We’ve had two weeks of summer so far, and those weeks have been packed full of activity. The youngest Dunn Brother is a fan of water and the outdoors. He finds his way to them despite my best efforts. But, like I’ve said several times, everything I know about parenting I learned from The Dog Whisperer. And he would say that Stuart wants to go on an adventure. Every day. Upon waking in the morning and upon waking from his nap. And any time he sees his shoes or a door that leads outside. The Dog Whisperer has taught me that when dogs/kids have an adventurous spirit, the best thing to do is feed their hunger for activities outdoors and take them for long walks. So we do that.
And when we can’t get outside, we find indoor adventures. 
Here’s a photo of where our old kitchen was. We have a little bit of re-finishing to do with the floors and walls, but overall it feels great to have those old cabinets out of the house. 
Adventures with rocks. 
Summer literacy program. 
The Summer of Meat is my attempt to put as many versions of tasty beef, chicken, pork, and turkey in front of my children so they will start seeing it as a friend and not the enemy. One thing “they” advise is to deconstruct a meal so kids can pick what they want to eat out of the things being served, and that way they feel in control of their own food blah blah blah. We had a taco night (Taco Tuesday!) last week where I made these adorable tortilla bowls and had a choice of these or regular taco shells. There were also black beans, cojita cheese, black olives, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and a load of love on my part. The boys chose what you see below for their tacos. Elliot’s is the one without cheese. And you can see how much of them they ate. And I served dinner about an hour after they told me they were hungry. But you would have thought I was serving straight up arsenic the way they howled at having to eat this meat. I even left out any trace of onion or garlic or generally accepted flavor. The poor dears went to bed hungry that night. BUT the Summer of Meat is not over! I’m determined to guide my kids’ protein intake to higher levels. Anything would be higher than the current level of zero, or however much protein is in peanut butter. 
Elliot had Robotics Camp last week. There were a couple of girls in the class! 
Here he is showing his certificate of participation. One of the rules on the board read: There are five instructors in this class – YOU are not one of them. 
After the ceremony, he showed us his robots which were pretty cool! He programmed one of them to follow a white stripe on the floor. He brought a couple of them home. Some were made out of legos. You can ask him about it when you see him. 
We’re going to the local pool as much as possible. It helps with Stuart’s thirst for adventure. And it wears everybody out! This is the baby pool. There is a big pool but I can’t get their picture together over there. 
These guys… such good friends… Travis has such a generous heart for his brothers. Stuart likes to yell NOOOOOO and MAAMAA! So I plug up his scream hole with a paci whenever I can. 
Here’s the best photo we have of the island top. If it’s possible to be in love with a piece of rock, then that is what I feel for this thing. This is an old photo though. The doors all have handles on them now and the range has been installed. 
Elliot and Trav with their sweet little friends. I love summertime pictures of little boys with knobby knees and popsicles! 
haha! This photo makes me laugh. That face. And the way he’s holding his hat. He is standing beside what we hope will be their treehouse tree someday. 
Elliot and Trav and Fletch had a Cub Scout campout a few weeks ago. 
Elliot leveled up to Wolf! 
hahaha! This photo is so awesome! He is some kind of super hero with 3D vision. I want to frame this one. 
Today is the 4th of July and the Scout troop was in the parade around his school. Here are some photos of some American citizens in action. 
