Family

The boys tolerated (Ezra) and enjoyed (Finn) the fact that I co-opted the TV during the Stanley Cup Finals, but both were excited about the championship and asked for t-shirts. They came in the mail last weekend and a hockey craze ensued. All of our old equipment was dragged out of the basement, we ran to the sporting goods store for more sticks (not easy to find in July), and the boys played for hours.

Ezra likes to play goalie; he’s got a good crouch.

This weekend we upgraded from cardboard box goals to wood goals with built in puck blockers to make the driveway chase less likely.

I love that they’re so enthusiastic about playing because it’s such a fun sport. And I think they look pretty awesome in our gear.

We went down to Temecula last weekend to celebrate Luke and Linkin’s fourth birthday. After the official party, we all got some extra time to hang out at Eli and Nick’s place. Fun ensued. There were fireworks (the tame kind) that Ezra and Finn thoroughly enjoyed. Here are a few pictures.

Always fun to see all seven Moision/Beck cousins together!

Not sure why but I didn’t add anything to the blog this week. Got some catching up to do! Here’s my first post o’ random shots of this week.

First, old-school cool off in the sprinklers during one of our very hot afternoons.

Ninja poses.

Tree trimming.

Sword posing.

Ezra and Lamby, still together after all these (7-1/2) years.

Knot tying with linguini. (Gotta get them started tying their shoes somehow …)

After camp playtime. First, Ezra and Lucy.

And Finn and Charlie on the iPad.

The boys are not fans of the fireworks — especially the local, illegal kind that our neighbors have been shooting off for a couple of weeks now. Tonight was, of course, particularly loud. The boys requested their ear mops during their reading time, and I couldn’t help but snap a couple of pictures.

So, what did you do after the neighborhood party? Ezra sat on a ladder in the front yard, poking holes in styrofoam with a drill bit, while wearing “ear mops.”

Finn swung a rope around.

Our neighborhood has a 4th of July party, which we missed last year because the boys and I were braving tropical storms. This year we’re here, so the boys (all three of them) decorated their vehicles (while I made a dish for the potluck) and headed out for the parade.

The event was well-attended and fun. A tractor led the way for the parade around the block.

After the parade, we enjoyed the potluck lunch. The boys really liked the blueberry muffins that came with little drink umbrellas.

I didn’t take very many pictures, but there were games, a raffle (we didn’t win) and lots of kids loving the fact that the street was blocked off so they could ride their bikes anywhere they wanted. Ezra and Bruce also did some chalk drawing — an X Wing Fighter and a dragon.

The boys requested a night walk the other night, so we went around the block. Ezra took a book to read.

Finn wanted to a) not wear a shirt and b) be the leader.

When we got back, Ezra discovered a dead baby bird on the porch. They gave it a proper burial in the front yard. Ezra got to name it (“Ezra Blue Eye Rifle”).

Yesterday was the final installment of the first set of woodworking classes. (It looks like we’ll be continuing in the Fall in collaboration with the Bannings.) We had to postpone this class (originally set for two weeks ago) because Bruce and Finn were sick. Consequently, we had a smaller group this time with several families out of town, but once again a good time was had by all. The project for this class: tool boxes (painstakingly pre-cut, pre-drilled and labeled by Bruce and Rob).

We got off to a rocky start with many of the kids just home from summer camp. Exhausted, they were much more interested in watching the episode of Phineas and Ferb Ezra and Finn were watching. When I went to collect the kids for class, this is what I found.

But eventually the show ended and they dragged themselves outside for class, which started, as usual, with a “lecture” from Bruce.

And written instructions.

As unruly as they were during the lecture, the kids all settled in and worked diligently on their boxes. There was a lot of screwing …

Which Finn found out is hard work!

The drill press made an appearance. Here Chapin examines his (well, Cari’s, actually) handiwork.

Sawing.

More screwing.

There were some distractions. Finn took a break to check out where the spilled water would go.

And Chapin and Kylie were mostly interested in the neighbor’s sprinklers.

