Two more birthdays have come and gone. Zach turned five on Friday and I turned…well, let’s just say I’m closer to 40 than 30 now.

We had our soccer team pictures this morning, and then a game, our second game of the season. The Wacky Wildcats held their own this time...it was a close game and action packed. Zach came “this close” to making three goals today…he would miss the goal by just inches. Adam scored two goals.

After the game and lunch, we opened presents and ate ice cream and cake. Tonight we’re grilling out…Scott’s specialty…steaks!

For his birthday, Zach got two cars – an ambulance and school bus - a rocket balloon kit and, of course, more legos. He got a lego kit to make a fire engine, which he promptly turned over to Adam so Adam could read the instructions and make the truck for him. He also got a big box of just “bricks,” square and rectangle legos in all sizes, with no instructions. THAT was the one Zach dove into.

We always let the boys pick out gifts for Scott and I…things they think we would like. They can choose anything they want. And somehow, it always turns out to be something THEY would like too. What a coincidence. Watch below to see what I got for my birthday today.

The Wacky Wildcats had their first game today. They didn't fare so well against the other team...who looked like giants compared to our little boys. There are five boys on the team, including Adam and Zach.

Here's Zach, taking control of the ball. He is not the one kicking the ball in...he's standing by Scott at first. Before you watch these videos you might want to turn your volume down a bit...I'm kinda loud.

And Adam...he does have the ball first...then loses it and then gets it back. Again, the volume. Also, I'm trying to watch the game AND tape it at the same time...so sometimes the camera is not aimed exactly where it should be.

We went apple picking today at an orchard in Conway Springs. We've been there before, about two years ago. We were the only ones there…and surprisingly it really wasn’t muddy except for a few mud holes on the dirt road leading out to the orchard.

We picked Jonathon and Gala apples…the boys ran from tree to tree trying to find the “bestest” ones. We even ate a few apples while we were picking! Zach liked to point out the ones with holes and mushy apples on the ground. We also saw a black caterpillar which the boys seemed very interested in watching.

After that we went into “town” and played at the city park. They have a life-sized red caboose that you can climb on. The caboose was on a section of a railroad track and Zach kept finding “families of bugs” on the tracks. Then it was off to the jungle gym, swings, teeter totter, and merry-go-round. The merry-go-round seemed to be the favorite…jumping off while it was going around. This resulted in both of them getting very muddy and we made the boys strip down so they wouldn’t track mud all over the van.

Rain, rain go away. We are flooding down here in the Land of Oz. Here is a picture of our neighbor's yard. I picked Zach up from preschool early, and then had to find a back way to get home because some of the roads were closed. Adam's school was let out early and our sump pump has been working overtime. Zach wanted to go out and play in the rain, but when he got out there he decided he did not want to get wet. Great day for a nap...

My children have two distinct personalities. This has become very apparent with the addition of Legos to our household. First…what’s the deal with all the “kits”? How come you can’t find just a regular box of Legos that you can use your imagination and build whatever you like? (I just turned into my mother.) I know they sell them online, but I want to go to a STORE and buy a plain old box of Legos. And do they have to be so impossibly small? I feel like a giant trying to put some of these things together!

The Legos come with instructions on how to build whatever is pictured on the box. In our case, it’s the “city” series with the police station and police vehicles. Adam carefully decides which thing he is going to build and finds the instructions and correctly marked package (there were four things you could build in this one box). He starts building…Zach is flopping, flitting, bouncing, singing, stomping, kicking, twirling, jumping, banging, etc. Zach picks up some pieces puts them together, takes them apart, finds others and puts them together (“Look mom, an “L”…”I made a box”…”this can be a turbo jet.”) Adam routinely tells Zach to “stop messing around.” Finally, after about an hour, Adam burst into tears and says “Zach! I can’t think with all this noise! Stop messing around! I just can’t think right! You’re losing all my pieces! It’s going to take me longer now!”

So I suggest that Zach can use some OTHER lego pieces to make something and Adam says, “but you have to follow the directions! You have to make what’s on the box!” I tried to explain that you can make whatever you want, but Adam did not like that idea.

Zach started preschool today! Finally. After 3 weeks of everyone else in school, he’s been a little cranky and bored. He likes his teacher and says he plays with a little boy named Isaac. But the most exciting thing was that they got to have popsicles for a snack on the first day. AND there is a tire swing on the playground. What more could a 4 year old ask for?