Shadowbrook Spring Shows

 The boys had their Spring Show at Shadowbrook at the end of March. Caden's show was held mid-day and Ethan's was held in the evening. Here are a few pictures from this annual event.

Caden's Show

The shaggy hair grin

 The cheesy grin

His favorite song was The Lord's Army. He loved saluting!

 Mommy loves seeing his sweet little praying hands!

Ethan's Show

Love, love, love seeing Ethan's praying hands, too!

 I will miss the Christian influence he has had for the last 3 years as he goes to Pre-K in the fall :-(

 And we were super excited to see him participating more than he ever has during a performance!

Our energetic big boy

 He's growing up too fast!

This Mommy has shed so many tears this year as I realize that we are in a season of lasts with our Shadowbrook family where Ethan is concerned. This amazing group of ladies has loved him like their own and he is as special to them as he is to us!

Bowling

The last several weeks have been super busy and I didn't realize that I had gone so long without posting! About a month ago, the boys got to have their first experience bowling. They had a blast and can't wait to go back!

This guy refused to use the dinosaur "guide" and did it all by himself!

 Mimi pulled out her bowling skills and showed us how it was done!

 Ethan in action

 Score!! Love his excitement!

 Caden with a little dino help

 And it's going...

 Yay!

Ethan has decided he likes bowling so much that we might be looking at a birthday party at the bowling alley. Not a bad way to spend a hot July afternoon!

Visit with Fireman Jake

Daddy took a day off work and planned a visit to take the boys to see a childhood friend of his that is a firefighter in Ben's hometown of Gainesville. The boys were so excited and were counting down until the big day arrived when they got to go see Fireman Jake and the fire trucks at the fire station! Mommy went off to the spa and Daddy, Ethan, and Caden had a Boys Only day. Mommy didn't mind a bit and I was just as excited as they were! 

Jake was super amazing and gave them the full tour of the station! He also made sure that the boys had hats, badges, and bags filled with coloring books and crayons, badges to give their friends, tattoos, stickers, pencils, and rubber duckies! So, so sweet of him!
Here are a few highlights of their trip...

 Jake, Ben, Ethan, and Caden

 
The boys got to "drive" several different rescue vehicles

 

 

 Love Caden's look of concentration in this!
 


 They tested out the equipment inside the trucks...helmets

 walkie-talkies...

 flashlights...
 
and headphones
 
Jake even let Ethan and Caden experiment with the equipment on the outside of the trucks.


 
 


Once they got inside the station, Jake told Ben that they don't have poles in newer firehouses and that they have slides instead for the firefighters to slide down when the bell rings. Caden slid down but Ethan was a little intimidated by the tall slide.

 
After checking out the slide, they headed to the kitchen and on to the firefighters' sleeping quarters. This is where Fireman Jake sleeps. Ben said it felt a little claustrophobic up there.

What a memory making day for the boys! 

Jake, thank you so very much for giving the boys an unforgettable experience!

Snow...Round 2

Well, we just thought that we had snow a couple of weeks ago. Round 2 was easily twice as much as round 1 and we had so much fun!

 

 

 After getting over the shock of seeing so much snow in Georgia we got started building our snowman. Daddy knew exactly what to do!

 And it turned out pretty awesome! Had we gotten a little more patience from the 2 year old and 4 year old, we may have been able to smooth him out a bit but we had fun any way.

 Ms. Lauren brought her sled over and took Ethan and Caden for a ride around the backyard,

 then they made snow angels,

 and had a little time on the swingset...

 

 Then we headed down to the end of the street to test out the sled on the hill

 Lauren and Caden

 Daddy and Ethan

 Lauren and Ethan

We were snowed in for 4 days so we had lots of inside time. Luckily, I had just gone to the store the day before snow hit so we were stocked up and good to go. We made muffins, banana bread, cookies, did Valentine's activities, colored, watched lots of Mighty Machines episodes on Netflix, played cars, and did lots of puzzles. 

Ethan's line of cars leaving the Batcave...he and Caden are all about making lines right now

Jake floor puzzle

 A few of the puzzles Daddy and Ethan worked on together

 We made the most of our snow days and had some great family fun. Can you believe they are already talking about another chance of snow this week??? CRAZY weather this year!

Circus

This weekend we took the boys to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum, and Bailey Circus. We love this circus but skipped last year so I was very excited to take the boys this year. While Ethan has been two other times, this was Caden's very first time! And for a two and a half hour show, Caden did very well. He was in awe the first hour, then either stood up or sat in my lap the rest of the time.

Daddy and Ethan

Pre-show mesmerization...

 I love this face...he's so focused

 Ethan couldn't take his eyes off of any of the acts

 And Daddy got them a special souvenir during intermission. Both boys took them to bed with them when they got home that night :-)

 So excited!

While the whole show is amazing, this was my favorite act. The picture is awful but these guys are playing basketball and doing tricks while riding unicycles! It was fascinating to watch them in action!

Love Ringling Brothers! 

There is no other circus like it!