Flurry of Activity

A flurry of activity is what I'm calling this little stage in our lives.  We're not quite at "snowing" and I definitely can't call this a "blizzard."  Flurry sounds about right.

With #2 quickly approaching, we are quickly trying to get things accomplished.  Also, Burl has dropped his first nap for the most part, so there is more awake time to spend with him-or sometimes figure out how to occupy him.  A trip to Home Depot becomes an adventure where Burl gets to sit on the riding lawn mowers and play.  Making drinks for cooking club becomes Burl gets to cook time.  And so on and so on, 

Because more than most times, he's right there with us, helping us.

Since my taste and desire to decorate doesn't quite match our budget, we find ourselves in the world of DIY.  Do It Yourself.  In preparing the nursery, we have to clean out a room-relocate our office area, so naturally I get John to build a desk and my brother to build a bookshelf.  

It's how we roll. 

We're also learning to roll with the punches.  Burl draws on the wall, and we laugh, take pictures and get excited because now we have our "remember that time he drew on the walls" story.  One day, we can put it with the "he gave himself a haircut" story." Seriously, joke's over now.  That spot has grown.  Burl has turned a one-time-oops into a regular go-to spot whenever he gets a pencil or crayon in his hands.  

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me several times in the past week, well, that's just sad.

For all the work we're doing, I'm trying to match it with fun adventures for Burl.  We revisited the duck pond.  The one from my childhood.  The one that now has a Walmart across from it.  

Things didn't go too well this time.  We stepped in way too much duck poo and found the wildlife to be a bit aggressive.  

I showed up with our regular dose of bread to feed them, and they got way too close for comfort.  Eventually, we packed it up and left.  There's something uncomfortable about being surrounded by Walmart-ducks trying to fight for the next piece of bread-only to find myself holding Burl and quacking back while continually stepping on a ripe pile of crap.  Literally.  

Not cool, mother nature. 

One day we had Burl's cousins over for a bit which is the same thing as Burl Heaven.  He was stoked.  We went to a new playground just two blocks from our house where we found a slide perfect for Burl to do solo.  Wild, static hair and all.  

For the record, we walked there.  Me + 2 toddlers + 2 kids + one single stroller = adventure.

My Bob Revolution held up nicely.  It could handle all four, but did best with just two toddlers and just one kid.  I can only imagine the sight we were walking down the street.  It was the most exciting two blocks of my life.

Group shot.  I told them to do silly faces and this is what I got.  Doesn't it look like an album cover?  Or maybe they are about to pop into song and dance and a big yellow bird is going to jump out from behind the tree and tell the what words start with the letter "m."

Now, it's Burl's nap time, so I better get back to work on project #8590231.  Wait, is that my lower back talking to me?  Guess I'll have to rest for a bit instead...