In Nature

Yeehaw friends and family,

The combination of perfect weather (10 sunny, mild days in a row) and hours each day of family time is producing an outstanding vacation. Nana's house is taking a beating as the tornado of kids creates a wake of destruction at a faster pace than we can clean up. I keep finding new toys stashed in cupboards and closets. The house obviously has seen a steady flow of cousins for the past several years to accumulate that big of a collection.

Kendra put Layla's hair in pig tails often. She looks like Red from Fraggle Rock as she bounces around the room. We called her "Flopsy Mopsy" for some reason this day.


Layla played with every single toy in Nana and Papa's house. She even gave badminton the ole' college try.


Easton attempted to hit the birdie as well, but he kept swinging downward. After narrowly missing my hand as I held the birdie it was time to call it quits. Maybe next year? He had much better luck at the Bass Pro Shops trying on camouflage gear. Where'd he go?


I had to throw in this random pic from the picnic because it shows how great of a grandma their Nana is. Cousin Daphne was afraid of the big, red slide so Nana was kind enough to go down with her. Now you see where I get my hands-on attitude from...


I talked Aunt Joanie into a nature center walk and I was surprised by the success. I expected a little more chaos and possibly a child or two getting wet because it crosses creeks, a muddy swamp, and several rolling hills... without any railing.


Aunt Joanie with baby Trinity strapped to her in the Baby Bjorn is not pictured in this next group photo.


Layla and Daphne stopped to smell the flowers.


We stopped by the creek to rest under a shade tree for a few minutes while attempting to keep five children from throwing rocks, getting wet, or injuring anyone including themselves. I was praying the entire time, "Please, God, nobody poop!" There were no trashcans on the 2.5 mile walk and there's no way I prepared to store a dirty diaper in my backpack. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finished the walk without incident.


Eli and Silas were very helpful in leading and holding hands with the toddlers. Those are two very impressive young men.


My best friend, Ryan, who I've known since high school came into town for the day to see the 4 Webbs. He left his two boys at home, but was willing to share the morning with me and the twins. We went for a short walk in a local park to get them outside and give Mommy a break.


Then Ryan and I spent the afternoon cruising around town reminiscing about how easy life was back in school. No job, no wife, no kids... The lack of responsibility was awesome in its own way.


We came back to Nana's house and found Easton digging into his first pile of Legos. Being kids-at-heart ourselves we squeezed into the corner and showed him how to build a space ship from spare parts. Oddly enough, our time in Lego-land was some of the most relaxing and enjoyable of the entire trip. It's fun to be a kid and having Easton is a free pass to act like a kid again.


Easton discovered the Star Wars Light Saber toy. The lights and sounds are very cool. He got a kick out of bashing it against the hard wood floor causing the various striking noises. I gave him a demo and he spent the rest of the afternoon trying to chop peoples arm off with it. Of course I had to throw out the Darth Vader line (modified), "Easton, I am your father..."


On a completely separate note here are two very cool gifts Aunt Joanie's crew gave us for the plane ride home. The first is a glue-sealed bottle, which contains lots of beads and various miniature other things. The idea is for the twins to spin it and shake it to make the items visible and find them. Very creative of them.


and this is a personalized ABC book. The book contains 26 pages; one for each letter of the alphabet. They cut out pictures from magazines and pasted them on the page corresponding with the first letter in the name of object pictured. The idea is for us to use it on the plane ride home, but then continue to fill the pages in with our own findings. Very thoughtful of her crew to do this for us.


There are so many pics to pour through from the vacation, but I'm almost done. I think one more post should finish it off in style. Speaking of style... we took our updated family portraits and they look incredible. Can't wait to get them in the mail.

See you soon!

rocketMEN

Hey friends and family,

After more than a week off work I am finally grasping the concept of vacation and not thinking about work at all. I get about 130 emails per day so the stress of going back to work soon and my ability to do simple multiplication means I'll be rowing my way through the sea of email back into work life.

My mom made banana bread so that means Easton is eating Nana Banana Bread. I think there may be some market-ability in that although the inside joke may not translate well to the rest of the world.


I decided to do a few special things with my nephews during this week and one of them involved explosives. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the perfect afternoon weather.


Then I broke out the necessary materials and we built ourselves a rocket!


Eli and Silas built it perfectly and we set up the launch site. I was a little uneasy about allowing Easton to get to close as we built and fired the rocket, but he was outrageously curious and chomping at the bit to be in the middle of everything.


Silas fired it off successfully, but the parachute didn't open so it crashed down onto the parking lot. Luckily only minor damage resulted so we put in the double-powered engine and Eli blasted it over 600 ft. in the air. I thought the recovery team would be Papa and Easton who were stationed in the same general area of the last crash.


