Well we went camping this weekend with a group from our church, but we wussed out when we saw how small the campsites were and opted for a small cabin. Ours was called "buck". It was pretty cozy and especially made for old folks like us.
My photos loaded up completely out of order, but here we are later in the weekend (Monday) at the beach. Fun was had by all. We played pirates on this rock here (our ship), launching canonballs and waving swords around. Nolan and I went on a treasure hunt. Happy found small dogs to play with and Caleb ran straight for the water every time we put him down.
Here is our Happy girl. She's three months old now and very cute. She's getting pretty big now too.
I got one up on Britney Spears and decided to let the kids go ahead and drive. Caleb is still a bit small, but when the boys work together they can get pretty far.

Here's the group. The poor guys that volunteered to take photos had to use about 8 different cameras.
Caleb washed off the skateboard with a bit of sand from the volleyball pit.
Nolan was excited about the hot chocolate and marshmellows I promised him. He basically whined all weekend and made the trip miserable, but we were able to get at least one smile.
He was very into his flashlight and binoculars all weekend, but took some time off to play with some other boys on the skateboard.

I had to take this photo of Caleb in this cute little red outfit. Nolan wore it a couple of years ago. Time flies by!

Just like his big brother, Caleb has gotten into the Little Tykes car. He doesn't play in it as much as Nolan did, but he does like it. In general, his favorite thing to do is find whatever he can to throw into bushes or puddles. I find many interesting things when I'm weeding or after the rain dries up. He's also very into dirt and rocks of course. The boys still seem to be enjoying their slide and the train set too. I need some things for the kitchen set. They play there for a minute, but get bored and knock it over on most days.
Nolan has mastered the three year old stance and matching bossy voice. I'll call this photo "the supervisor". He was telling me about the new house and foundation here.
Dad built an awesome treehouse for us in the redwood clump. It's much more amazing than I imagined. He also framed in a large deck below on a stump. We have to finish painting the inside and put the plywood on the deck. I also want to add a slide/swings, cargo net etc . It's a work in progress but the boys love it already.
We've been having some rain lately but we've also had some sun and our friends Cole, Carson and Amanda got to come play for awhile the other day.
Here is the tree house after we stained it.
We've still been doing a lot of clearing and burning. This area will be the new play area for the kids once we get it cleaned up. I moved the sandbox over here ,but need to put down fabric and landscape.
Nolan helped out with moving some wood around. He loaded most of that into the bobcat.

Dad scrounged around the property for lumber so the project barely cost us anything. We weren't able to help him much so he had to do most of the work all by himself.

Caleb is growing fast. He's got a lot of words now. His first sentence was "Mommy no hat!" or it may have been "No Happy!" when Happy jumps all over him and knocks him over. His favorite words are "up, down, out, ball, and choo-choo"

We are still having a lot of fun playing in the dirt. We had to put a temporary fence up between the trailer and house project since dogs and boys were falling into the footings and playing with all the stuff.
Our friend Sean is moving, but he was able to come over and play for a bit as his parent were packing. Him and Nolan played in the dirt in the bit and played with trains the rest of the night.

Something is wrong with my camera lens, but we took a few photos mothers day. We went to the park in the morning after Loren made a great breakfast. We played and then I went with a friend for a great massage and lunch!

Caleb and Nolan have really been having a good time with all the parks around here and the fun toys!

We got our building permit and we've started! Nolan was so excited the first morning the tractor was here. We've got the footings dug and the forms up and they should pour on Saturday, but I think it'll rain in the meantime.


Both of the boys are very excited about the giant dirt pile we've created
Caleb and daddy have been getting a little TV time together
Happy loves to bug poor Ozzy until he nips her, at which point she yelps for a minute or two and comes right back for more!

Spring is definately here. We've been enjoying a lot of blooms. The azaleas, rhodis and huckleberries are all out. Apple, cherry and pear trees are in bloom, and my favorite, the magnolia has come out too! Very pretty!

Our big project in the yard lately is this redwood tree clump. An old burned out redwood produced a few suckers in a ring that have grown pretty large. There are two stumps at different heights for a fort/treehouse so hopefully grandpa will come down and help us build it. For now we're clearing out old duff/branches and some garbage (tin cans/glass and old toys). I've had to tear down the old fort because there were nails sticking out and rotten wood and the boys were attracted to it. It's a fun place to play and still visible from the main yard. I'm making circular beds around it with paths to run around.
Dad's been working hard on a fence on the east side. We had to work hard to clear the brush out, but the fence is looking nice.
There's the fence and part of the tree house.

The day is generally not complete without an easter egg hunt. It's been quite a ritual sinc easter. The yard and house have a number of random plastic eggs. Some were gifts and some we bought for 90% off after Easter. I'll hide goldfish crackers, pennies, snack or other small things in them and some I'll leave empty and I hide them around the yard. I'm making it more difficult and Nolan likes it. He's starting to hide them for me too.

We've been getting the secret garden cleaned out and someday we'll get to fill the pond up!
More easter eggs!
Caleb loves to color and sidewalk chalk is a great tool for him. Nolan never colored much but Caleb has to color at least once a day. He'll usually do it on things you'd rather he didn't color on unless you give him something you don't mind him drawing on.
I've been trying to wear a hat more to protect my face from the sun and with all the time outside I've gotten to keep it on most of the day. It's about all I have that Happy hasn't chewed on. To date she's chewed on about 20 tee-shirts, 8 shoes, 25 of the kids toys, 6 gloves, 2 dog beds, a boot warmer, an inflatable from, drip irrigation line, two rugs plus the carpet, a water nozle, 7 books, lots of feet and hands.....well, you get the picture. At least she's cute and doing well with the house training.

Skate and slide fun! The sun is back for awhile and we've been having a good time. I splurged and got some toys for the kids like a small pool, wetsuits and water slides. I also got a used slide and kitchen set. The greatest fun is still the skateboard though, which gets pushed around the yard and ridden down the barn ramp. Good things since dad's too old to ride it! =)
Caleb likes to stand on it too and here the boys are sharing some goldfish crackers together on it.
Even Happy thinks it's great!

The used slide was immediately placed in the kiddy pool and provided lots of fun screaming down it for hours.
Still sliding!