July 4 with the Brigade . . .

July 4 fell into the middle of the week this, but that didn't stop the Milam men from making the most of the day . . . we were packed with activities from dawn to dusk and had an incredibly memorable family day . . .

For reasons we neve quite understood, the boys' school was open for July 4 . . . here are the boys, awaiting pickup, showing their patriotism after an elaborate "parade" around the school grounds.



While Daddy and Noel enjoyed lunch upstairs in the playroom with television, Ethan opted for his own "show," electing to have his lunch solo watching the washing machine spin clothes.  100% his idea.

Here we are at the boys' first official movie in the theater, Monsters University.  We were all disappointed to find that we picked a theater where the seat springs were heavier than our 40 lb boys . . . hence the "booster" set and edge sitting in an attempt to compensate.

Officially an hour into the movie - Ethan perfectly perfectly perched, fully engaged, feeding himself popcoron one kernal at a time.  Noelly, on the other hand, gave up on the perching and decided alternating between the laps of Daddy and Pai worked better for him.

After a long swim, here we are enjoying a traditional July 4 family dinner - BBQ.  Not cquite sure who Noelly is making eye contact wiith in the corner. Great end to a lovely day.

Muddy Puddles!

One of their favorite shows at the moment is Peppa Pig about a precocious British Piglet whose favorite activity is jumping in muddy puddles. It was a rainy Spring day and we decided to walk down to the church and find some muddy puddles of our own.

They weren't sure what to think when I gave them total freedom to get soaking wet and jump in the puddles:



They were even more surprised to see Pai jump in on the action:




And, of course, the next day we revisit the puddle and I tell them they can't jump in it, so they find a loop hole.  To be fair, they weren't getting in the water as I'd instructed:

Carefree and shirtless

Earlier in the spring, we rented a plot at a garden down the road from us as a project for the boys.  They were excited to help dig in the earth and plant some seeds. 

 

A couple of times a week, we head down, check out the plants and water the plants.  The boys love it and are really getting in touch with nature.

 

One unseasonably warm day, Ethan "accidentally" sprayed Noel with the hose.  Without a back-up shirt, Noel embraced one of the upsides of being a guy and went shirtless.  Ethan, of course, followed suit and they spent the afternoon exploring and being boys:

 

 

The bikes and scooters aren't super mobile on the thick grass, so Ethan makes do:

 

A new playground at the church has become their new favorite adventure:

Noel saw a spider web and decided to come back down:

Creative painting

The boys are really into painting right now.  Their skills have gotten better over the past few months evolving from painting blobs on paper and telling us what they are into them telling us what they're painting before hand and there being a resemblance (reference Noel's "Lots of Sharks" and Ethan's "Thunderclouds with Rain").

Check out some of their earlier work below.  It's strategically cropped as Noel found himself to be more "inspired' without pants on:

Then the boys revisited a medium they always find hilarious - our faces:

Spring with the boys...

We'd just finished swim class one Spring afternoon and while walking back to the car, the boys stumbled upon some dandelions.

It's one of those videos I innocently captured, but after watching it, realized how it perfectly captured the boys in an unabashedly happy moment.  Who doesn't like blowing dandelions on a warm afternoon while enjoying a lollipop?

I imagine this is a video I'll watch on a loop after the boys are grown up and gone.  In the dark.  With Kleenex.  And Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  And Queso.  And Cake.... 

The Boys Cathcing on Quickly

The boys got their bikes and scooters around the same time this year.  I think we expected a longer learning curve in being able to ride these around the neighborhood, but they took to them in no time.

It was also interesting to see our historically "watch and see" Noel join in Ethan's "Figure It Out" mentality and bravely jump on, fall off, and get back on.  Before we knew it, Noel was teaching Ethan how to use the brake on the scooter - "Look Ethan, do it like this" as well as teaching him his favorite trick the "Get Low" where he'd try and get his knee to touch the ground while the scooter was still in motion.

A few shots and videos below of the boys riding around the beighborhood:

Ethan taking an early lead on the scooter while Noel is working on the balance bike:

Noel catching up to us:

A different day, but the usual result.  They get tired of riding and I have to carry the bikes back while they happily hold hands:

 

And lastly, a cute video of the boys riding their scooters one Friday afternoon.  Ethan's closing phrase is curtosy of  Uncle Ronnie:

 

Europe Extravaganza! Ethanol Caregiving Part 2: Avo and Uncle Ronny

(More spring . . . err summer of 2016 cleaning of old blog entries that were never finished/published.  For tonight's installment, we go back to May of 2013 when Dad and Pai had taken Gramma and Papa to Europe and Avo & Ronny helped with the boys . . .) 

The second shift of our caregiving rotation was filled by the uber experienced tandem of Uncle Ronnie and Avo, who have filled the majority of our travel support rotations over the past three years.  The boys clearly had a ball, as expected, with some of the most adorable pics/videos that we've been able to publish over the years . . .

Avo's homemade magic wands, which the boys used to cast spells on everything they could find in the park . . .

Europe Extravaganza! Ethanol Caregiving Part 1: Aunt Denise and Coco

Catching up today on some of our older posts that were due to be published . . . this is the first of two posts related to our often referenced, but now expanded, pool of caregivers that have allowed Pai and Dad to take the occassional long weekend away (historically).  With the European trip with my folks, we were down a set of our pool and we were very fortunate to have been able to call in Godmother/Aunt Denise and Coco to watch the boys for the first weekend of a very long 10 day trip.

Denise and Coco are the perfect tag team from the perspective of the wider Brigade . . . Pai and Dad have always loved and admired Denise's mothering skills and the boys have been 100% enamored with Coco since the first time she brought her adorable grin and affections into their lives.  Ethan and Noel could quite literally follow Coco around in imitation for hours and she's always been an incredibly receptive admiree for their affections.

The only downside of their long weekend of caregiving is that we didn't have many pictures come out of the experience . . . so we'll go with what we've got!

First up is an impressive sight . . . the boys have never been big spaghetti eaters for Dad and Pai, preferring tortellini in our experience.  Somehow (Coco's preference) the super caregiving tandem managed to introduce this as a dinner option and have it acccepted.  The proof is in Noel's ridiculously covered face - clearly a hit!

No different with Ethan . . . looks like he couldn't force it into his face quickly enough . . .

Post-dinner carbohydrate crash & TV time with Coco . . . no details on what exactly happened to Noel's pants, but luckily he managed to be discreet for this pic.

Gramma and Papa's 50th Wedding Anniversary Europe Extravaganza!

2013 has definitely been a year of celebrations which triggered a year of travel.  The first big trip was a 2-week trip to Europe in celebration of Gramma and Papa's 50th anniversary.  50 years is an incredibly impressive achievement and we needed an equally impressive trip to match it.  We started off with a handful of days in Rome before heading to Florence and Venice (Papa only), followed by Paris and London. 

 

Lots of good memories and an incredibly successful trip - one that I think we'll all remember for a lifetime . . .

Rome:  First stop at the Colloseum, which was incredibly impressive. 

                                                 

Rome:  Love this pic - stopping at the Pantheon

Rome:  The gorgeous (and overpopulated) Trevi Fountain

Rome:  Surviving our Vatican tour . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz

Florence:  Great family shot on the Ponte Vecchio

Florence:  Gramma and Papa tuckered out on the city tour while Dad and Pai soldiered on!

Florence:  Great pic of a son with his sweet Mother

Paris:  Dad has been to the city several times, so he took advantage of the chance for a catnap, much to the entertainment of Pai.

 

Paris:  Most of Paris was seen from a car, so we are definitely light on pictures with human beings - but a great pic of the Tower.