Me and my boys!

We spent some time together on Sunday just walking around....me and my boys.  Thoughtful Child and the Lovely Daughter are off at school right now, but they would have laughed at us as we made our way around the old familiar haunts.......the English garden, the hedge maze, the Japanese garden, feeding the ducks (no carp were there this time), the raked rocks of lightning, the old familiar sheep.  "Wow, they all used to be much smaller" is the main thought I came away with yesterday.  When did they get so old?  Time was we were careening around with a toddler hanging on for dear life in his stroller as he was being pushed by an enthusiastic older brother, losing hats in the pond,  buying buckets of fish food, playing in the fountains.  They still remain boys, however, as they dared my husband to hurl a chunk of ice in the pond and see how far it would go...and he DID it. This is when Lovely Daughter and I would walk quickly ahead and pretend we didn't know them.  But, alas, she wasn't here, so I was alone in my embarrassed indignation. You never outgrow that boy thing.  

I had to conclude that I really like being the mom of boys! 

We call this one "The Fresh Prince" of Istanbul in his Ottoman garden.

Checking out strategies in the maze

They have that same quizzical squint

Partners in crime.

Heeeeelloooooo.

Dancing Child is deathly afraid of bees.....just a fear he has......he just saw a beehive in this picture...what are the odds we would see one this early!

"Will that ice hold me?" says Dancing Child.  "Let's find out", says Eldest Child.

These sheep used to be much larger......

Didn't stop any of them from taking a ride!  Guess which one is the oldest?