Bonus kid.

When we left Austin a few weekends ago, we ended up with an extra kid in the car! 

He was cute, and super sweet, and even knew how to crack a joke or two...

so, we decided to bring him home with us. 

Our favorite little Austinite, Matthewjones, came to stay with us for a week! 

Josh was in heaven having "a brother" for a week. 

We arranged for the boys to attend Lego Camp.

Yes, that's right. 

It's Camp. About Legos.

All Legos all the time. 

(Except snack time, which was declared their favorite part on day 3). 

Needless to say, the first day of camp got two thumbs up from these guys. 

After five days, three hours a day, and a few helpers, 

these boys and their Lego friends created a Lego City. 

On the fifth day, they got to spend the entire time playing in their City. 

Josh and Matthewjones were in charge of making the city's Vet, the Movie Theater, and the Mall. 

They were most proud of their movie theater. I must say, it's pretty cool. If you look closely, they included a projector,  a concession stand, an emergency exit, and even chairs with cup holders! 

Smart little dudes. 

On Day Two, little sister was shipped off to Mother's Day Out 

and that meant I got these two crazies all to myself!

We treated our selves to a nice little movie, Despicable Me 2. 

It was hilarious and the remainder of the week 

was filled with one-liners from the movie.

They both have much better recall (or attention spans... doubtful) than I do,

because I wasn't able to quote the movie after one viewing, that's for sure. 

I even let them eat McDonald's for lunch so they could get their very own Minion toy. 

They took those silly Minions everywhere we went the rest of the week. 

We even used some of my craft supplies to make our own homemade Minions!

Matthewjones was so sweet and insisted on making one for his Mommy for her birthday. 

Of course, Chris missed out on a lot of the boy fun due to that stinky 

thing called "work," but he made up for it each night by partaking in 

intense Nerf Gun Shoot-outs.  There was a lot of squealing and skipping

going on... by the big one. 

One afternoon we did Josh's favorite science experiment.  

Best thing ever!  This will keep them entertained for almost an hour

 and doesn't involve a screen!

Pour a healthy amount of baking soda in a 9x13 pan. 

Make little bowls of colored vinegar (use food coloring).

I let them use some clean syringes to pull up the vinegar and squirt it onto the baking soda and 

violla! you have a bubbley, volcano-like art project. 

It rained pretty much the entire week. 

Such a bummer and put a damper on our pool and outdoor plans,

 but we squeezed in some 

water playtime anyway. 

Who cares about a little rain if you are going to be wet anyway? 

I think my favorite adventure was taking the kids to the new Children's museum downtown. 

It was so fun. 

The boys raced a T. Rex (above). 

We played pretend camping. 

Emily LOVED playing with the water table. 

I am a little bitter that they included a water table in the midst of all the 

clean and dry activities, but darn it- she giggled and smiled so much, 

I had to love it. 

Love this girl. 

Love these boys. 

When interviewed after the museum, the boys declared their favorite part of the museum was the 

Rocks and Minerals floor. 

They got to race T.REx, play with remote control robots, make a race track, see dinosaur bones, 

make a tower out of gears, climb an outdoor escalator, and their favorite was seeing all the rocks and minerals!!! 

Peculiar little boys!

(Please notice that both of them have their Minions with them in this picture.)

They also got to play with this cool exhibit. I don't know how best to describe it, 

so you just have to see the video. 

At the end of the week,  Matthewjones' family came to visit and pick him up to take him back home. 

Sad face. 

We were all thrilled to see them, though.

Emily was so happy to have someone her age to play with. 

She will marry one of these boys someday, so I have to make sure to get pictures of her with them. 

She has three solid choices. 

You may not know this, but Matthewjones' Daddy and Josh's Daddy grew up together. 

Life-long friends. 

This picture cracks me up. 

I never- NOT ONCE- had to regulate an argument between Matthewjones and Josh in the SIX days he was here. 

But,  only hours after these two boys get together, there was finger-pointing and "He did it! Not me!!!"

accusations. 

Tisk. Tisk. 

I kept thinking these two would tire of one another. 

In fact, I tried to have them take an hour alone each day. 

It never worked. Somehow, it always ended with them curled up next to each other reading or 

playing Legos. 

They giggled until the moment Matthewjones walked out the door. 

Josh asked if we could start a count down, like the one we did for Disney World, for the days until we see Matthewjones again. 

Does that mean Matthewjones is equally as cool as Disney World?

I believe so, yes.

 Thanks for a fun week, Matthewjones!!!!