Unfortunately the wind shifted on us so we watched helplessly as the parachute deployed and it floated across the main road into the local cemetery.
The "recovery team" was as successful as the launch, so we repacked the rocket for one more flight.


Eli and Silas were gracious enough to let Easton push the launch button and he was overjoyed to take their offer.


After a short countdown Eli held the safety key and Easton pressed the launch button and Whoooosh, it shot up into the sky leaving a distinct trail of smoke.


Easton's level of excitement was off the charts. The rocket went so high it was almost out of sight, but then the parachute deployed and we watched the wind shift... again... and carry it across the street into a stranger's back yard. The recovery team jumped a few fences and broke some trespassing laws, but we rescued the rocket, which is now sitting in my nephews room ready for another flight some other day. Here's a short video clip of Joanie chatting with him afterwards.



See you soon!

Family Reunion

Howdy friends and family,

The vacation is developing into a much broader group of people we are able to see. Uncle Larry's 65th birthday turned out to be a full fledged family reunion. Here's my Mom with Bysie and Larry the birthday boy. Unfortunately Wayne wasn't able to make it to have the complete set of aunts and uncles, but the timing worked out for all of us to hang out for a few hours so I'm happy to have the family gathering and appreciate who WAS there.


We took time to get a picture of the 4 Webbs, of course.


Here is my long lost cousin Travis who I haven't seen since before they had kids. That's a lot of years, but the timing never worked out for them to be in town the same days as us.


He was the closest cousin to my age growing up. In an odd twist of fait his family has the closest relationship with my brother's and I'm glad they are able to have such experiences. I wasn't able to get a picture of my cousin Jenny and her family, but we had the chance to meet her kids for the first time as well that day.

Easton and Layla are both still sick so we are allowing more "down time" to watch Nana's kid-friendly videos and snuggle with the monkey and bear from Aunt Mary.


Living out of a suitcase isn't all that bad though I think Easton and Layla are taking it way too literally. This is just a small example of how we took over every spare inch of Nana and Papa's house.


The most fun thing about staying with them is the sand box. If nothing else is going on then the sand box is the logical choice where to find the twins. Nana is more than happy to join in the digging and getting her hands dirty... literally.


and here we are again at the sand box, but this time hanging out with Daphne. She's really good about showing love and posing so I took the opportunity to capture the moment.


Easton is more excited about the vast amount of construction equipment than the forests on the horizon we pass regularly as we drive. Layla seems to be really enjoying the greenery of the Ozarks even what is seen just outside of the front door.


She is also enamored with Waggles. I've never seen a dog sit like a squirrel so well, but he pulls it off well.


We called Layla "Flopsy Mopsy" on this day because her pig tails were uneven and bounced around like springs.


Layla shared her fairy stickers with Nana who wore them all day long on her shirt.


Easton and Layla don't look very lively in the next picture with me, but I didn't take it personally. They were eating snacks and still feeling sick so any attempt at getting them to smile just aggravated them. We still played with blocks and built a garage just the same though.


We were a part of the baby dedication for Joanie's youngest, Trinity, which my Dad conducted. I forgot to bring my camera though so I'll have to wait for my Joanie's memory card before I get pictures from that heart-warming event. Also, I setup Eli and Silas with a model rocket, which turned out to be one of the most fun times so far. The climactic moment of the outing was watching Easton push the button to blast the rocket into the air.

See you soon!

catching up

The 4 Webbs are accomplishing everything we set out to do this trip: spend as much time with family and cousins as possible. Since my sister home schools her kids their flexible schedule allows us to really pack it in this short trip. Layla and Daphne are playing well together and supporting each other like girls do.


Eli and Silas are showing Easton what it means to be boys. Nothing like a good game of chase...


Their backyard is enormous compared to the postage stamp lots we are used to in Phoenix. We played "500" a.k.a. "three flys out", which involves throwing a ball up in the air and running around attempting to catch it. As you can imagine that requires a certain amount of yard space to account for errant thrown or kicked balls going every which way. Eating at her house is much more controlled and organized than I expected considering she has four kids and one of them is 4 months old (Trinity). Their kids are all so amazing and fun-loving.


I've been making my nightly journey to Andy's frozen custard and occasionally we take the twins with us. The sugar rush can't possibly be worn off by just hanging around on the cement blockades, but it doesn't hurt to try!


Easton and Layla joined my sister's kids for an open gym play date with great results. Layla is obviously ready for gymnastics as can be seen by her perfect trampoline form.


Easton is content to crawl around through the big tunnel mazes. Although he did show some real risk taking in the foam pit. He took a running start and dove into the foam pit with no reservations.


