many faces.

work, work, all day long.

following a trip to this zoo this afternoon, the kids and i met up with mr. dada and his line crew.  for the better part of 2 years, he has been working on base, preventing us from seeing him live and in action.  this afternoon however, he was working across the highway, allowing us full access to excavators, line trucks and all the mud you could ask for.  in addition to looking at animals all afternoon, then riding in equipment WITH jack's #1, i think the little dude's head was gonna explode if he had any more excitement in his little life.

i think i'm in trouble.  no, i know i'm in trouble.  i have this boy.  he's so sweet and cute.  he has doe eyes that melt me in a blink.  when he wraps his skinny little arms around my neck, my knees just about buckle and my heart skips a beat.  but me being me and my genetics and my un-ability to control what characteristics get passed on and which ones (i wish) would get looked over... ah, it's hopeless.  as rough and tumble and handsome as ben's little boy is, he got some of my traits as well.  he's particular.  loathes dirty hands, shirts, pants, stickiness, etc.  he's not the best eater.  doesn't like surprises.  finicky.  ok, so maybe a tad neurotic.  he can be shy.  all these things that i've struggled with and truly forced myself to not be, but ultimately, i am.  who am i kidding?  i think i love him even more because he's all these things.  such a funny little guy.  out here with his dada, complaining about the mud on his chuck taylor's.  ok, so maybe he's not going to be 4th generation lineman...    

and then, there's dylan.  you wake the child from a deep sleep and within seconds, she's a giggling fool.  clapping.  shrieking in excitement, as i imagine, because she's alive.  she smiles at anyone that will make eye contact.  besides being a great sleeper like her brother, these two are opposite in most every way.  eat with her hands and make a mess?  absolutely.  play in the dirt, attempt to eat sticks and rocks?  any chance she gets.  below, you will see it took her no time this afternoon to get her mitts filthy.  as in, under a minute.  yep, that's dada's girl...         

  

 working her first pair of kline's

 filth.

 my boys, setting a pole

 dirtball.

 just like her dada to catch a quick catnap

 new line

 isn't she purrrdy?

 lovely little bluebells

 more of the new line

 see, just below volvo, the mud line?  

that's how deep this beast was sunk

 of course, they had to attempt to get stuck...

scooter.

seeing how my three and a half year old has turned into a little man in a flash, i decided to let him ride his scooter on our most recent walk.  he has pleaded with me on numerous occasions, and i've always scoffed at him and his lack of responsibility.  but, as parenting goes, you have to test these toddler waters, and mr. jb proved to be ready to slip off the floaties.   

he did VERY well.  i let him ride to the end of our road, then once we got to the main street, he had to sit in the stroller.  i assumed this would cause a super-snit-fit, but i was pleasantly surprised when i got ok, mama. HERE. as he handed me his scooter.  big, grown up, boy i'm dealing with these days!  relief!  

 going down our road

 fireweed

once we got onto the bike path, things got a little intense.  like most boys, my son is completely fascinated (see: obsessed) with trucks.  if you can name it (or even if you can't) he knows the names and what they do.  and, he's likely rode one too!  excavators, backhoes, loaders, semi-trucks (he calls most of them peterbuilt!) cement trucks, flatbeds, tow trucks, garbage trucks, side dumps, tankers and double tankers... the kid is mad!

so anyway, we have a costco-type store being built less than a mile down the road from us.  so all the distraction came to a head the closer we got to the site.  jack couldn't keep his eyes in front of him.  he was watching the loud trucks go zooming by, while trying to point at them and tell me all about it.  needless to say, we had two minor accidents: a scuffed knee/shin/ankle and a sore tummy (in jack's words) as a result of the handlebars crashing into him.  but the good news, no blood.  why is it once they see blood, it really hurts?!

back at the house, the kids were eager to run around on the spongey grass.  we have worked really hard on our lawn over the past few years, and now, seeing our children enjoy it right down to the soil, is all the reward we need for our hard work.  

over the winter, i put together numerous scrapbooks and the one i've been waiting to finish is for our house project, started in 2007.  i was waiting to snap one final picture from this summer, and this afternoon provided the perfect opportunity.  i set out to click a simple house-manicured lawn picture, but then i thought... pictures of the kiddos running around made it just perfect.  jack may have been brought home to our duplex, but since he was 6 weeks old, this has been his home.  dylan was nearly born at home - yes, it just makes sense to have them in the completed house shot.  now, i just need to narrow down to which one made the cut...      

 i like this one.

 67 degrees - time to break out the otter pops