Not quite a super genius...

Editor's Note: Prior to reading this post, please be forewarned that this post was created by Tyler. This is his post and the opinions contained herein are not necessarily shared by the Management.

Quick! Can you name these three men? Extra Credit: What do they have in common?

Give up? They are Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, & Stephen Hawking...and they are all considered revolutionary physicists. Why is this information on the family blog, might you ask? The answer is simple: I now consider myself a bonafide physicist.
Now, I may not have had an apple fall on my head, come up with some fancy theory on relativity, or even written a book on the history of the time (though I have had several things hit me in the head, my own theories about the relatives, and even have a couple clocks!).
However, I did find out today that I passed my big physics test. Thank goodness. I appreciate all the support I've received from everyone in helping get ready for the test. Especially Andrea and the kids, who have put up with plenty thus far in this adventure on which I've taken them. Love you guys!

Hopefully now the bad dreams about proton spins, photon energies, and gamma cameras can stop!

So, why not celebrate, and CELEBRATE some more!

When you turn three, that's about all you want to do anyway...So Wednesday night we invited over a few friends.

Coleson REALLY wanted a "peter pan fights captain hook" birthday party. So, we tried to simplify as much as we could, but still satisfy the want :)...

Here's the Pirate Ship "cake"...(notice the use of leftover krispie treats from Sunday to make masts and the rest is boxed 9x13 brownies...no frosting.) The kids wore their AWESOME new costumes to make the party more "peter pan-ish."And, Ty (ie Captain Hook, according to Coleson) made a very cool treasure box and took the kids on a "treasure map hunt" for the box. Once they found the box, they each got a piece of Captian Hook's treasure! Thank goodness for a VERY cool daddy!

AND...we had to celebrate on his actual Birthday as well...

How did we get Addellyn to say her primary part into the microphone? By promising she could make this Rice Krispie treat dinosaur after church with her daddy...which also turned out to be a GREAT "birthday cake" after all of our present opening (I love when you can satisfy 2 needs with one thing!)

Very cool new book, with some slightly scary animals in it. See those exciting "story telling" eyebrows I referred to a while ago? So glad I got them on camera.Think he is pretty happy about his "real" hook? He's been using all kinds of plastic hangers, so he was pretty thrilled!

Nothing like a peter pan set for "the real" peter pan. I love watching 3 year-olds open presents because EVERYTHING is perfectly wonderful!

Can you BELIEVE it?

He is 3! And (for the most part) he is a very happy, affectionate, energetic, extremely imaginative little boy. We love having him in our famliy!
And what better way to say "good morning birthday boy!" than by letting him have a line-up of powdered donuts. YUM!
At least we followed it up with some fruit :)
This is his 3 year-old "happy" face...such a little joke-ster too!
And what better gift could your sisters give than to be in the primary program at church on your birthday! They both had their parts memorized and did their best singing. Apparently it was a little too sunny to look at the camera before they climbed into the car to head to church...and Kinzie was already complaining about how hot the car was going to be and how small her shoes were, so she even has a pretty grumpy face... But don't worry, she was all smiles and serious about her performance once we got to church!

"FAKE" camping

First, everyone found their own stick so they would be able to cook lunch over the fire. (Ty ended up holding most of the sticks over the coals in the end.)

Once lunch was over, I was the one with the cooking sitcks...so that they could enjoy THESE!

MMmmm...Smores': graham or ritz (if you prefer sweet or salty), chocolate peanut butter spread, and, of course, toasty marshmallows.

Aren't they a cute pair. I love how much Coleson admires his daddy!

This little one wanted to get out on the water...so without suits, we figured why not rent a row boat for the hour and explore the lake.

Thank goodness for these muscles! And, the view was awesome (yes, I like looking at the muscle man, but I was referring to the lake and trees :))

Can't hike without a good stick...and of course, those "magic" shoes.

It looks like we are deep in the woods, but thanks to me, who is always not feeling well enough to do anything, hence the reason for "fake" camping, we are only a short walk from the road...but I love that we can feel like we have treked into a hidden, beautiful place within moments.

Just don't tell the kids it's only "fake" camping!

MINI golf

First, the "pro" gave a few pointers.

Then, the munchkins tried to mimic...
It was INCREDIBLY hot and humid...so Coleson just got frustrated, REALLY quickly. (and then sat and observed from the shade, with me!)

Makinzie was the only one to persevere...A few holes took her QUITE a few tries!

Needless to say, the free golf tickets from the library were, well, at least they were free, but we won't be going again for a LONG time, and never again in that kind of heat...

But at least we attempted family "fun time" together, right?

and, she made it home...

At least she came back home just as HAPPY or even happier! Apparenlty, "Mrs. Cherry has that name because she is sooo sweet, like a cherry!" (and then she says: "I made that up all by myself" with a very confident tilt of the head, impressive for the 1st day of second grade, right?!?)

I couldn't resist...

Look at the freckles on this little lady waiting happily for her big sister to get off the bus. She had a hard time when Kinzie first went back to school, but lately she has realized the amount of power she gains as "the oldest one at home" again. So, how does this man get his turn to rule the house? Easy. He wakes up just after Ty leaves before 6am every morning...He is told to please go into his room and read books quietly until everyone else is awake, so, when I hear some NOT so quiet reading, and find THIS. His answer to not being very quiet, he likes to help everyone else wake up in the morning using his quiet, nice voice! And, when he is asked why he isn't in his room, well, "my feet IS in my room."

So, apparently I will have to start being specific about which body parts need to be in the room and what quiet means to me...