Morning at the park

Just behind the mall lies a very well kept secret. It's called the Crossings Park. It's in a small neighborhood, connected to other neighborhoods by nice trails, has a pavilion, playground, and plenty of space to ride bikes. Last Friday, we decided to load up our bikes and take them with us for a morning at the park. We were the only ones there, as usual, and enjoyed another low-key morning before Cash started to school.

They played for awhile, then had fruit leather for a mid-morning snack.

They love these, and I was able to catch them on sale not too long ago, so I love them, too!

Less than a week until this big boy starts preschool. *sigh*

Like I said, there are plenty of sidewalks (level, too!) for both the boys to enjoy their bikes.

B decide to forgo his shoes, as always, and started running around the sidewalk loop instead of biking. Hey, whatever makes him happy, right?

It was a race to the finish!

He was getting a little silly, too!

B had been eyeing big brother's bike and finally got his chance to try it out. He did great! I was so impressed, and I'm thinking Cash will be needing a bigger bike by next year, so this may just become B's bike.

Of course, we did have plenty of time to play on the playground, too. Cash monkeyed on the monkey bars ...

while little B checked out my camera. What a face!

He did some swinging, too, but the slides were getting too hot to play on.

Cash has officially mastered the fireman's pole, and thinks it's the best thing in the whole world. What a very fun morning at the park with my two boys!

Salsa!

The weekend of August 4-5th, was Heath's weekend to make his salsa. He didn't get to make a lot last year, so he was ready to put in long hours to replenish his stash, and, of course, he always shares with family and friends. 

The boys and I had picked up the tomatoes and some tabasco peppers for him earlier in the week, but he also had lots of cowhorn peppers from our garden that he was going to use, too. He started Saturday afternoon blanching, cutting and chopping. By Sunday night, he had it all made and canned it all. 

Lovely red tomatoes - not as good as the ones from Chandler Mt., but they were good.

These are tiny tabasco peppers, the only hot peppers we could find this year.

This empty tub would eventually be filled to the brim with salsa!

Here it is - before the process began.

Cash was more than willing to help, and Heath reported that he was an actual help this year. Here he is stirring the mixture.

This is where he was a big help. Heath would peel the tomatoes and slice them. Then Cash would put them in the chopper. Heath could barely keep up.

Baylen, on the other hand, had fun with the chopper, but wasn't as focused and only stayed with it for a few minutes.

Lots of empty jars and two happy Doggetts.

Here's the canning process. Heath uses his big safety gloves so he won't have to constantly be reaching for pot holders. After many, many years of this, he's got his process down to an art.

Gran-Granny's idea

On August 2nd, the boys and I headed to Roseville to get some tomatoes for our annual salsa-making weekend that was fast approaching. My Granny had found some Amish that had some tomatoes at a good price, so we picked her up and then headed down the road to get the tomatoes.

The boys had slept during the ride from Bowling Green, but when we arrived they were ready to explore everything on this farm. Cash was busy checking out the rooster and chickens, while B was sticking closer to Granny but seemed interested in what was in the backyard. Oh, yes, it had rained quite a bit that morning, and there were some nice sized puddles in the yard. 

So what did Granny do? She did what any great-grandmother would do, of course. She pulled Baylen's boots off him and they both went splashing through the puddles. From one puddle to the next, they hit them all, with Balyen laughing the entire time.

He started off slow at first...

and then turned it up and went full speed into the ankle-deep water.

Cash was still checking out the chickens roaming around the yard, but he soon joined in.

He, too, started off slow, but ended up jumping from the sidewalk into this deeper puddle.

They had a blast! We ended up sticking around for a bit while they picked some more peppers for us. Notice the little girl on the back porch watching them. It was just one little one at first, but my boys soon drew a crowd. None of them joined in though. Oh, no, this fun was just for two little boys and their Gran-Granny!

Going for a climb...

To say that my boys love to go to the park is a HUGE understatement. There are many, many parks in Bowling Green, and it's safe to say that we've been to all of them multiple times. Just recently though, Basil Griffin has become their absolute favorite (it used to be the park at the soccer complex on Lovers Lane). Over the past year, Basil Griffin has been updated. Out with the old play things and in with some new things, including a "spider web," "climbing jacks," and two "dizzy seats." (All named by Cash.)

They have also installed a huge boulder right outside the playground area, and the boys have been begging to try it out. Being the mom that I am, I decided that it would be best if we came one evening to climb it with daddy. Smart thinking on my part, right? I just knew I would feel more comfortable with my two little guys climbing up a huge rock if we could do one on one instead of me being outnumbered.

