Lazy Summer Days

We've had a good summer. The weekends have been booked, but the week days have been just right in the amount of business/quietness. The kids like to go out, but they're always eager to come home and resume playtime.
Tyler & Bryce kind of go through cycles of playing well together, making up stories together, playing by themselves, whining because the other isn't playing with them or not playing what they want to play, and then fighting. I've tried hard to encourage them to work out differences amongst the two of them, haven't found a whole lot of success but it's a work in progress. Here's the boys making up some type of story with their animals.

Lexi is starting to become quite the little mother. She inherited a stroller from her cousin, and now loves to push her baby doll all around the house. She enjoys cuddling her baby and it has now formed a trio of bedtime objects that go in the crib with her (blankie, binkie, and baby doll)
I cannot keep her away from the dishwasher. She will unload the dishes and take them everywhere in the house, or give them to me and expect food just because she found a plate. Recently, she has been opening the dishwasher in the middle of its cleaning cycle which is driving me crazy! I keep hoping its just a stage, but its just not passing quickly enough for my liking!
I don't know if she was tackling Tyler because he was sitting in her little music chair, or simply giving him a big hug, either way, it was cute and she was willing to give Bryce "loves" too.

Some Sunday nights, the kids get to have a little popcorn and watch a short movie.
We spend a lot of days riding bikes outside, drawing with sidewalk chalk, going to the YMCA, reading stories, and having school. I think if I really cracked down with Bryce, he could be reading by next year. He knows his letters, he can write them all very well, and is always asking me how to spell different words. It comes a lot easier for him. On the other hand, it was an accomplishment to have Tyler write his name by himself and be able to tell me how to spell it last week. He still guesses with all his letters, and struggles to write them. They are gifted in so many different ways. The biggest challenge is just meeting both of their needs equally, which is almost impossible right now.

More to come later!