No, I haven't started stuttering. The level of Benjamin's obsession for everything relating to March Madness has reached levels that can only be described as... well... madness. While I'm sure that thousands of little boys around the nation have pored over the NCAA bracket and painstakingly filled one out, I'm not sure how many have filled out at least fifteen (same teams, slightly different outcomes-- kind of like those choose your own adventure books). Most of Benjamin's brackets have been drawn by hand, although this afternoon I did take pity on him and print out four more for his use. He was ecstatic. We are beginning to worry. I asked him today what he is going to talk about once the tournament is all over, and his prompt response was, "How the teams all did!" *Sigh* It may be a long wait until football season...
Ty has developed some passions of his own. And while no one has passion like Benjamin, Ty's feelings are still quite strong. (Benjamin would be appalled that I started my sentence with "and", but I'm a grown-up and I can, so I did. But (!) please don't tell him or I'll lose all credibility as a writer in his mind.) One of Ty's loves is playing outside in the dirt with his trucks. Even rain could not keep my wild thing from wanting to go outside with his whole soul, so one day this week I finally put him in some old clothes and sent him outside. When he eventually came in, he was covered in mud and a face-splitting grin. "Gwamps' house" is the other thing that really floats his boat. And why wouldn't it? Where else can he run up and down hills, play in a playhouse, drive tractors in the dirt, ride down the hill in a car, eat treats, and play with his cousin Emmy? More and more often the first words out of his mouth in the morning are, "Gwamps' house? Go car?" Today I made the mistake of telling him that we were going to go to Gramps' house after his nap. He cheered and went to his bed happily enough... only he didn't sleep. I've made a mental note not to mention Gramps' house if I hope to get Ty to sleep before the trip is completed.
Jacob deliberately threw up in the car again today, and I'm still fuming about it, so you'll have to wait until next time to get an update on him!
Yesterday morning was a nerve-wracking one for me. Brigham ran the Buffalo Run 25k (that's about 15.5 miles for those of us who are not super mathematical) on Antelope Island, and the shocking truth of it is that he really hadn't trained properly. Blame his work schedule and different illnesses, but when it all came down to it, he was not ready to race a 25k. Especially a 25k trail run. Up and down steep mountains. In the mud from the rain the day before. With wild buffalo roaming about ready and willing to gore passing runners. So I was nervous. But like always, Brigham rose to the challenge and slew the Buffalo Run, soundly beating all of his colleagues from work that he was so worried about being humiliated in front of. True, he can barely walk today, but he can drink proudly from his new Buffalo Run coffee mug. 
(Brigham didn't really want me to post this picture because he says that it looks like he's walking to the finish line, which is not entirely accurate. It really looks more like power walking. But the truth is that he absolutely was running. I can swear to it.)
After Brigham's victorious run and Benjamin's first soccer game of the spring season (which was not as victorious but fun nevertheless), we went with Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup to the Discovery Gateway museum. Any place that can make all of my kids this happy is one of my favorite places! What a good time! 
