Spring is Here!

I could handle summer year round because it doesn't take long to adjust to the idea of the weather never changing, but spring in October has really thrown me for a loop! Plus, they don't do much for Halloween here so Christmas stuff is already popping up in the stores while we're packing sweaters away and thinking about shorts. It's so backwards. But I'm NOT complaining because the weather has been gorgeous...finally!! We're taking advantage of every opportunity to play outside.

Sunday afternoon was a picnic at King's Park. The boys had a great time throwing the big frisbee around and getting dirty.

Ben jumped around on these steps forever. It's the kind of thing an adult would look at and not think twice about but a kid sees endless opportunity to try walking, running, jumping, and crawling all over them.

Later in the week I took the boys to the playground and we ended up on the beach. I need to be more prepared for these outings because I'm beginning to find the beach all over our house...in the washer, the bathtub, the kids' sheets...and while I love the beach I prefer to leave it outside! It's worth it to let these guys enjoy themselves, though.

Yesterday we checked out Leighton Beach, just south of Cottesloe, and this time I brought sand toys and swimsuits. The kids had so much fun digging...

...and of course eventually ended up in the water. I did put them in their suits first but didn't take any pictures because I was too busy chasing after them. The water is still frigid but they didn't seem to mind. Alex kept running full force into the waves (but this is a great beach because the waves roll onto the sand for a long time and it's nice and shallow) and I finally let him go and get knocked onto his bottom by a wave. He was a little shocked and started crying, then wouldn't touch the water the rest of the afternoon. Much easier to wrangle that way! Ben was running, splashing, and rolling in the water. Pure joy on his part! He'll start swim lessons soon and hopefully be able to go a little deeper in the water.

We got a box from Aunt Stacey today!! Nothing says bliss to these two boys like extra blankies for Alex and a new electro-light for Ben. He immediately ran and got his old one and wouldn't put either of them down for the rest of the afternoon. It was like Christmas because I got a swimsuit and books I'd ordered and the kids got Halloween shirts and toys from Aunt Stacey. Thank you!!

Thank goodness for our baby gates but this just shows you that you can't keep this kid somewhere he doesn't want to be! Alex is very adept at going up and down the stairs forward and backward. I prefer him going down on his tummy but he likes to show me that he can do it like a big boy and put more gray hair on my head. This time I caught him doing it the right way!