But they persevered! Pounding in plugs to cover the screws …

Sanding …

And finally, painting!

Here’s how they turned out. Ezra decided not to paint his.

Finn went with orange and brown.

After the projects were done, we had our usual dinner and crazytown fun. The kids were starving so dinner was relatively calm and quiet.

Then the water balloons, hose and eventually the slip ‘n’ slide came out.

Finally, it was time to put the water works away. Finn and some of the girls had dinner part 2. (How in his element is he in this [terrible iPhone] picture?)

And then everyone left with damp, happy children who hopefully fell asleep on the ride home.

The boys made some great crafts at camp yesterday; I quickly snapped a few pictures when we got home before they had a chance to destroy them.

Finn made a drum.

And a picture frame.

He drew a picture of him and Charlie but it didn’t fit into the frame. (I’m not sure what all the extra limbs are about.)

Ezra made a box.

And, my favorite of the day, this toilet paper roll penguin.

The boys started summer camp this week and are having a blast. No photography is allowed at the camp, so I have no pictures to share, but rest assured that at the end of the day after the last “campfire” meeting they stagger up the hill like a couple of drunks, filthy, exhausted and [relatively] full of stories. There’s swimming, hiking, frisbee, Star Wars and water wars, crafts, camp songs, etc. The camp’s website says “the #1 rule is to have fun.” I think it’s working.

I love this picture of Finn enjoying his ice cream cone. We went to Baskin Robbins after the first day of camp.

Our garden is overrun with zucchini and yellow squash this year. We almost always have an excess of zucchini, but the yellow squash is more prolific this year than ever before. They’re gorgeous and delicious!

I think we’ll skip eating this one, but it sure looks cool. It was growing crooked but the split side was underneath, so I didn’t know it would look like this until I cut it off the plant.

Now if the tomatoes would start producing I’d be really happy!

Bruce and I hosted book club this weekend. The book was Jerri’s pick: Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague. Who doesn’t love a good plague book, right? Of course, this is our book club so only two people had finished reading it, two more were about three-quarters of the way through, one bought it but hadn’t started it, and two … well, let’s just move on.

Anyway, just because Bruce and I weren’t the two people who’d finished the book, doesn’t mean we can’t have fun with plague-themed food. Actually, the food wasn’t so much plague-related, but the effects were. Bruce made a delicious cioppino but served it with dry ice. Here are some pictures.

First, he had to work out what to put the dry ice in so as to not cool down the soup super fast or break the pot. Finn’s aluminum cup saved the day.

Here he is getting ready for table presentation.

And voila!

Later, he brought out a bowl of dry ice just to keep the mood going.

It’s really more impressive in video form, so here’s a 4-second video.

Towards the end of the evening we broke out a bottle of champagne to toast Craig (and the absentee Laura) on their recent engagement. The men-folk put dry ice in their champagne. Here’s Craig.

And Bren.

And, of course, Bruce.

I’m determined this year to have a little more structure to our summer. Not a lot, mind you, but I think some time each day to build up their skills is a good thing. To that end, I got them journals and these workbooks.

So far, so good — they’ve each been doing some of the activities. Finn is pretty enthusiastic about it.

Here’s his purple cow.

Ezra’s not so excited about the process, but today he did a few pages and also some IXL math on the computer. I’ll call that a success!

Yesterday was [finally!] our first day of summer vacation. They’ll be starting summer camp next week, so I decided to seize the opportunity of a free day to take the boys to the beach. We went to Mother’s Beach in Long Beach where the Aveson field trips have been, and we had some friends come along. The Nuccio/Dyes brought boogie boards which were a huge hit.

Here’s Finn and Gigi negotiating a ride.

Gigi won.

Ezra liked the boogie board, too.

Here are both boys. We may need to invest in some boogie boards.

After the beach I took the boys to my favorite pizza place, Domenico’s. I used to drive down all the time for their pizza, but it’s too much of a trek for us anymore. Luckily, it’s just down the street from Mother’s Beach! Mmmmmm … ground pepperoni pizza!