The brothers form a fan club

In case you haven't noticed, Van and Zak LOVE being brothers. From the moment they first met, they connected in a way that continues to amaze me every day. I always find it amusing when people ask me if they are "real" brothers. This is about as "real" as it gets...they play, they fight, they care, they help each other, they hurt each other and they laugh...alot. And they will always have each other and that means more to me as a mom than anything.
On our amazing vacation, they got to spend an entire week with their 2nd cousin, Kyle and Alec. Oh can you say fan club...Van now pretends to be older brother Kyle and Zak is Alec in all our games around the house. Every morning at the beach, the first thing they wanted to do was wake up the "big brothers". "Where are the big brothers?", "can we go find the big brothers?", "are the big brothers going to the beach/pool/bike ride?" Every time we go somewhere now at home, they ask "will the big brothers be there?". Kyle and Alec...who btw are awesome, kind, funny and caring boys could not be any better role models for our two little imitators. They have a fan club for life.

More beach fun...

No "Nakie" at the Beach

It's official...these two boys can go for one full week without running through the house naked! Our beach vacation rule was "no nakie at the beach" and it worked. Of course their attire consisted mainly of swimsuits and PJs but heck it wasn't just undies so that was a win for everyone. We had a truly fabulous vacation filled with sunshine and sand, great meals and birthday celebrations, relaxing time and lots of laughs. The list of things the boys did on vacation is endless.

They fished...no hooks of course, they swam in the ocean, they tried boggie boards, they dug and dug and dug in the sand, they collected shells, they built a sand city and then took great pleasure in destroying it, they went down the pool slide about 100 times...each, they learned to cannonball into the pool, they rode bikes on an island with only golf carts for traffic, they rode a ferry boat and golf carts, they swung from a giant tree swing, they saw 10 "wild animals" per their count...actually one alligator and one snake and best of all they spent days on end with wonderful family. Their two awesome cousins-Kyle and Alec were truly the highlight of the trip for them. They followed the big brothers everywhere and soaked up every second of boy time they could.  To say they loved our beach vacation just begins to tell their story. Tonight they asked if they could go back to school so they could tell all the friends about their beach trip. Lots and lots more photos to come...

"Mow Lawn" haircuts according to Zak

We let them pick a haircut and this is what we got...
They LOVE LOVE LOVE em and Zak is working on his correct pronunciation. And as usual, clothing optional but gloves are always a nice accessory.

The boy version of an art project

Apparently it's a requirement that all art projects at our house turn into mess projects. But the fun and the giggles that went along with it made it all worth the glorious mess. Clay from their volcano science project became mud for a window mural and some body painting. Long live the sprinkler as a shower this summer!!

Watch out Bobby Flay...

never too many cooks in our kitchen when they are this stinkin cute!

Endings and Beginnings

I am still getting my head around the fact that Van has finished preschool. Watching him grow and change and mature is a true joy. We also just finished our first successful tee ball season. Once again we saw him grow and learn and gain confidence in his abilities. And now we begin a new season...my favorite, summer. We are outside all the time. Van is riding his new big boy two wheel bike. He graciously passed down his tiny training wheels to lil brother. Zak immediately retired the trike for a chance to ride like a big boy. Tomorrow we start swimming lessons and summer camps. Summer was our first season at home with Van. We have so many wonderful memories of those first days and months. And now with great joy we get to show Zak a first summer. Not surprising to anyone, he is ready to soak up the sun and the fun.