Summer Activities

Last week, I hosted a Summer Activities Link-up with 7 other bloggers. It was so much fun seeing all of the great activities linked up over the week, and I'm anxious to try a few with the little guys this summer!  Below is a list of all the ideas that were linked up over the week (thanks to Keri for putting it all together). Thank you all who linked up with us! We loved having you at the party. Make sure and check out these links to read more about these great activities.

~ Easy to Prepare Activities ~ Learning With Bugs ~ Pine Cone Bird Feeder ~ 19 Free or Cheap Things To Do ~ 10 Summer Fun Activities ~ Summer Bucket List ~ Summer Fun Calendar ~ Summer Activities Jar ~ Chalk Paint ~ Parks & Picnics ~ Backyard Camping ~ Planting With Kids ~ Baked Zucchini Chips ~ Summer Birthday Party Ideas ~ Frozen Cool Whip Sandwiches ~ Ice Chalk ~ Toys, Ice, Hammer Fun ~ Summer Binder

Thanks again for sharing your ideas!

Picnic

Jeremy came home from work on Friday with a bag full of picnic supplies and a plan to go roast some hot dogs along the creek.  As we were getting everything ready, though, the wind picked up majorly. So, we decided to keep it a little closer to home...in the back yard.

The boys gathered up some blankets.

 Then they had a Cheeto fest while Jeremy grilled the hot dogs.

(Those scratch marks - well, Peter pushed Carter to his very small limits.  Carter quickly transformed into Wolverine mode and tried to scratch off Peter's forehead.  Brilliant.)

This little guy is walking now!  About half the time it's a crawl and the other half a walk - progress.

After a hot dog or two, we moved the party inside for some s'mores.

It was really low key, but in Carter's eyes it was "da best picnic ever!"

They are lucky to have such a fun dad!

Branding 2014

Yesterday we branded our small herd of cattle.  We're one baby calf away from all of the moms having calved, so we'll have to catch that one later.  The boys were excited to come watch all of the "cowboys" do their work.

Helping Elley as they sorted the babies from the mommas. 

John Paul didn't quite get in on the action, but he was pretty content just watching for awhile...

Deciding which ones we wanted to keep for bulls...

Then the boys got distracted by the tools.

I asked them to put their arms around each other for a picture.

But, they had "work to do" over at the water tank.

Elley getting all of the medicine ready.

Uncle Chase and a friend waiting to flank.

Our little babies.

Papa dragging.

The crew at work.

Carter evaluating what was going on.

"Hmmm, what do I mell?"

"Been ranchin' long?"

Peter's calf.

And, a little horseplay at the end.

John Paul not too happy on Uncle Chase's horse.

Finally, getting all the meds put back and calling it a day.

Only a few hundred more to go, but branding season has officially begun!