So far in August...

August has started off extremely busy for us.  The first weekend in August, we drove down to Dan and Jill's and then into Denver to purchase...a van!  Funny how a lot of people wouldn't see this as such an exciting milestone in their life, but we are thrilled to have more room to haul around all our stuff, oh and the children.
The following Monday, we met Dan and Jill and the Howards at a campground outside of Rapid City for a sleep over.  The campground had a swimming pool and the kids spent a couple of hours swimming that night and then the next morning we all went in to Rapid City to see some sights.  I should mention that this all took place the same week as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and for those of you who haven't heard of this, let me just say that it is crazy and all happening about 35 minutes for Rapid City.  We literally saw thousands and thousands of motorbikes.  I mean seriously, we counted for a while, but that got old.  Anyway, that adds an interest level to a Rapid City trip.

First stop was Story Book Island.  This is a park full of story book characters and scenes with play equipment and a little pond and theater.

Kamber and the boys at the top of the Troll's Bridge at Story Book Island.

Colt and Dash on the Merry-Go-Round.

We thought this was funny. Dash was very innocently taking a break from running around.  Unfortunate hand placement.

Dash, Colt, Boe and Kamber on the teeter-totter.

Dan and Sport are best friends.  Seriously.  Sport repeatedly hurt Brandan's feelings by insisting that he hold Dan's hand rather than Brand's.

Colt and the duck.

Sport has a thing for seeded out dandelions.

Next, we drove to the Dinosaur Park which is a collection of life sized dinosaur statues on the top of a hill in Rapid City.

Dan, Sport, Colt, Brandan and Boe at the Dinosaur Park.

Finally, we drove into downtown and went to a Splash Park in the middle of the city.  The kids absolutely loved it.  It was such a hot day, I was tempted to join them.  But only tempted.

Sport and Kamber at the Splash Park.  Sport circled the perimeter for a while before braving the water.

Shortly after running through the water, Sport took a direct spray to the face and decided he liked watching the waterfall better.

Colt was hilarious to watch.  The water came up through the holes sporadically and unpredictably and Colt pretended he was fighting the spray like it was a bunch of naughty guys. 

In this particular shot, Colt mistimed the spray.  Funny.

Dash, on the other hand, ran through the spray like it was a mine field.  He dodged in and out so quick it was hard to get a picture.

Dash and Boe sitting on the fountains.

August hasn't been all play, however.  Colt gave his first talk in Primary, very successfully, and Dash is still hard at work prepping for Kindergarten.  Because he has to have a seperate pair of shoes for gym, Brandan decided it was time for Dash to learn to tie his shoes.  It only took a day and Dash had mastered the skill.

Daddy teaching Dash to tie his shoes.

And then there is Sport...

One night Sport insisted he be allowed to try on a newborn baby outfit that was somehow left out of a storage tubby.  It was a little snug.

The boys are really obsessed with swimming goggles right now, even to the point of wearing them in the bathtub.  Sport doesn't love goggles, but he hates to be left out.

Other than that, it's just same old, same old.  Lots of housework and laundry for me (the boys go through several outfits a day because of all their outside play) and Brandan has started working on one more sprinkler system he has to finish before school starts next week.  I'll be keeping everyone posted on how that progresses, I mean the sprinkler system, not the laundry.