So after supper on August 1st, we drove over to Basil Griffin to show daddy that "huge rock" and attempt to reach the top together.

Cash didn't waste any time. He grabbed hold and began to shoot right up the side.

Before long, he was at the top waiting for daddy and B.

Heath decided to go up the not-so-easy side, barefoot.

Not sure what Cash was pointing to here, but he was so, so excited that he was on top of that big boulder with daddy.

And last up was my little B. He required a bit more help, but tried very hard to do most of it himself. 

They made it! Looks like we need to take some little boys to Climb Nashville. :)

Harvest

All picked the morning of July 31st

Purple striders 5k

Purple Striders 5k

July 28th

Karalee, Amy and I had been working hard for six weeks, and it paid off with our first 5k here in BG. I finished in 32 minutes, and they were standing there cheering me on when I crossed the line. (In other words, they were ahead of me.) Yay, for us though!

Shortly after we finished, all three daddys came packing in the five kiddos. What a fun morning!

Science Center fun

Each time we go to Louisville to see Kathy, we try to add something fun for the boys to the trip. (But I will have to say that they do have a fair amount of fun playing with the toys at Kathy's office!) We have a membership at the science center in downtown Louisville and since it was a hot day, we decided to take the boys there to play before heading home. They also have a traveling exhibit there that I wanted to check out.

The boys saw the train on the bridge and wanted to go see. (Scary enough, right behind them is a huge drop off right to the river. Notice they were holding Heath's hands.)

We didn't get to play with the fun mirrors on the way in last time we visited because it was very cold. This time, the boys got a pretty big kick out of it, and I was able to take a pic of all of us in it.

Myself, included.

So tall!

Yes, Heath was on his phone some, but he was super busy this week. He even had to send off some info right after we got to the science center. He found a quiet place in the cafe while the boys and I headed to the the little kids play area.

They love this "ambulance." Sirens, a phone, steering wheels and flashing lights - perfect for little boys!

There's so many different areas for the kids to run and explore - all of the activities seem to really challenge all the senses.

These two pictures of B are from the airplane area. There's ramps, tunnels, slides - you name it simulating an airplane. They love it!

Of course, my lil' man always spends some time in the work zone.

But not for long, because it's right next to the water area, and as soon as they spot it, both boys grab rain jackets and get their hands wet!

This little guy usually gets more than just his hands wet. :)

They love it here, and on this particular day, they were the only ones around, so we stayed forever!

Cash really started figuring out which pieces to use to really make the water move fast. He had pipes and hoses all tied together - pretty impressive engineering!

This guy was more into scooping and pouring ... until he figured out how to turn the main water valve on and off. Then we had to leave ... :)

We had fun in the kids area, but Heath finished his work and it was time to go check out the new exhibit - Science in Play

A new way to use pool noodles!

The boys loved it! (But be careful that you don't run into someone!)

Cause you never know who may be playing in there! :)

Baylen loved this - it was like a Hot Wheels track, only you released a ball at the top and watched it make the loops. The hard part was getting the ball back after it finished the course!

B did this over and over again!

Meanwhile, Cash was playing with the huge tinker toys and blocks.

Engineer in the making!

Or maybe he'll just be a demo man!

This was a huge magnetic wall that you could stick kitchen things to. It startled B at first because it would pull the pans away from you and to the wall. It was a strong magnet (and of course, Heath was trying to figure out how it was working...)

B did some relaxing on the blue blocks before he and Heath checked out the wind tunnel.

They had one of these at the Magic House in St. Louis, but B was too little to remember it. You stick scarves and puffy balls in the hose and the air moves it around it and then sends it flying out. He loved it!

Dancing in the lights!

The hands-on science activity of the day taught kids the importance of snot. The sheet we were given told the health benefits and jobs of mucus. They were given a tray of "boogers" to play with.

They touched it, moved it around, picked it up, but ...

they were not impressed.

So we went shopping for shapes!

They picked up lots of different shapes, put them in their carts, and then came to check out. We had fun with it, until my boys got tired of it, and there was a line at the check-out counter. :) 

We made some huge bubbles - and popped them!

Played in the wind tunnel (no, we didn't actually pay for the wind part), and then we headed for the exit right before closing time. Shew!

We walked across the street to show the boys the huge Louisville Slugger bat, and then loaded up in the car for BG. Wow, what a day!