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.