died halfway through the ride, so you'll just have to imagine the ostriches and emus, water buffalo, yak, camel, gigantic longhorns, and beefalo...

At first, Bridger and Graham were pretty hesitant about actually holding the buckets to feed the hungry critters.. but once they figured out they were allowed to just throw handfuls of feed on the ground they got into the spirit :) And Holden loved it! He fed animals, petted them, and was so excited to take his turn holding the reins and "driving" the wagon!

And after the ride, we visited the petting zoo area for even more hands on time with the animals.

(and then, because it was a special day... Happy Meals for lunch!)

It was a little drizzly, but even the rain couldn't wash away the fun :)

 First stop! Feeding the elk.

 This guy was really neat.

 And I'm sorry, because Mimi blinked and Holden is a goober, but I only got a few pictures before the camera died and so this one stays.

 Mimi and Holden... and a sneaky little nose under the bench :)

 Zebras!

                       Grahamers.. watching all the animals

 Stopping again! Here they come!!

 Yay for the wagon ride!

 

  Potbelly Pig.. this mama was about ready to POP. We could see her belly wiggling!

And then the camera went kaput. :/

But after the ride, I grabbed my phone for a few more photos...

 Lookin' at the silly monkeys

 I love turtles.

 Group shot!

 Saying "Hi!" to the big bird!

 

 And then checking out some little birds :) 

 Baby ducks!

 And having a little conversation with this poor, caged bird... just beggin' for his freedom ;)

 Look at this big boy!!

 He liked the little goat :)

 Mimi and the boys

 And this little one kept going after Holden. Haha. He said it was trying to eat his pants!

 Bye, bud!

Bridger blinked, Graham's turned around, Holden's not even trying to look at me... but here they are! 

We went. We had fun. We made memories.♥

        

The 'Works

........ Well even the rain couldn't stop the fun Saturday night! :)


This past weekend was the annual Fireman's Festival over in Mount Eaton, and we all loaded up for some fun and some Fireworks! We don't actually go to the festival part, just park at the ball field to see the show. They do a really nice job and it's just like the most perfect, low-key, nearby, stress-free location to let the boys watch some fireworks. 

So we got all packed up and loaded in and headed out. 

We started with an indulgent and celebratory picnic... it was a party, you guys! FIREWORKS were about to occur!  ;)

Happy Meals were in order.

And some more picnic fun...

Cheeseballs.

And then it was time to RUN.

We were literally the only ones there. They had the entire ball field to themselves...

Here they come.

They loved it.... Down!!

And back up! 

Over and over and over. It was like conditioning practice!

But they loved it.

That hill is STEEP.. but even this kid went down and back up a few times.

Look at that focus. Haha. Always gotta try to keep up, ya know?

But sometimes it's nice to just sit with Daddy and watch the silly brothers, too.

I am never cutting these off.

And.... pooped.

But not too pooped for some balancing beam action!!

Focus... focus....

(the jumping off part was the best part... but of course all those photos are just little boy blurs)

Goofball

Wonder where they get it.... ;) 

(this ended in a toe touch, by the way)

Cheese.

And then Daddy caught a firefly... and the hunt was on!

I'd like to tell you no fireflies were injured in the making of this post... that's what I'd like to tell you...

Squish.

But they definitely had a better chance if Mommy held them, that's for sure.

But, alas, then it started raining.

So we all headed back under the pavilion for some peanuts. 

.

... and then it POURED.

But we're not quitters, yo. 

We were there. We were ready. And we were staying.

But we did need to kill some time....

 

So were they cancelled? Were they still on? Who could we call? How would we know?

(smart phones are an awesome thing, guys...)

..... When all of a sudden...   BOOM!

And there they were.

 

And all the boys LOVED them.

And we were happy♥