Camping Trip

I feel really bad that I've been neglecting the blog for so long. We were gone for about a week camping, and then...I had so many pictures I didn't know where to start in editing them. So, I decided that I would just start with a couple of pictures and post them today and keep adding more pictures as the day/week goes.

We went camping for a week with the boys up north. This is the longest that we've been camping with the boys since Adam was born. We usually go for about 4-5 nights, but this was 7 nights. We had a great time...the area is much different from home, so it really felt like we got away. The boys were wonderful...if not tons of work! Dan and I were exhausted at the end of the day trying to keep up with them! We went on lots of walks to the lake and to see the other campground in the state park. The boys were always a huge dirty mess...but they loved it! We even got a big rainshower one day, and Adam was allowed to run around through the rain and puddles to his hearts content (Andrew was napping or he would have gone also). He's always wanted to do that! I guess I'll have to get him some galoshes :-).

The first set of pictures are just some general play around the campsite pictures. You can see how dusty our site was...and how the boys got so dirty! It rained the second night, so it wasn't so dusty the rest of the week (but it can get muddy awfully quick!). I also included a couple of pictures of the boys doing what Gramma C. has named, "Fish Face". Andrew likes to scream and then go into fish face, and when we try to capture it on camera, Adam has to contribute also. I'm also including a picture of our camper.

Another Birthday Celebration!

Well, a full month after Adam's birthday, we finally were able to get together with Dan's parents to celebrate Adam's 4th birthday. Since, we first celebrated his birthday in the middle of June when my parents were in town, Adam's had the two month long birthday celebration. I was kind of surprised that he didn't think he was 5 at this birthday, since it had been so long since his real birthday :-). We picked up pizza from Little Caesar's after church and I made him a car cake. I tried to make the car look like Lightning McQueen which went along with the gift theme. He got a large Lightning McQueen that makes noise and a small Doc Hudson and Mater. He really liked it when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him this year (he used to cry when we sang it when he was a baby!) and once he blew out his candles...he announced that it was time to open presents (which it was...since that's the way we do it every birthday at Dan's parents house), which was the first time that he really showed an excitement about opening gifts. Well...of course, here are a few pictures from the celebration.

VBS

Last week Adam, Andrew and I stayed with Dan's sister, Julie, so that we could help out at their church's VBS. I was supposed to help out in the kindergarten class, but attendance was down, so we had lots of helpers per child. So, I spent a lot of time walking around and taking pictures so I could create a slide show for Sunday morning. Of course, I had to feature a lot of pictures of Adam and his cousin, Tammy (who was in his class). Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them. The theme of the week was Rescue Heroes, so they had a police officer and some fire fighters visit...which Adam loved. Adam also has a new "best friend". He informed me that Bradley was his best friend in the car on the way to church one morning and then when Bradley showed up, he told his cousin, "Here's my best friend". I am including a picture of Adam with his "best friend"...oh and he's 16 :-). I don't have any pictures of Andrew, because if I walked into the nursery to take a picture, he would have cried and wanted to stay with mommy...so I had to stay out! Adam loved staying with his cousins and having someone to play with 24/7. Of course, we had to break up a few fights...but what do you expect with a 5, 4, and 3 year old? Andrew, on the other hand, had fun...but he got a little tired of all the "mothers". Julie's 3 daughters and a friend of the girls loved to follow Andrew around and hold him...but he wanted to walk...and let them know it. If he was older, he would have appreciated the girls fawning all over him better :-).

Luau

On Saturday evening, we went to a party at John and Sue's house. They have it every year in August, and it's lots of fun and a great opportunity to see some of my parent's (and our's) friends that we don't get to see throughout the year. They have a pool and hot tub, which Adam had a great time playing in. Here are some pictures from the evening...I don't have any limbo pictures to include...but Dan didn't win :-). I'm also including a picture of Sue and Donna that I took at my mom's request...

The Mess!!!

I've been at a bit of a loss as to what to feed Andrew for lunch these days. At dinner, he eats what we eat, but he's not a big fan (yet!) of peanut butter sandwiches, which seem to be our lunch staple. So, I bought some Gerber Graduates Entrees that you just heat up in the microwave. Today was the first day that I tried giving him one. I picked a pasta first, since he loves my spaghett. It seemed a bit soupy in the sauce, so I thought I would give him a spoon also, thinking he'd have no clue what to do. Apparently...he has been watching us, since he just started feeding himself. Here's the result...I think a little did make it into his mouth :-). I know Mike's going to love these pictures, so you have to show them to him, Sandra...although I'm sure he's lightened up a bit with Aaron :-).

Oh, and Adam had to have his picture taken also :-). You can see one of his new fake smiles that are so lovely... I'm sure I'll have lots more pictures of it.

Sprinkler Time

OK...I know I'm way behind in updating the blog... I don't really have any excuse other than being really busy this summer. The week after we went camping, I helped out at VBS at our old church, and then I went to visit my sister-in-law for a couple of days. I've finally been home for about a week, but I've been busy working on stuff for MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers). I'm in charge of Publicity this year, so I've been putting together a summer newsletter and the invitations and registration materials for the coming year. OK...enough with the excuses :-).

About a week and a half ago, I went grocery shopping on a Sat. afternoon (haven't done that in a long time...I definitely prefer going on weekday mornings!) and when I got home, Adam was running through the sprinkler in the backyard. I put Andrew down so he could run through also (I brought him shopping with me) and then I grabbed the camera. Who can resist taking pictures of such adorable little boys running through the sprinkler (OK...I may be a bit biased). We were actually having a bit of cooler (beautiful) weather (low 70's), so Adam may look a bit cold in some of the pictures...but they were having a blast. I'm also including a picture of Andrew climbing on the picnic table...the boy has no fear when it comes to climbing! He tries to climb up everything. This week, when we were putting a new door up in Adam's room, Dan had the stepstool out, and Andrew kept climbing up to the top. Anyway...here are the pictures.