Fire pit and Shaving creme

Our (meaning Brian's) "big" house project of the year was putting a patio in our backyard.  This is something I had wanted for a while, but could live without.  Mostly I just wanted it so the kids could ride bikes and play with chalk back there.  They can't play out front unsupervised because it's not safe at all on the road we live on....so I was hoping for a place that I didn't have to worry about so much.  Best. Decision. Ever.  Granted I didn't have to do any of the hard work:)  But I think B would agree too.  The kids love it back there.  Even more than they used to.  And now B and I have a nice spot to site and watch them play.  Plus, it's shady back there in the late afternoons/evenings so we can actually stand to be outside when it's 105 outside.  105 isn't nearly as bad if you've got a bit of shade (sad that this is our new reality!)  Anyways, we(meaning me) decided to fully "christen" the finished patio, we needed to make smore's in our new little fire pit.  We invited our good friends, and the kids' bff Grey, over to join the fun.  Might sound a little odd to start a fire and roast marshmallows when it's 105, but man, it was well worth it.  Best smore's I've had in a long time:)  The kids liked them too.

 Parker even got to enjoy the evening with his very first graham cracker.  His girlfriend Violet got one so her parents didn't have to worry about her eating dirt (a girl after P's own heart....two kindred spirits already), so I decided it was only fair he got one too.

 The boys all roasting some marshmallows.....On a side note....when we told Eli we were going to do this and that Grey got to come over, he said, "mommy, we get to marsh some marshmallows!!"

 Because we were already outside, and I've been wanting to do this forever, and the baby pool was empty of water/clean, we also decided to end the evening with a little shaving creme fun.  My sister in law does this with her kids every year and they have a blast.  I've been wanting to do it for a couple of years, but laziness and poor lack of memory to get shaving creme have stopped us.  A couple of weeks before smore's, I got several cans at the store and they just sat on the counter waiting for the perfect time to be used up.  The finished patio marked that time.  I wasn't sure what the kids would think.  Grey jumped right in....so consequently, so did Eli.  Really kind of shocked me.  He's not the most adventurous and is usually pretty timid.  I figured it would take a bit to get him in there.  But he hopped right in.  Kamdyn followed very soon after.  They all had a blast.  Who knew shaving creme could be so much fun!  It was hilarious watching them play and paint that stuff all over themselves and each other.  Best part is, they smelled nice at the end, and we could just hose them off right outside.  So much fun.  This is definitely something we will have to be adding to our yearly to-do list.