Attack of the Elliott Boys!

Angie and Jason went away this past weekend for Jason's birthday, so Mom and I split the babysitting duties: Mom watched Adam, and Colin and Justin stayed at our house. We had a blast!

As soon as they got to our house, the playing began. I can pretty much summarize the whole weekend like this: toy guns and sports. Karl and Colin even made up a sport using a gun for a bat!

This is what it looks like to have three boys in the back seat. Aye yi yi!


Lunch at McDonald's with Grandma and Grandpa.

That night, Mom and Dad came over for pizza. Adam loved seeing his big brothers. Laura chose to eat in the dining room.

Both nights all the boys were in bed and asleep by 8:30! Can you say super-duper-troopers? In the morning, after breakfast, it was TV time. Here are all the kids watching toddler shows "for Justin."

Colin and Justin made friends with Pippa.

On Sunday, the boys saw Rush City's big attraction: the aquatic center! Here's the only picture I have of everyone together.


That night we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom loved having all four boys at her house. It made her feel 28 again! Amazingly, we got them all to sit down in the same place. Colin, Karl, Adam, and Justin.

Thanks for staying with us, Colin and Justin!

Caturday: Cats + Newspapers = ❤

As anyone who has ever tried to read a newspaper on our sofa knows, Pippa loves to rub and sleep on them. If a section falls on the floor, she plays and hides in them. Yesterday she decided napping under newspaper was pretty sweet.

Bonus picture of the two besties. Nevermind the mess on the floor--I was doing some cleaning, ok?

Bunker Beach

Today we met our waterpark buddies, the Elliotts, at Bunker Beach, a huge landscape of water fun. It was a gorgeous day, and the kids had a great time.

Cousins in descending height: Laura, Karl, Colin, Justin, Adam


Minus Laura (she can take only so many pictures)


Little Adam got tuckered out...


…and so did Laura!

I was a little disappointed that I had to wear a swimsuit at this beach...

Laura's Loft (oh, and Karl got a bunk bed)

So one day when Matt casually mentioned that Laura could use a loft bed in her room, Laura pounced. "I've always wanted a loft bed!" We asked her why she never told us before, and she said she did, about 5 years ago. Apparently I brushed it off then, so she never bothered asking again. Well, to make a long story short, Laura decided to buy a loft bed (since we had already gotten her a roomful of furniture, and she had gobs of money saved up from her allowance, we figured it was fair). She thought very hard about whether to buy a cheaper, less sturdy bed, or to go all out and buy the super industrial-last forever one. She got the sturdy one.

This is the space where the new bed would go.


Part of the deal was that her parents would put it together.


It's standing!


Penelope and Pippa hung out together amongst the boxes.


Karl acted as photojournalist and took all these pictures.


Laura practices climbing a ladder up to the bed.


Side rails are on!


Laura in her new room! When we put the bed together, we realized the natural wood matched her existing furniture really well, so we just sealed it with a clear finish (thanks Fred!) and added polka dot decals, per Laura's request.

Pippa likes it too.


The next day Pam and Fred brought over the matching bunk bed that goes with Karl's bed, so now he has the set that Matt and Steve slept in when they were kids. Poor Karl. He never gets anything new. And we forgot to take pictures.

Caturday: Internet Addict

"Don't even THINK about telling anyone about this huge Target order I just placed, Penelope, or I will take you out!"


"Gosh, I am just so amazing. I could look at these Caturday posts all day."

Caturday: "I'm Cuckoo for my new Kitty Cube!"

Fun with Flippers

Last week was Karl's last week of swimming lessons (he passed! On to level 5!), and the last day was free day, so Laura got to swim too. They decided to try out the flippers.

Thunderstorm Party

This is what our bedroom usually looks like:

This is what it looks like the morning after a thunderstorm, when the whole family sleeps in one room:

Caturday: What? I'm not supposed to sit in the kitchen sink now?

I swear this is the first time I've seen her do this. She's usually much more sneaky. Who wants to come over for dinner?