What we have been up to......

The last two weeks have been wonderful. We have stayed home and just enjoyed being together as a family before our big summer vacation to Lake Chelan begins. The past couple weeks have flown by and I realized that I have not posted in 2 weeks which for me is a very long time. Part of it is due to my online class that I am teaching, I spend so much time on the computer working that I have not felt like doing much blogging. The other part is because we have just been having so much fun I have not had time to slow down to blog about it. Here is what we have been up to:

• Colt had swim lessons for 2 weeks at the YMCA. The first day he started crying 10 minutes into class and refused to go back in the pool. Part of this was my fault, Colt is the type of kid that needs to be told exactly what is going to happen. As long as he understands how it is going to work then he is usually fine with it. I was in such a rush to get out of the house that day and kind of nervous for Colt that he would be doing this on his own that I forgot to spend the time to explain this to him. That evening both Dave and spent some time explaining what he was doing, how he needed to sit and listen to the teacher and wait his turn, etc. The rest of the lessons went by smoothly and he had a blast. It was so much fun to watch him, he did a great job of listening to Teacher Victoria and he LOVED her. He always had a huge grin on his face in the water, he learned to float on his back, he loved to jump in with no help and overall just had a great experience.  The last day of swim lessons was this past Friday and they have a free swim for family and friends so Colt, Jax and I all went and swam for an hour. Colt loved showing me his new skills and I was glad to see how confident he is starting to feel in the water. Jax loved it too, these two are going to have so much fun in Chelan! After swimming, we met Dave for shaved ice.....it's been 100 degrees here and it tasted so good!
• We have been doing ALOT of yard work, we have some big landscaping plans for our yard and have been slowly getting things done. One of the things on our to-do-list was to chop down 2 trees. I wanted to rent a chainsaw but of course Dave ended up buying one instead. The first night he picked the chainsaw up to start it and it slipped out of his hands and fell on his foot (he was wearing sandles). He ended up in the ER with 7 stitches, it was a nasty gash and when it happened I was inside and I heard him yell "Care, I need a butterfly band-aid" I ran out and there was blood pouring out his foot and a pretty nasty gash on the top of it. I convinced him he needed a doctor! Only Dave would tell me he needed a band-aid when something like that happens.
• Our 4th of July was very low key, we went to church, then spent a lot of the day doing yard work.  My parents had the boys stay the night (first time ever being away from Jax!) and they had a big camp-out in their backyard with them. Both the boys slept great and Colt loved sleeping in a tent. Dave and I went on a long bike ride (which was so nice not having to pull the boys) and then to dinner. It was nice to just sit and talk (lots of conversation occurred about having a 3rd, I am still in the convincing stages though) and relax.
• Dave and my dad spent a couple nights building a bridge across my parents creek in their backyard so Dave can get across the creek for deer hunting this fall. I think it was a fun project for both of them and I know my dad learned a little from Dave (my dad is NOT a builder but he tries!). The bridge looks great, now if he can just get the deer to make it all worth it. Dave is excited because he is going to take Colt out a bit and let him watch. 
• We have been training for our upcoming triathlon pretty much every day. I usually get up early (5am) and go running or ride my bike and then Dave works out in the evenings. On days that we swim my mom has been watching the kids but this past week I have had to go by myself because Dave is not allowed to swim until his stitches come out (luckily he is a really strong swimmer so I don't think it will affect his performance much). The triathlon is next Sunday, my only goal is that I don't drown. I think Dave's goal is not to let me beat him.:)
• We have had some play dates, I had a girls night out (which was so much fun), Dave has spent some time shooting his bow and hanging out with buddies, the boys and I have been playing in the pool outside and Colt and I have been doing a lot of water balloons fights together which he loves.
• Jax is starting to talk more and has learned a lot of new signs. My favorite is when he signs "thank you" but also says "tank uuu" while he does it. He finally has a top tooth coming through (that's only number 3!) but I am glad to see that he does have other teeth. He is still not walking, but is starting to figure out he can stand on his own, walks between chairs and around furniture and just discovered how to push his car all around the house. He is the cutest little chunk ever and I just love him!
• Colt is as fun as ever, everyday is a new adventure and everyday I laugh at the things he says. He is really into the movies Toy Story 2 and Up and he is constantly repeating lines from the movies that just crack me up. His new best friend is Buzz and he sleeps with him every night (along with his lovie that he has had since birth).
• Both boys are now requesting a banana and milk upon waking up every morning. Colt started this when he was about 11 months old and now Jax is following in his footsteps. It's a sad morning when we don't have banana's in our house!

Well I think that sums it up. I have taken so many pictures the last few weeks so here are a few random ones of what we have been up to.

Jax entertaining himself while I make dinner.

Colt playing with play-doh

My three year old.

Working on his letters, colors and numbers. We try to do this everyday and he has fun with it. He is getting so much better at tracing letters! I am trying to teach him to write his name, he can spell it but so far the only legible letter is the C.

 Building the bridge.

 Colt loves to help.

 Di Di and Colt. Mom did the cooking for the workers.