Boy Cousin Fun, final entry

The last structured activity we did was an art project thanks to our super-cool party favor from Levi and Will's birthday party. I got our kitchen table all set up and had one boy at buys with playdough, while the other one worked on his marble paint creation. I didn't even attempt a posed pic, so we have all action shots...Jake hard at work...Cohen hard at work. I promise he was having more fun than he looks like. He just wasn't a big fan of picture taking... and marble painting...

I had the best time with the boys and feel so blessed by a great son and nephew!

Boy Cousin Fun, Part 2

On Saturday, I took the boys to our church for a "Kraisy Praisy" event. These events are specifically designed for preschoolers and families, so it was perfect for us! They had a big inflatable slide, bounce house, and snacks. It felt like the boys went down the slide 100 times; they absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, the slide moves too fast for pictures, but there was another special treat that slowed them down a little...sno cones! They both picked bubble gum flavor, which is, of course, blue! Here's Jake chowing down...

and Cohen...

I tried really hard to get a cute picture of them together. It's unbelievable how hard it is to get a picture of a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old. It's almost as if they temporarily go deaf during the process, therefore, unable to respond to any requests to look at the camera and smile. Unfortunately, I didn't get even one good picture, but for memory (and humor) sake I'll post my attempts...

In case you're wondering, they are eating popcorn. I thought the popcorn would be a motivator to sit still and listen, but it was ultimately a distraction...

Don't you wonder what Cohen is looking at? There must be something much better than the camera over my right shoulder...

Oh well, they still are two blue-faced cuties...

After a very active morning at the church, then pizza lunch with their daddies, these boys were pooped. They both fell quickly asleep in the car, which is normal for Jake, but not normal for Cohen. Cohen gave in about 5 minutes after telling me he wasn't tired ;-) What a great day!

Boy Cousin Fun, Part 1

It's high school boys basketball state tournament time again at our house, which means Kevin and the guys are off watching lots of b-ball. This year, Chad brought Cohen along too, and Jake and I are thrilled. The boys have been having so much fun together, and it's a joy for me to be able to witness and participate in the fun. Jake couldn't be happier to see Cohen when we came home from church on Wednesday night...

On Thursday, we met up with some friends to visit the Austin Nature Center. It was our first time there, and it's definitely a great, free place outing very appropriate for young ones...
They have one room where you're able to see and touch all sorts of cool things from nature. Here are the boys checking out some turtle shells...

I asked them to look at me for a picture, and this is what I got...

Here's our group for the day: Nash, Anderson, Cohen, Maizie, and Jake...

They have a great dino dig that the kids loved. What's not to love about a huge sand pit?

To top off all the cool things for the kids including animals and dino dig, it's really beautiful. There was a nice stream and trails to walk on. I'm sure it will look even more beautiful in about a month when things turn back to green...

After the Nature Center, we headed over to picnic near the Zilker playground, then we rode the Zilker Zephyr train. I did not get a good pic of the boys on the train. Here's the best I got; some proof that we actually rode the train...

Our attempt at a cute posed shot...

As I said, it was a joy for me to spend time with these two boys, and something that doesn't happen very often. More than anything, this melted my heart...

I promise I didn't even ask them to hold hands, they just did it. Such cousinly love. I think the boy variety of cousinly love also includes plenty of wrestling because there's also been lots of this happening at the house. They LOVE to tackle and wrestle. Boys will be boys, I guess...
Our first full day together was wrapped up with a much needed bath. A little bit of the dino dig definitely made it back to our house! They boys couldn't resist showing off their post-bath crazy hair!

A Playdate

Last Monday, Jake's friend Marley came over to play while her mom went downtown to talk to our State Representatives. While her Mommy was busy advocating for moms' rights, the kids had a blast together. Marley was exposed to lots of boys' toys, but we also had a lot of just plain ol' fun. She thought this megaphone made a nice hat... She also liked playing some music...

They played blocks nicely and quietly together for over 20 minutes...

We had a great morning. The kids play so well together and it was a lot of fun to see the differences in their personalities. We're so thankful for good friends...

The weekend

Now that it's almost the weekend, I'd thought I'd finally get around to posting about last weekend. Nana and Big T came down for a visit, and we had a birthday party to attend---there was lots of fun for all. The party was at Gattiland and Jake loved playing the games....Of course, basketball was a hit...A mini merry-go-round...I think Jake's favorite part of the party was teaming up with Levi in the games. They loved working and playing together...

Jake had lots of playtime with Nana and Big T. One thing he enjoyed was a boys' football game. It was fun to watch them running around the house. Down, set, hut...There was lots of laughing from everyone during the game. We're so glad you came to visit, Big T and Nana!

Basketball

During our cold spell, I did a series of posts about Jake's indoor activities. I never got around to one of his most important ones---basketball. Jake definitely loves basketball. I know everyone reading this who knows us must be thinking, "well, of course, Kevin's going to have him playing basketball." I want you to know, we don't encourage any sport or activity over the other. He has access to all types of toys and games, and Jake decides what he wants to play, and lately it's a lot of basketball. Of course, he is undoubtedly influenced by what he sees, and over the last few months he's been watching 1-2 high school basketball games every week. We'll have to wait and see what happens now that the season is over, but lately we are shooting lots of hoops... Jake likes to dunk, but he's also gotten very good at longer shots too...