Eleanor Fairy Pics and More Summer Adventures

A friend was doing fairy themed mini photo sessions and I thought to myself "Do I really need fairy themed photos of my three year old?" Obviously the answer was YES. So much fun. Eleanor had a blast.

Here's a look at what the pictures looked like before the fairy elements were added in.

Eleanor was a VERY willing participant in this endeavor. Dressed up in fun clothes, handed fun props, and given all the attention? Yes, please!

I love three year old Eleanor so much but sometimes it's not difficult to guess what phase she's in. Is this a sneak peak of teenage Eleanor?

She also tries to skip naps whenever possible but sometimes things are too tough even for a sweetheart.

She is going through this thing where she claims to have an upset tummy every time she remembers it might be nice to have a drink of ginger ale. We really don't give our kids soda so it is a rare treat and a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

Some people claim that Patrick is difficult to watch shows with, and that is simply not true.

The big kids are watching shows as I'm writing this and I just heard Nathan calmly ask Patrick to let go of Eleanor's eye. Followed up by asking him to let go of Bradley's head.

It's tough to love so hard.

A fun parenting strategy Nathan and I use when we're out shopping with the kids is letting them look at all sorts of fun toys and then getting nothing for them. In order to leave the store without children melting down we either tell them to put it on a birthday or Christmas list or to ask a grandparent for it. The latter is my personal favorite. I tell them to take a picture loving the toy and then I sometimes do indeed send the picture to a grandparent. Dear Grandparents: please feel zero obligation to purchase said item for the child. They have plenty of stuff and they would happily beg for a store's worth of cool toys given the opportunity.

Cool treasure chests

Someone loved this Rapunzel dress a LOT

The other half of my parenting is getting the kids out of the house.

There still is nothing better than playing in the sprinkler.

And grocery trips with these three is pretty darn fun. It helps that our grocery store is so cool.

Fun games next to sample chips

Fun car kart

Fun purse that a little girl insists on bringing along with us whenever we're shopping. The reactions I get to Eleanor while we're in the grocery store are fairly priceless.

We've been having to get a bit creative with the hot weather so we took the kids to the mall last weekend so they could ride on the two story tall merry go round. They liked it!

We also heard about a Dock Dogs event at Scheels so we went to check it out not really knowing what it was. The kids cared about the cute dogs jumping in the water for about five minutes and then just wanted to do the bouncy house and fish.

But I got to ride on the giant ferris wheel with them, a fun treat! Bradley literally talked for the entire ride about what we would do if a bear got loose in the store and we imagined who the bear would eat first, the reaction of the crowd, and talked at length about how Daddy would fight the bear. I have no idea what planted the seed for this idea but wow did Bradley take it and run with it.

Sweet Bradley is also ridiculously excited for our upcoming trip to Washington, and I would say at least half of his excitement is based on getting to share a big bed with Eleanor while we visit.

He likes cuddling

Patrick likes following his siblings around and doing whatever they do and he has fully embraced the joys of rough housing.

 Patrick is into all the things these days.

Pre church donuts

Did you know that three children can cram themselves under the desk space in the kitchen if they try hard enough?

And I finally have a child who colors! Okay, who tries to eat crayons and sometimes colors.

Nathan had a work trip last week and we missed him very much. So we made him welcome home cupcakes. Here's Patrick's before and after with a cupcake.

So much joy

No more???

 Don't worry, he later got a frosted cupcake and all was put to right.

He is such an adorable little guy. We've been going to the gym pretty regularly and there are a number of workers there who are big Patrick fans. It's actually getting a little awkward when people tell me how cute he is. I always say that I'm biased but I agree with them but then they go on a bit and I'm not longer sure what to say. One of the girls at the gym told me she liked to rub his perfect little fuzzy head and said she and the other girls there discussed it and he was perfection. I walked in the other day and he was busy hugging another little girl in the toddler area and when we had to leave he gave her a tender smooch on the cheek while looking around at the admiring group of the workers there who had gathered to give Patrick the proper amount of admiration. I heard things like "I'm melting" and "I'm dying inside, how cute!"

But then I take him home and get this ...

What a little stinker. Can't wait to take all these sweet kids to see friends and family this next week!