Poop or pine cone?

Cole picked this up and we were convinced it was some poop but luckily it was a pine cone that was wet.

Side gate fun

The wood in our side gate was starting to break off. It didn't help that the kids would ride their bikes into the slats and even broke off a piece. So I got some quotes to have the wood replaced by a handyman and they ranged from $200 up to $425. A little more than I was expecting so I decided to do it myself with some help.


Here I removed the wood slats, sanded any major rust spots, and then repainted with some spray paint. This is after I taped and covered the area. One piece of advice. If you want to keep your hands and arms clean, wear disposable gloves and a long sleave shirt.


Here's the synthetic fence wood I picked up at Lowes. Hopefully I won't ever have to paint or stain these or replace them for that matter. Our local Home Depot and Lowes carry the same synthetic wood slates but Lowes has this darker color and a red cherry while Home Depot only has the red cherry. My neighbor fortunately has a very nice table saw and even offered to cut the wood while I was at work. All I had to do was let him know the measurements and then pick them up later. Now that's a neighbor.


Here's the finished project. I bought new bolts at Home depot and the kids helped me install the pieces. All I had to do was drill the holes for the bolts.

Cousins 2014

Justin and Caroline came for a visit back in April. So we naturally took them to Butterfly Wonderland since Arizona is known for its butterflies. :) Here the kids are posing before heading into the 3-D movie on Monarch butterflies.


Justin and Caroline showing off their pearly whites.


Lauren and Caroline are trying to pet one of the stingrays. It must have gotten close.


Caroline demonstrating one of her katas.


Justin doing one of his medal winning ones. Okay maybe not but it still looked cool.

World Cup 2030

In honor of Tim Howard's performance in the World Cup today, I thought I'd post about our own little goalie. In Lauren's second attempt at soccer, she took a liking to playing goalie. Maybe it was because she didn't have to run around but overall she was quite good at it. Here you can see her tracking the ball.


Action shot of her making a save.


She was the game MVP. And yes they did get trophies at the end of the season.


Just to be fair so I don't have to hear "It's not fair!" when they are finally old enough to look at this blog, here's a shot of Cole in action. Also note, soccer was back in the spring when the temperature was much cooler.