Busy, busy summer

This summer has truly gone by in a blur. We've done so much and quite frankly I just hadn't been updating like I should because of all the activities. I thought I'd give a glimpse of our summer before fall sets in and we get back into a normal routine.

There were fireworks.

A rare moment of sweet brothers sleeping in.

Our first puppet show.

W loved the puppet show, and if you wait for it,

you'll hear him erupt into giggles. Too cute!

There's also been plenty of swimming and daredevil action by a certain 2 yr. old.

"Cautious" as we like to call him going into

the pool with his floaties and noodle.

"Fearless", on the other hand, jumps without hesitation.

We spent a little time at the farm with our cousins and Grandpa.

Having fun in the hammock swing.

Thirsty boy

Riding the tractor.

Of course, there was Zoo time.

No surprise that Fearless wanted to drive the tractor.

Big victory in that Cautious actually asked

to ride the carousel and loved it although he parked it on the bench!

Little bit choose to ride the rhino instead.

Notice G's face. He had just sampled the sand. LOL.

We can never turn down an opportunity to dance at the Zoo either.

There was also gym time and a trip to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory to see ice cream made.

Jumping

Did someone say ICE CREAM?!

"Look at me."

Love this smile!

But our biggest accomplishment of the summer was learning to ride our bikes!

Big boy W learned to ride first and was so proud of his new bike.

G quickly decided that he wanted to ride a bike too!

It'a been a summer of firsts for sure - first trip to the mountains, first time to the movie theater, learning to ride our bikes, and too many other firsts to count What a wonderful summer we've had! Hopefully, we'll get into a new groove once school starts up again. Until then, we've got one more vacation to go before summer ends!

Party time

On Saturday, we celebrated w's 4th birthday at a local gymnastics facility where he will tell you "We exercised, ate cake and I gots new toys!" Despite a small delay in getting into the party venue, it was a great place to host a party. The kids had a ball running, jumping and playing on the equipment. We had 2 coaches at our disposal and who lead the group in some games. The best part was having the entire facility to ourselves versus the mad house that other party venues are when you have 5 groups sharing the same place. It's fair to say he and his friends had a wonderful time. And, of that, I am truly thankful.

Waiting to go in the gym

J having a blast

Whatcha doing, Willis?

Come over here and I'll show you the ropes.

Monkey see, monkey do...

Fun times with our friends

Pretty girl.

Taking a moment to chill a bit.

Watch me!

Hey, look at us!

Look at me go.

I take break, mama.

Jump, jump, jump...

All of our friends making funny faces for the camera.

Thomas cake

Goofing with our best buddy, J.

Happy birthday, sweet pea!

Dear W,

I can't quite believe that you are 4 years old today. Four years ago I became a mother and with that came the huge responsibility of raising a newborn you. I hope I've done a good job so far and I'm so grateful that you came into my life, our lives, that day. I thought I knew what it would be like to be a mother. I thought I knew what it meant to love. Then, you arrived and taught me that I knew so very little.

Everyday you amaze me with how much you know. You love to reading and love nothing more than looking at books or your animal encyclopedia. You love spending time at the Zoo. I envision you growing up and being a Zoologist or veterinary doctor. You are truly a human sponge!

You love to play with your brother, most of the time, and love showing him how to do things and teaching him things. He looks up to you, shouting for you in the morning and showing you all the tricks he's learning.

You know your own mind and know what you want which can make you a stubborn child but I'm sure will stand you in good stead in later years to truly go out there and make something of yourself. I know you will make us so proud when you start school next year or two; you are already showing you have the makings of becoming someone really, really amazing.

You are caring and thoughtful, always making sure we're all OK and asking if we "slept well" and greeting us with "Good morning, mommy. Good morning, daddy." You love cuddling with me in the morning and listening to the stories of how you were in my tummy and how you got out and grew and grew from a teeny tiny baby to a big boy.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday today.

Loving you has shown me that I can’t control everything…that sometimes the most amazing moments come from letting go just a little…that sometimes it’s better to let life guide us just a bit.

Happy birthday, my little love

xoxo,

Mama

Sum, Sum, Summah Time!

W and G's last day of school was last week, and boy are we ready for summer! But, prior to school being out, we had W's end of year field trip to the park and G's class party.

The Friday before school let out, all the 3K classes at W's school walked down to the locate park for some play and a picnic lunch. I brought our wagon and half a large watermelon to share with the kids. It was a hit! Unfortunately, severe weather is a normal occurrence in the South this time of year so our class trip was cut short due to a severe thunderstorm warning so we had a quick trek back to the school in case it got bad.

G's party was in his classroom so no big trips in his age group. They had party food and played a lot. At this age, they are so thrilled to have mommy or daddy pop in. Thankfully, one of the fellow moms took lots of pics and offered to send them to the class so I didn't have to pull out my camera.

Now that it has gotten hot, - yes, it's only May, but we've hit the 90s more than a few times already so it's going to be a HOT summer, for sure - we've pulled out our big inflatable pool and the boys are having a blast. The first day I pulled it out, they played for 3-1/2 hours nonstop! I imagine we will be party city for the kids circuit this summer. We've already invited a few of our friends over for some playtime.

With numerous playdates scheduled, involvement in MOMS club, a Zoo membership, a mountain vacation and a beach vacation planned, this summer is sure to great one and fly all too quickly by!

mother's day and other stuff

Slowly but surely catching up. W's class hosted a tea to honor their mothers on Mother's Day. We had a fabulous time and W was super excited to give me his present and card. It's these moments that you want to wrap up and keep forever.

Speaking of moments you love capturing. Here's one of lil'G and his daddy. I would think that it's fair to say that is the look of love.

With all these kid moments, it is easy to miss out on the adult time so we took advantage of a local fundraiser to get some time out alone. Since we were all pretty, I had someone snap pic us the two of us. These days the cameras filled with pics of the boys or of one of us and the boys so its nice to actually have a recent picture where neither one of us look like a hot parenting mess.

This was piece of art for auction at the fundraiser. It cracked me up to see some space robot thingy interposed with some peaceful but dated nature scene. I may just have to recreate this and see what kind of response I get from guests to our home. Ha!