'It's been so much fun that the three days seemed like one'

That's a quote from Nicholas, which summed up the holiday weekend nicely. My parents came over from Atlanta and my sister flew in from Wyoming, and the boys loved every minute of their visit.

On Saturday the boys were happy to cozy up to "Pop" for a reading session before we headed out on the day's adventures.

They are utterly captivated by books, and Pop was happy to oblige.

Another thing Pop is happy to do is get in some good baseball time with the boys. He played through college and truly loves the game.

The boys LOVE to hit and catch with him.

"Mop" can always be counted on as a loud cheering section when the boys play. They love a good cheerleader.

Jakey doesn't get to play all that much when The Big Boys are hitting, but he didn't mind too much since it meant he got a lot of attention from Mop.

And anyway, he had a lot of pantsless jumping to get in.

We enjoyed a good four miles of bike riding and walking on a local trail that day, and after supper the boys and Sarah Ellen played a high-energy game of Risk.

Nick's former preschool teacher, Ms. Raja, is from India, and he staked a claim on it first thing. Then he spent the rest of the game imploring everyone else not to attack it. "Don't kill Ms. Raja! Don't kill Ms. Raja!"

Sunday was just as beautiful a day as Saturday was, and we spent the morning in The Preserve.

The boys can't ever get enough of the climbing.

They climb and climb and climb, and even when they're sweaty and their legs are all scraped up, they don't want to stop.

Jakey included.

Grayson did a little climbing of his own.

And besides the climbing, no trip to The Preserve is complete without splashing in the water. More specifically, throwing ROCKS in the water to make big splashes.

Sunday afternoon Nathaniel had baseball practice.

If you're new here, you don't know it yet, but the next two months are going to look an awful lot like THIS around here:

(To read the highlight of last season, click here.)

Sunday night we had my mom's brothers and their wives over to supper, and it was wonderful to see them all. We hadn't seen them since Kyser's funeral, so it was a bittersweet reunion ... but also so affirming. Family is so precious.

We grilled chicken and hotdogs and enjoyed a ginormous fruit salad ... this is like a two-gallon bowl ...

... And this yummy Asian slaw, out of an even bigger bowl.

I know you're jealous because I get so fancy all up in here, with my serving out of my Sterilite containers and everything. Don't hate.

Yesterday we decided to hit the walking/bike trail again, since the day was gorgeous AGAIN. Apparently my sister brought nice weather with her from Wyoming.

 We walked while Grayson and The Big Boys rode their bikes.

I took this one before Nathaniel got lost. That's right, I said LOST.

Toward the end of our morning, he got too far in front of Grayson and Nicholas and they got separated for about 15 minutes. Grayson called me after 10 of those minutes to ask me to check the trail head. He wasn't there, but about five minutes later Grayson called me back to let me know he'd found him.

Do I need to tell you how long those minutes felt? I didn't think so. Once we were all reunited, I grounded the boys from riding their bikes there for a month. GRAYSON INCLUDED.

But all's well that ends well, I suppose, and we enjoyed the rest of our day -- aside from the headache medicine I had to take because the adrenaline rush I got from the mildly panicky moments went straight to my head and knocked it for a painful loop.

Yesterday evening culminated with a little more baseball and badminton in the backyard, as well as some improvised rock climbing.

When you don't have rocks, you make do with what you have.

And if that's not dangerous enough, you can always count on Pop to throw you a baseball while you're up there.

Please, let's take a moment while Grayson's sister "Aunt Debbie" picks herself up off the floor.

Between Nathaniel getting lost on a public bike trail and the boys flinging themselves off the roof of the playhouse to catch a baseball, I'm not sure her heart can take it.

Hope your Labor Day was as much fun -- if not as INTENSE -- as ours was.

Bring it on, September ... we're ready.