Random stuff we've been up to lately

I've been meaning to write about this stuff but haven't gotten around to it, so here's a quick recap of the last couple weeks...

Emmett has inherited my love of books. Here he is reading with Grandma.


"Shoosh!" (Shoes)


Max is totally into bugs lately - he notices them everywhere. Here's a dragonfly we spotted in the backyard.


We went to a program at our local MetroPark about birds. The naturalist brought lots of specimens of bird parts, nests, eggs, etc., then handed out binoculars for all the kids to borrow and we all set off on a hike. We actually didn't spot many birds because we were with a large, fast-moving group of loud children. However, at the end of the walk we did spot this guy.


The naturalist told us this was a luna moth, but when we looked it up at home we discovered that it's actually a polyphemus moth.


Emmett was worn out from all that walking so he went to sleep.


Max was still full of energy though!


This is from the Fourth of July. Max is enjoying some bang snaps that Daddy brought as a surprise for him, and his buddy (our good friend's son) Paul kindly offered to give me a break and wear Emmett on his back for awhile.


Here's me & Em waiting for the sun to go down so the fireworks can start. He loved it - he thought it was so cool to be awake and outside so late. When the fireworks were happening, he was happily yelling "BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!"


We went to another MetroPark program - this one was about bugs. After a quick talk about different kinds of bugs/insects/spiders and their shapes & sizes, foods, habitats, etc., the kids were given nets and sent hunting.


Quick shot over my shoulder of Em enjoying the ride.


Here's Max traipsing through the tall grass, looking for critters. We actually didn't find much - once again, a large, fast-moving group of loud children not necessarily conducive to a nature hunt. The one interesting thing we found was a cocoon of some kind. I thought we'd have had better luck by staying in a smaller area and looking more closely around us. It was still a good program though.


Mama got a new tattoo... :)


We invented a fun new game a few days ago...


And our blueberries are in season now. We have four huge blueberry bushes that were on the property when we bought this place. We don't do a thing to them, and they produce insane amounts of super delicious juicy, sweet, and tart berries. Max helped me make my annual happy birthday batch of blueberry muffins for my BFF, and here is Emmett aka Quality Control performing a taste test.


The muffins passed the test - Em couldn't get enough of them! I caught him stuffing his face after pulling them down off the counter when I wasn't looking, so I had to hide the survivors out of his sight.

Ahhhhh summertime!