Swimming!

The little guy started swimming lessons today. These are his first lessons where he's in the water without his parents, and he was a little freaked out at first. BUT, he stuck with it and was jumping into the water to his teacher by the end of the half-hour. I am so proud of him!

On the walk home, we had a big conversation about why it's important to learn to swim (and to exercise in general). It's so fun that he's old enough to have actual conversations now, even if most of them are completely ridiculous.

Mimic

The baby has started wandering around with the phone to her ear saying "Hello?" just like her brother used to do. Here she is having a very serious conversation about something.

I love her little dimpled knuckles!

Beach Day (at school)

For the past couple weeks daycare has been having theme days on Wednesdays. A couple weeks ago it was superhero day. Before that it was pajama day. Last week it was farmer day, which I'm not even sure what that would look like. Would it be like this? or this? Either way I'm picturing a straw hat with some freshly cut hay hanging out of his mouth, not unlike this. Maybe it's where I'm from, but you say farmer and I picture a stereotypical hillbilly. And I mean no offense to all the farmers out there. I don't think you're hillbillies. 

Sorry -- rabbit trail.

Anyway, today was "beach day". Here's the little ones ready to go to school. These two are a hoot sometimes! (and I don't know what's going on with the big one's two-tooth grin he's been sporting for the camera lately)

Oh and, by the way, we harvested our first vegetable from the garden. It was a cucumber about the size of your palm. Emily was very excited. Here's hoping it is the first of many!

Favorite Hobby

The little dude and I shared my favorite hobby tonight-- rearranging furniture! We measured the kids' room, cut out furniture shapes, moved them around, and then moved their furniture. Here we are deep into the planning stages.

The room looks pretty good, if I can say so myself.

Happy Daddy

I was laying on the couch Saturday minding my own business when Beau decided to hop up and lay on my chest. Emily decided it would be fun to take pictures while he kneaded me until I was comfortable enough for his liking. Well, you know the big kid and cameras. It wasn't long before I had another being piling on.

I'll tell you what. Life doesn't get much better. There's one happy daddy under there somewhere.

California Dreaming!

The weather was amazing in CA. It didn't rain the ENTIRE time we were there! I'm used to the humidity, and it was fabulous not having any for a little while.

The kids had a blast on the trip. The little dude spent hours upon hours running around my grandparents' backyard. He played all kinds of sports back there. He also spent some time admiring their orange tree.

Meanwhile, the baby and her great-uncle spent a lot of time poking at things with a big stick!

Bike Race!

While out running some fun errands in California, we came across a bike race. It was really exciting, and a short enough track that the bikes rode by every few minutes. We sat and watched the race on both ends of our errands. I think we could've stayed forever.

California, Here We Come

Actually, we went this past week, but I've had the O.C.'s theme song (California by Phantom Planet) stuck in my head for about a month. My mom and I took the kids to visit their great-grandparents and we had a blast! Here are the first of MANY photos I took.

Here are the kids at the airport, right before they were
perfect little angels on the plane.

This is why we went to California.

Introducing a new sport-- a hybrid of soccer, baseball, and
tennis (along with with fancy uniforms).

Both kids missed their daddy a TON, so it was great seeing him again last night.

Ninja!

We should probably invest in some dress-up clothes, because this is the little dude's homemade ninja outfit:

I can't even with this kid.

Smart Kid

Eric and the little dude were playing catch inside when the little dude was hit in the eye with a ball. Luckily it was a soft ball, but it still hurt. He disappeared for a few minutes, and came back ready to play catch again!

We both were crying we were laughing so hard. Hilarious!!!! I love this kid.

Explanation

This one is from a few days ago, but here's the little guy explaining all about our bean sprouts:

I love that he ends things by throwing in a little Spanish.

Jack and the Beanstalk?

Now that our pole-beans have sprouted, I totally understand Jack and the Beanstalk. Those suckers are rocketing up! The little guy and I go out most mornings to check on the garden. It's amazing how fast everything is growing-- every day there's something new.

I can't wait to start eating all this stuff!

Fancy!

I sewed the baby a dress several weeks ago, but didn't get snaps for it until this morning. Here she is modeling it at the park tonight!

It's so cute! It's the first article of clothing that I've made for her... first of many, I think.

Anyway, on the way home from the park, the little guy fell and scraped his elbow and both knees. He asked me to take the following picture and email it to his teachers. What a goober!

In case you were wondering, I didn't send it to his teachers.

Getting Better All the Time!

The baby still looks awful, but is doing SO much better. Hooray! After dinner, everyone headed out to check on the garden and play baseball in the yard (we're in a rut). The baby's feet are hurting her, so she sat in a little rocking chair to watch the game.

Even Beau came out with us to enjoy the evening. Ah, summertime.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

Hand, foot and mouth disease is the sickness that I thought was the WORST when the little guy had it. It was AWFUL, and apparently it's the baby's turn.

The good news is that she doesn't seem to be looking worse anymore... so hopefully she'll start looking better soon.

Sweetness

Sometimes the little dude snatches toys from the baby, but other times he hugs her and loves on her. So sweet! So uncomfortable looking!

Our garden is exploding with growth! The tomatoes have more than doubled in size, and check out what my cucumbers are doing: they're climbing their trellis!

I know we're doing this to teach the little dude some science, but I've completely taken over the whole thing. It's so exciting!

Happy, Happy

The little dude brought the baby a piece of chocolate tonight after dinner. I think she liked it!

Weirdos

Our kids are weird. The baby's new favorite snack is a piece of bread. No butter, no jam, no peanut butter-- just a slice of plain old whole wheat bread. Yum?

Meanwhile, this is what the little dude wore to school today (minus the football helmet catcher's mask). Can you tell that he's a baseball player?

Play Ball!

We went to another one of Eric's softball games tonight. I wasn't organized enough to pack a picnic this time, so the kids split a McDonald's kids meal (with a spiderman toy AND chocolate milk!).

The baby kept trying to run into the dugout and onto the field to see her daddy. The little guy was blocking her from going in (in a fun way-- they were having a blast). Then the little dude stiff-armed the baby and she just toppled over backwards and hit her head on the sidewalk (thunk). She was SO upset that it took her a few seconds to even start screaming! The poor little dude just started apologizing as soon as it happened, bless his heart. They are both fine now, asleep in their room.

Sounds of Silence

Sorry for the unexpected absence! We went to a baseball game Thursday night and brought the camera (but no memory card), and then I fell asleep at 8pm on Friday. It was glorious, especially since Eric let me sleep until 9:30am. Ahhhhh...

Anyway, we had a great baseball game going in the yard last night. The little guy was pretending to be Joey Votto and he hit one all the way into the poison ivy! (Basically a home run.)

The baby wandered around the yard with a spare bat and a soccer ball. Then she starting eating the soccer ball, so I had to take it away. Bleagh!