Beer Hocks, Buddies, and Buying a New Ride ...

Well, I'm working backward from the title here, so sorry for any confusion! So, Corey and I have been going back and forth and back and forth about getting a mini-van for a while. I was very reluctant at first, because, let's face it -- when you enter the min-van club, you really kind of lose any sense of youth and/or hipness that you've been holding on to. No? Ok, maybe that's just my perception. Anyhow, I started doing quite a bit of online research the past couple of weeks and this week we started test driving. That's pretty much all it took. The damn things are just so functional, I could no longer deny the practicality of getting one. So, after much debate, we finally agreed on a model that we could afford. It's pretty plain jane, not a lots of bells and whistles, but it sure is a welcome addition. It has already proven itself to be handy and the kids love it! Here's the new wheels ...

Our good friends Corey and Jen, along with their son, Cooper, came up to visit us this weekend. We had such a good time hanging out with them. In preparation for their arrival, the boys helped me make bierocks -- or as Riley calls them "beer hocks." And boy, does he love his "beer hocks!" He ate 3 whole ones all by himself this weekend!!! Not all at once, of course, but still, he did us proud = )

Our friend Corey's birthday is next week, so we of course had to make another cake while they were here. Riley, Gage, and Cooper all helped and did an excellent job of taking turns with the measurements, pouring, stirring, and beating. What good boys -- they are getting to be such pros! And Riley for sure has deemed Cooper his good buddy. Coop is about a year and a half older than Riley, so everything he did, Riley wanted to emulate. Too cute! As Jen and I were catching up on some girl talk, we noticed that things had gotten pretty quiet so we went to investigate. We couldn't find the boys anywhere until Gage helped point them out. They had emptied all of the toys out of the toybox and closed the lid. We couldn't believe they both fit in there! Here's a pic of the little squirrels hanging out inside the box ...

Here's another buddy pic, this time of Riley and Gage. I love it when I can actually get a photo of them together. They are both usually in constant motion, which makes this task expectedly difficult. Thus, I really relish any time everything seems to fall into place = )

Cute pic, huh? Yep, I think so, too. However, what was NOT so cute was the screaming wrestling match that took place about 1 minute after I snapped this. Riley wanted to keep posing and Gage did not. So, Riley tried to manhandle him and was basically putting him in a chokehold. Well, Gage did not appreciate this, so he bit Riley and got him on the ground. Although I did contemplate taking a photo of the skirmish before me, I deemed it more appropriate to break up the battle before serious injury occurred. Brothers!