Double Dribble

I haven't posted any basketball photos so here are some from Josh's very first game. There are 2 20 minutes halves so the team is divided into 5 players and they play every 5 minutes. The games are very entertaining since the rules are not strictly enforced. The only thing the players can't do is breakawy down the court. The kids are very cute to watch since most of them forget to dribble so they're running all over the place. Passing the ball to another team member consists of handing it to the next person. They fight over the ball even though they are on the same team. But they are having lots of FUN! Here is Josh with the ball, partially obscured by the basketball.

The boys are taught to keep their hands up although I doubt Josh knows why.

At least their season is short...we should be done in 3 weeks or so.

Swimming

These pictures are from swimming. Hopefully the weather will heat up so the pool will get warm or I'll just take the kids to the Y.

Back to Basics

I'm kind of in a knitting funk right now. Oh I still knit but I'm doing mindless knitting. Earlier I tried to attempt a cable sock pattern which threw my mind upside down and since then haven't really felt like doing anything complicated.

So I've been knitting plain old vanilla socks. No clever patterns or textures just plain ol knit. I realized that Josh is the only one that does have handknit socks so that was my goal for this month. Hector bought me so nice self striping sock yarn from his last Lake Tahoe trip and I used this for Josh's socks. A nice manly yarn with an interesting striping.
What person doesn't want to model 100% wool socks in June?

These remind of skiing and forests...

Aren't these perfect for a growing boy??

Song Du Jour

Heard this song on the way home from basketball...Morrissey makes my day!! :) Plus he liberally uses Hector in this song....such a silly boy!!

El Dorado Nature Center

I didn't know that this even existed. A fellow mom told me about El Dorado and she is from New York. So yesterday the kids and set out on an adventure. I'm not sure how big this place is but it's plenty big. There are at least 2 lakes with several trails to choose from. We chose the 1 mile hike and it was lots of fun. Not very strenuous but challenging enough for the kids. We walked uphill, did a few switchbacks, crossed a few bridges and through woods and fields.

Lots of turtles basking in the sun. These are just a few. I think their stance is their mating stance. Hubba hubba!

We saw all sorts of 'wildlife'. We are definitely going back and we'll try the 2 mile trail next.

Sk8r Boy

I haven't posted any video in a long time. I decided that summer is the perfect time for Josh to work on his skating. After a few tries on our street, I thought it would easier for Josh to skate at the park. Wider sidewalks with a nice loop that is away from the street. Sorry for the shaky video but Josh really gets going and it's hard to keep up. Josh picked this music which is very appropriate to that whole skater vibe.

Enjoy...

I'm not sure why the video is not showing up so I'll try again...click on the link since Blogger is messing with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXMjBwWTzPs

Quick Thinking

This is how our Wednesday went:

1. I wake up at 8:30 am (which was wonderful) suddenly thinking of the cheapie $1 movies shown by our local AMC theatre. I get on the computer and find the summer movies did start last week on Wednesdays. Oh today is Kung Fu Panda. Great. I hurrily feed the kids their breakfast and we rush the 1.5 miles to the mall. The parking lot doesn't look too bad and a few people with kids are heading over also. We get in line to buy tickets and 2 women with kids are at the window then they abruptly step out of the way. An employee says on the microphone that Kung Fu Panda is SOLD OUT. Say what?
2. We are too far to drive over to Rolling Hills where Regal shows a different movie for free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So we walk to Starbucks and I treat the kids to some caffeine-free ice blends while I think of something else to do.
3. I end up driving home and rummage through the house for projects that the kids can do. Honestly we have some birthday presents still in the box or untouched from Tyler's birthday a year or so ago. It's nice to not rip into everything and space it out. Ha. So I found a bird feeder and birdhouse kit that we all worked on. Josh helped me put the bird feeder together and then we walked to Walgreens to buy bird seed.
4. By the time we got home, it was getting warm so I'm thinking swimming next door at our neighbor's pool later. Tyler was ready to put his birdhouse together but first I had to round up some paint. I found about 3-4 cans of paint that we had used in some home project at one time or another which worked out fine. Tyler and I had a great time painting and we left them outside to dry.
5. On to swimming...our recent power outage did something to the pool heater according to our neighbor but the kids plunged in anyway. They had their squirt guns and Sub skate thingy to play with. About 10 minutes later 2 other neighbor boys a bit older than Tyler came in to make it a party. Joshua didn't last too long; about 10 minutes in the pool was all he could take.
6. Time for lunch! Sandwiches and yogurt in the family room while I start Kung Fu Panda which conveniently is on HBO. Just add popcorn and the rest takes care of itself.
7. I had time to hit the computer. Meanwhile the movie finishes and Tyler assembles the birdhouse all by himself. Nice.
8. Hector soon arrives home for leftover night. Cheap Chinese food for everyone. He takes the boys to Go Kart World where Josh finally gets to drive all by himself. He was so excited when he came home he could barely get the words out!

We managed a lot of activites for one day but it was kinda fun. It was the kind of day where we started with an idea and it took us all over the place.