After years of spoiling our children, witnessing countless tantrums and meltdowns,and experiencing only secondhand the joy of poopy diapers, our friends Brooke and Steven are welcoming a baby of their own. Awe...the fun that lies ahead! We can't wait.
Brooke & Steven's new blog
Well, the bunk beds are finally finished. Nate has a very laid back personality, but when it comes to woodworking he is quite the detailed perfectionist-every cut has to be perfect, every notch flawless, etc. Although it took us the entire month of September, I am thankful for his anal retentiveness as the beds are perfect. Will has been sleeping on the top for the last few nights, but tonight is Eli's first experience in a big boy bed. Kate is a little disappointed that she doesn't get to join in on the bunk bed fun, but Will promised to let her sleep with him on her birthday and that seemed to suffice. 
Well, our first attempt was unsuccessful. He managed to maneuver around the tape and chew through the gauze to win the victory prize of sucking his thumb. Tonight, we have tried taping mittens on his hands. When I went in to check on him, it looked like they were in tact and he was sound asleep. One small victory, but still a victory.
At first he liked it; then he realized that they were keeping him from his beloved thumb...not a big fan anymore.
We are officially trying to wean Eli of thumb sucking. With a mouth full of teeth, we felt it was time to let it go. Thus far, putting bitter and hot substances on his thumb has not phased him. We decided to try wrapping his thumbs in something that wouldn't be fun to suck on-this go around its athletic tape and a thick gauze. We'll see how it goes. It looks like he has little broken thumbs...so sad.
On a side note, Eli is already following in his father's footsteps. He loves to play the guitar and sing along...my little guitar hero. 
Friday night, we decided to play a little family football in the front yard. I told Will we were going to play, and he disappeared for about five minutes and came back in full hog uniform, helmet and all. Kate didn't quite get the concept of running with the ball-she preferred to hold the ball on her head and run around in circles until Will took her down. Eli was our official center. He would squat down by the ball and repeat us, saying.."down...set...hut-hut", then he would laugh and fall down. I can tell Nate misses getting to go full throttle and take people out; on more than one occasion, I was tackled at the knees and layed out on the ground. The linebacker in him is just couldn't show mercy on any of us. Will enjoyed the game the most and assured us that his team won because he was the fastest. All in all, it was a lot of fun. Both Will and Kate did however, have to run snake drills and do bear crawls for unsportsmanlike behavior on the field. Nate was having too much fun if you ask me. Nate was being so serious as he had us huddle up, take a knee and began the motivational speech, I was laughing so hard, I cried. He ended with a little "Brown!" on three. It was hilarious...Josh, if you need a linebacker coach (or hitting dummy) at Shiloh, I may know the man for the job! 
My mom asked me if I would cry on Will's first day. I confidently informed her that I would not- it wasn't any different than bringing him to her house each day. She smiled and said, "Oh, you'll cry." Well, as always, Mom was right. As we walked down the hall, he just looked so big. He was in his uniform, looking cool and tidy with his shirt tucked in, backpack on and lunch box in hand. Out of nowhere tears start welling up in my eyes. My little boy is growing up...its official. He was calm and collected as he went in his room and put his backpack up as if he had been doing it for years. He gave me a big hug, promised to make good choices, and said I could go. As I was walking out the door, he blew me a kiss and said, "I love you, Mom." I am not worried about him adjusting. I know that he will do great. He will love school. Its just hard to believe he's growing up...the last five years have gone by too fast. 
I'm sad to say we are back from California and slowly getting into the routine. We went nonstop the entire trip and haven't slowed down yet. The kids had a great time; each time we got in a car they asked if we were going to more "fun places?" People would ask them where they lived and this was Kate's reply,"Right now, we live in California but in a little while, we have to move back to Arkansas."
California is such a beautiful place-there is always something gorgeous to look at on the coast. Here were some of my favorite...
The cute little town of Tiburon
An old lighthouse (which I cannot remember the name)
Rodeo Beach
Monterey Bay
San Francisco Harbor
There are so many things for kids to do..
We went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum for Kids and spent half a day there. They had all kind of exhibits: a wave workshop, a harbor scene, a sunken pirate ship, sea island living area, Golden Gate bridge under construction, and the list goes on and on.
Will loved the life sized harbor scene where they had a boat he could steer and fish from, then reel the fish in and send them to the market. 
Kate loved all the animal exhibits and life in a coral reef.
Eli just liked getting wet and pulling levers in the wave workshop.
Just uphill (of course) from the apartment where we stayed in the seminary, there was a great playground with a beautiful view of the bay. The kids played there everyday while Mommy enjoyed the California breeze and scenary. It was perfect!
We went to a farmers market in San Raphael-we ate some great food, had some of the best white peaches and grapes and danced to the live music...lots of fun!
Anytime Kate didn't think anyone was looking, she would start dancing and twirling to the music. It was so cute.
We got to play on the Rodeo Beach one day. Notice we are on a beach and wearing sweatshirts...very chilly! The kids enjoyed just playing in the sand and Will and Nate braved the frigid temperatures and went for a quick dive.
We spent a couple of days in the city. The kids got to take a sailboat ride under the bridge, ride the cable cars and visit the sea lions at Pier 39.
Will and Daddy on the cable cars
Lombard Street...neat, but what were they thinking
Will and the crazy street entertainer that needs to get a real job
Aboard the "Adventure Cat 2"
Our last day, we went to Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We visited the aquarium, had the kids' faces painted, rode tons of rides and ate all the 75 cent corn dogs we wanted. A great finale to the trip!
Spidey Boy (Of all the neat designs they could do, Kate had to have a mermaid which turned out okay, but not cute enough to make the picture cut! :))
Hands on stuff is always a hit.
They loved the jellies.
Eli, of course, getting wet and sucking his thumb.
Looking out at Monterey Bay 
On the Boardwalk 
All in all, it was a fun, (chilly) trip!
Sorry for such a long post...too many pictures!
