2 Mom and Richard's Leica cameras did very well with the dark bamboo forest of Friendship Garden. This is the best shot I've seen of this part of the trail. Nice!
3 Snack time! Ben's appetite is coming back. He ate ALL of the snacks you see here. Sam had none, poor guy. Still really wiped.
4 Nice snack-time view!
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6 This was a little tricky to cross. I told Sam if he slid down, to just thrust his arms out and grab anything green. He'd be fine. We all made it across after digging foot-holds like you would in snow.
7 Ben is graduating from leash to harness. He is such a daredevil and hates to hold hands. I asked him if he liked the hike over dinner later and he said "Don't like wear "puppy" mommy". That's what we call the harness - his puppy harness (which it is). Well, then hold hands little guy!
8 Time for funny faces!
9 Here's Ben's - it's a whole-body move!
10 These pictures give you a good sense of the dense foliage around the trails here. Nice job, Leica camera (from Mom and Richard).
11 Some kind of berry that I've looked up a bazillion times...
12 Snack time with a view!
13 Ben hurls himself, this is not an overstatement, down the trail. Hence the harness.
14 Gramma time with the boys.
15 Mom and the boys having some cute time together :)
16 Hi Richard!
17 Talking about stuff, then filling the end of the sentence with jibberish when it gets too tiring to come up with grown-up words.
18 Sam cracking open a macadamia nut - he loves to do this.
19 Great cracking job, Sam! Last time he did this at home he managed to crack his toenail - right off! Poor guy. Hit his toe instead of the nut!
20 The next series shows Mom as Gramma - I don't capture enough of these special moments, so here's my attempt to remedy that!
21 Ben fed Gramma his snacks - yick she says! Doesn't want his germs! She still hasn't gotten sick, amazingly!
22 Gramma is a big favorite with the boys. Thankfully when she is gone in the summer, I become "cool" again :) Ha! Sort-of kidding. :)
23 Sam and Mom doing egg dying!
24 Sam still very tired...
25 Thanks Nana and PopPop for the Easter box!
26 Mom took the boys to the playground several times this particular week as I was sick AND buried in work. Thanks mom!
27 Look how high they go!
28 Ohhh...the face paint is still on. Story on that to come...
29 The morning started out funny. Ben tried on underwear, was doing great, then we looked over and saw this perplexed face as he stood in a large puddle. The series of pictures which follow do not need words :)
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31 But I DO love the footprints!
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33
34 Well, it was a grey day out so we need to brighten it up a bit. What about markers on the face? Sam can be a narwhal, mommy a dolphin, Gramma a...
35 Don't remember what Gramma was now! Ben is the cutest, though!
36 Decorating mommy some more.
37 Nostrils, too! Then we went out for a coffee and muffin and just kinda mixed things up in the town a bit, seeing what people would say. You meet some fun people this way!
38 Making cookies from SCRATCH! Yay for Gramma!
39 Mommy says "Any for me???"
40 Nice cookie baking, Sam!
41 Hmmmm...what's up with the house? Can you guess? We are doing the last BIG job before selling it. We expect to move in 12-18 months. Gotta get ready, AND enjoy it while we live here vs just before selling.
42 Thought you might enjoy these two playing together. They think they are "The Band" as in "Up on Cripple Creek"...
43 Out with Daddy in the morning. Mommy still not well. Ear infection!!! Can you believe it? Still have 40% hearing loss over a week later. (Fluid still in ear, but have energy back now.)
44 Sam is a big jumper, preferably off anything higher than his head. We set this up one day just to up the ante a bit. Watch the faces closely...
45 Whoa! Sam loves this funny face picture :) Look at Ben, too!
46 Sam jump - had it on sport mode. Now a big smile.
47 Cute "biscuits" Ben!!!
48 Love this one...how bad will he kill me in 15 years? Or will he like it?
49 Hi boys! Little cold?
50 Ben thinks the ball is a steering wheel :)
51
52 More playing...
53 Found a chance to visit the beach with da boys...beautiful day. It's really been a very cool winter, and relatively dry. Very strange.
54 Ben watching Sam carefully. He is eager to get a mask and snorkel of his own.
55 Throwing sand on daddy is VERY funny!
56 Mommy stiiiiillll tired. See these feet sitting? I didn't even snorkel this outing.
57 Look at funny-face guy after snorkeling for about an hour!
58 Another outing - to a mall! This is what daddy does when he gets to design a weekend (i.e. mommy too sick and tired to maneuver for an "epic" outing). Daddy and boys like to shop????!!! So cute, though!
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60 They also like to dress alike. Team Krug. Cute, isn't it? Now if we could just get Daddy in a red tank top :)
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62 This is another favorite thing to do - bike with Dad.
63 On the marsh trail a stone's throw from the house.
64 There they go!
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66 Sam harvesting some limes...
67 And catching a lizard.
68 This special bamboo pole which he brought back from the trail is perfect for getting limes. See the slot at the top?
69 Yeah...almost!
70 Then you just pluck it out of the top. Bamboo poles are segmented inside, so the lime doesn't fall down.
71 Ben likes this, too. See all the landscaping around the yard? Mommy and boys got really desperate to spruce while Dave was having a wild week working 18 hr days. We just dove in and got it done.
72 Out looking for lights to hang on the garage and deck, now that it is painted!
73 Boys enjoy shopping mischief. These are monkey bars, right?
74 Naughty boys! Come out of there!
75 Yeah, right mom!
76
77 The Ponzi scheme payoff! We found Richard's lens, then promptly lost it again, so Sam collected on it twice - first from mom, then from Richard! (Funny thing is I found it, then rehid it so Sam could find it and collect, but then Sam put it down somewhere and we couldn't find it again!)
78 Yeah! Love the color! Hamilton Blue, in case anyone would like to know :)
79 We will miss these days :)
80 We invested in new paint, gutters and a rain chain in preparation for a move sometime in the next 12-18 months. This was the final "phase" of renovation first begun with the deck a month after we moved in. I will have to put together some before and after pictures. The house really looks spiffy, and the new door from Mom and Richard (a Christmas present) looks beautiful!!!
81 Sam likes the sound of the rain chain! We rushed right out to hear it gurgle.
82 A visit to our tidepools at the turnaround point of our run. Sam looks like a giant crab crawling across the rocks.
83 Ben likes wearing goggles, no doubt thanks to the fine example of his big brother!
84 He's paddling around in these tide pools just like Sam did at this age when we first moved here. Time flies!
85 A new friend we happened to meet at the tide pools took this picture of mom helping take care of me while I peel Ben's orange for him :)
86 On our way to the beach - "Mommy, I carry my paddleboard!"
87 And now Richard acting as cabana boy for us :)
88 Where is Sam?! He bodysurfed for THREE hours! We all got into the action - I really caught a good one. it was fun! Dave and Sam bodysurfed for quite a while together. It was really fun to see my two big boys diving into the waves like dolphins as they returned to get another ride.
89 Ben is comfortable around the water - sometimes too much so. Have to keep a sharp eye on the dare devil!
90 Such a ham, strutting around!
91 Can you hear the squeal? And there's big brother Sam leading the charge out in the waves.
92 Even the clouds were perfect today.
93 Dave has hauled the SUP back up to the truck by now and is trying to round up the family to go get smoothies and a nap for Ben, but we aren't leaving very easily :)
94 "Perros! Perros!" Can you see Ben smiling at the doggies? That's perro negro in front, perro blanco and finally perro lento, all characters in a book he loves.
95 Tired tired Ben barely downing his smoothie, Sam being a ham, and sand all over these guys :) Happy morning :)