Baleen!

Grandpa Bill came back from Alaska with something unexpected -- baleen from a beluga whale! It felt like a hairy fingernail.

Stargazing

We made it to one of the Star Parties OMSI puts on at Stub Stewart State Park...but we were woefully unprepared. It was so hot last night we had the air conditioning running all night, but tonight at the star party? We were freezing!

The boys got a star chart and peeked through telescopes to see Saturn and a twin star. And then, they had to head home. I should have dressed them in something other than shorts and UO jerseys! I packed a sweatshirt, but coats would have been good. Anyway, they were pleased to get to stay up so late, and want to do it again...with blankets and hot cocoa.

Summertime is Fun Time!

Hayden is wicked good at catching frogs.

The boys have decided that the bucket we'd been using to corrall their bats and balls is their swimming pool - we can't find theirs...it may have made an early trip into the storage unit.

Grace was simply adorable today.

Keeping Busy

Bayley got a Spy Kit for his birthday...he quickly fingerprinted Hayden so he can tell if Hayden touches his stuff...I doubt most mothers photograph their child's first finger printing...

Since Bayley is at Camp Invention, Hayden has been bored so we went to OMSI. Grace was really into it since everything is at kid height. This was her first try at playdough.

It's HOT!

This is the boys' favorite way to cool off.

Happy Birthday, Hayden!

Our baby boy is 6! It's amazing how quickly the time has flown by.

Hayden enjoyed his time as birthday boy, choosing what we did and when we did it all day long. That meant pancakes for breakfast, Wii & Sponge Bob, McDonald's for lunch, and dinner at Chevy's so he could get a song and a sombrerro.


Then it was time for fireworks! The neighborhood gathered and Hayden shared his cupcakes with everyone. The kids played with sparklers until the sun went down, then we watched the Costco fireworks collection and tried to guess where people were shooting off the illegals. A perfect 4th of July.



Tomorrow Hayden's birthday celebration continues with his Chuck E Cheese party!

Happy Birthday, Bayley!

Our big boy is 8! As the birthday boy, he got to do whatever he wanted...and he wanted to play Wii and his new Nintendo DS. We managed to get him out for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes and the park. He loved having everyone sing to him at Red Robin.

Bayley wanted a big boy Lego party - no little kids allowed! Daddy made it happen by hiding upstairs with Hayden & Grace while Bayley and his friends went to town on Legos!

I can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Big Day

The boys got quite the birthday gift from Grandma & Grandpa - CASH! Hayden wanted to go shopping within an hour of opening his card. Once Bayley got paid for his first job (feeding the neighbors dog while they were on vacation) he was just as eager to shop.

Bayley has been saving for Nintendo DS for a year. Around the holidays we decided if he came up with half the money, we'd make up the rest (because it's a long way to go on $2 a week). We never really anticipated the kid would get a windfall in 24 hours... He picked out his DS (blue) and got in on a deal for a game (New Super Mario Bros.). The store had a buy 2 get 1 deal, so he bought a game (Lego: Battles) with the cash he had left and Mom & Dad kicked in for the other game (Mario Party) so he could get one free (Mario Kart). He clutched the bag to his chest and looked up at me, his eyes wide and said "This is the best day of my life so far." Made me wish I'd bought him the thing months ago. But then, he might not have been so excited...

Not to be outdone, Hayden took his money to the toy section. He decided he had to have some Bakugan . I'm still not sure what the deal is with these toys...are they a game? marble transformers? Either way, he's completely outfited. He has a case and a half dozen of them.

First Week Of Summer

It was a busy one! Football camp, golf camp, picnics, tadpoles, birds nests, potential raccoon debauchery, and Grace wound up with a nasty virus. She was out of it for 3 days with a fever.

We were so busy I wasn't really shocked to discover the memory card on the camera was full. Since I was at football camp at the time, I wanted to do a quick purge in case something interesting happened...but our card was filled with some not so camera-worthy things...like Hayden's shoes.

Football was a big hit with the boys. It was fun to watch the different ways they approached the game - Bayley trying to be a general and work with a strategy, Hayden figuing if he was simply faster, he'd get where he was going.

Grace was the cheerleader, wanting to be on the field with her brothers. The camp was right at her nap time, so she truly was a trooper.

Up next week? Birthdays and parties!

Golly What A Day!!

Football camp...Golf camp where the kids learned how to play a hole from start to finish...a park pizza party...and an evening catching tadpoles and examining birds nests...all in a days work for a Burke Brother (and Gracie too, minus the tadpoles and birds nests)

A picnic with the baby girlfriends. They dined on pizza, blueberries, cheese doodles, greens puffs, watermelon and cupcakes. Grace was filthy, Sara was a mess, and Katelyn? Neat as a pin. Oddly, I think she ate the most...she really is her mother's daughter!

Tadpoles the boys played catch and release with in Damien's Pond. Bayley did a frong unit in 1st grade, but he's forgotten what tadpoles eat...

2 birds nests from the trees out front. Damien got them down so the boys could look at them up close. This year Bayley did a bird unit, so he told us all about how birds make their nests...with spit.