Lazy day

The boys went to Silver Dollar City yesterday with Mandy.  They had a very full day and got home late, so we expected them to be extremely tired today.  Noah's a mess when he's running low on sleep, and he didn't disappoint.  We had to put him back to bed by 10:00 and he slept for over three hours.  The weather cooperated - it was dark, cool and rainy, and there wasn't much to do outside.

After naps, the weather and their moods were both much better, so we went outside to play.  I put a brake on Elliot's little bike while they were sleeping, and I intended to teach him how to use it.  The pedal-less bikes don't come with brakes, and the bike store says that most kids will use their feet to slow and stop themselves.  But they haven't met Elliot, who has crashed a couple of times now due to uncontrolled downhill speed.  We had to buy one of these for Noah's bike too, though more to save money on shoes than to keep that speed demon from crashing.  He literally burned holes in his shoes using them as brakes.

It wasn't a success.  Elliot tried, but only momentarily, and then reverted to the shoe-brake again.

Noah made these at school.  He asked his teacher if he could make another one for his brother.

I have no idea where this came from

Trying the brake out

Comparing war wounds. Noah was showing Elliot some old bike-crash injuries.

This little worm entertained them for quite a while, until they lost it in the grass.

Racing down the church driveway.

Swinging hard.  

Elliot wants so much to do everything his big brother does.

Awwww, playing together.

That didn't last long.  Momentary brotherly spat. 

Gator-in'

The kids have been going to my Grandpa Gene's farm their whole lives. One of the favorite activities of all the kids is to ride Grandpa's Gator. Only it's grown ups driving and they are in the passenger seat. Grandpa bought a kid sized Gator for Charlie when he was 3. Recently, after it had been sitting unused in their garage for sometime, as Charlie has outgrown it, it got passed down to us. I had to get a new battery and then it was good to go. The kids have been having a blast on it.

I didn't expect much of a learning curve. Noah's quite capable on a bike and so I figured he'd know how to steer. But, oh my word, it was quite a funny site watching him learn the ropes. Lots of crashing, getting off track, etc. In fact, watching Noah go so wild that first day made Elliot terrified to get on for a ride. But, the second day, Noah finally convinced him to go in slow speed (by this time, Noah had the steering down) and he loved it. Now he's cool with going fast.

Just this morning Elliot tried to drive it for the first time. Immediately veered off the sidewalk and almost hit a parked car on the street. We'll have to work on it at the church before we let him near the sidewalks again. So fun watching them on the Gator. Love it!