Three Boys for Three Hours

Today we had the privilege to watch our neighbor, Xavier, while his mom had somewhere to be this morning. It was a super fun way to spend a Saturday (especially since Doug had to work today anyways). Xavier is an easy-going playmate and is about just between Koen and Tavin's ages, so he plays well with both of them. We played a little bit at the house, but my boys had already been doing that for over an hour (they were having a blast playing in their PJ's in the living room after breakfast), so we headed out to the playground soon after Xav arrived. Xavier rode his scooter, Koen was on his bike and Tav was in the wagon. Yeah, I got this.

Koen and Xavier soon found a little project. They found some sticks and pretended that the mud was paint. They found sticks for paintbrushes.Then they "painted" a nearby tree dark brown with mud. Koen loved it!Tavin and I hung out on the playground while the boys were happy with their painting projects. Look at these cute pics of Tav on the slide!After some more play and riding of vehicles, the boys did a show for me on the little stage there. Pretty cute that Koen got little brother and Xavier going with similar dance and song antics...On the way home, Koen led the way. He was so proud of himself that he made it up this hill.
Xavier was pretty tired, so he rode in the wagon with Tavin, which Tavin really enjoyed.
We got home and Xavier was happy to have a chance to play more with Koen and Tavin's trucks, cars, etc. We played downstairs, then upstairs, then downstairs again while I got their lunch together. Really, there were no problems. It was amazing. Koen really surprised me and actually shared very well with Xav and Tav during this time. He seems to really rise to the occasion when other kids are here. I was very impressed and told him so. The boys all ate a good lunch. I think they were very hungry. Soon after lunchtime Xavier's mom came to get him. I had such a positive report for her and I can wholeheartedly say that we would love to do it again sometime. He was a delight and a fun distraction for my boys from the normal routine!