Eli was kind enough to show him how a teeter-totter works. We tried to get the twins on either side, but that wasn't nearly as successful as having Eli's expertise to balance it out.


I assisted with the zip line where Easton and Layla both giggled happily while zipping down the wire while holding on.


Trinity wasn't impressed by any of our acrobatic feats... It's nap time any time for that girl as long as Joanie is close by.


By a fortuitous twist of fate, My Aunt Mary swung by our neck of the woods on their way to Branson for a week of shows and fun with her friends. We met at Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls) and ate ourselves into a carbohydrate induced coma. Mary gave Easton and Layla a Monkey and Bear stuffed animal, which turned into their TV watching buddies at Nana and Papa's house. Spending even just a little bit of time with her and her girlfriends was very refreshing. I was used to seeing her and Uncle Dave 3-4 times per week when he was alive and she lived down the street.


The twins found a new past time: picking up walnuts in Papa's backyard.


The Fall season brings with it wind resulting in walnuts dropping in the yard at a rapid pace. Just for fun I talked Easton and Layla into running all over the yard putting walnuts into the bags for Pappa. It was a good break in between blowing bubbles and making volcanoes in the sand pit.


Today was a milestone because Layla and I finally sang a duet. We did Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a round! I even have Nana as a witness to prove it sounded great.

As a celebration of my uncles 65th birthday we had a family reunion of sorts. I can't wait to post pictures and stories from that, but unfortunately I've run out of time again tonight.

See you soon!

In the Heart Land

The 4 Webbs arrived safely in Missouri and are already engaging in play time with cousins.


Howdy friends and family,

It's vacation time for the 4 Webbs! But before we took a flight to visit my family in Missouri I spent the day hanging out with the twins. The day time high temperatures are still above 100 every single day so had to get them outside early or else suffer heat exhaustion. Some parents use the hot afternoon sun to wear out their kids, but Easton and Layla aren't old enough for that trick to be anything but cruel and dangerous. Anyway, we went to the local sandy park just to make sure they took enough dirt home to make a mess in our house.

Even though Layla attempted the big-kid swing a few times they still get the best laughs and fun from the baby swings. Especially when they steal the hat off my head like Easton.


He is becoming more obsessed every day with all things related to aerospace and flight. He had a big pile of sand and a crooked stick, which became a launch pad and a space shuttle.


Kendra spent days packing and organizing so we were well prepared for the long day flying. We spent hours and hours waiting. Not exactly the most desirable environment for two toddlers, but we managed. They waited while driving to the airport, then standing in line for tickets, then security, then boarding, then flying, then luggage... I wouldn't go so far as to say they were patient, but they did have happy hearts almost the entire time. Waiting to board was easy because Easton kept his nose plastered against the window commentating every move of every plane in sight.


Easton said the word "super-fast" over a dozen times before the plane even left the ground. His perception of take off was a bit over dramatic because slowly taking off in a commercial plane is much less of a rush than blasting off in a space shuttle. At least we have our imagination!


Easton was flying in an airplane, playing with his toy airplane, and watching a video about airplanes. Doesn't get much more involving than that.


Layla was just excited to wear her "warm" clothes which includes a pink princess jump suit.


The next day after a bit of adjustment for the time zone (a.k.a. sleeping in) we jumped right into family and cousin play time. Layla and Daphne bonded quickly after debating who was more princess-like. They agreed to be equals and found the secret hide-out in Nana and Papa's kitchen.


Watching her play with Daphne is really fulfilling because Kendra and I both have such great memories with cousins.


Even at bedtime Layla was determined to be fully outfitted in princess gear including the Ariel high heel shoes (not shown). All of the outfit she is wearing here is Daphne's except the PJs.


Then we had a short visit with my brother and their daughter, Lexi. Her and Easton became friends and the bond between them started as a desire to organize. Together they emptied the entire grocery sack full of vehicles and lined them all up around the outside edge of Nana's coffee table.


The weather in Missouri is close to perfect this time of year so we're taking full advantage of it by playing outside every spare minute.


Nana and Papa's backyard is spacious, kid friendly, and has plenty of ways to play including the jungle gym and sand box.


The sand box does not come equipped with smelly lincoln logs... thankfully.


My sister, Joanie, keeps up with the twins through the blog and conversations. I know this because she made sure Easton had his own costumes including the well-received fireman outfit.


We also met my newest niece, Trinity, who watched happily as my mom held her.


Layla caught an accidental fingernail on the cheek and a runny nose from who knows where. Except for the usual bumps and scrapes that go along with raising kids, the trip is going great so far. In lieu of walking down the street to our mailbox I substituted an evening stroll down the dead-end street to the cul-de-sac. Layla's sweet smile says it all.


See you soon!