Catch Up on Summer

It's been a good summer thus far for our family! Just as usual, once July 4th passes, the summer seems to fly by. I can hardly believe it is well into August already.


Here are some pictures from our busy Fourth of July. I was so excited to put the kids into the Children's Parade for the first time. She rode in the wagon with a friend, while the men carried the boys in backpacks. We mommies waited on the sidelines to cheer them on as they passed by. Since it was such a warm day, I was glad to be watching instead of walking!!




He was enjoying playing in the wagon while we watched the big parade...and it was the only shade near us on our side of the street! Next year we will either reserve spots on the opposite side or bring a canopy and make it a fun BBQ with drinks for everyone.







She was great at interacting with the parade. She became quite adept at clapping and waving at the parade participants. It was so cute to watch!














This was taken during the annual Church in the Park on the Sunday before July 4th. It was, once again, a beautiful, warm Sunday for sitting outside! However, I must confess that I had to take her to the playground to play about halfway through the service!









Here she got to play in the fountains across the street from Daddy's work! We've done that a couple of times now...







This is our 9 month old little charmer! He now has two teeth, which have contributed to a slightly more cranky disposition than his usually very happy self!!

June!

She really is happy here...playing in the sprinkler.







A Father's Day treat...reading first thing in the morning. What fun!











He is getting so mobile now!! He's figured out crawling, and here is his latest venture: standing up on his own. He is now getting into everything...but at least he is happy!!

Puppies For Sale

Aren't they CUTE??????

We want to sell them!! Five are remaining to get to new homes. One yellow female, one chocolate male, and 3 black males. They are all so fun, and have great temperaments. They have had their first shots, dewclaws removed, initial vet visit, and come from great parent dogs. AKC registered labrador retrievers. Let us know if we can make your day with a puppy!

On the verge...

He is just about to be crawling!

However, in the meantime, he gets very frustrated.

He scoots around with this one-armed army crawl that is rather fun to watch. In comparison to his sister, he seems to be moving along a little ahead of her. She was in the 8 month range when she began to crawl. But this is no amazing wonder, since he has ALWAYS been a moving around wiggly boy. He will only get busier I'm sure!

A Birthday Week for a 2 year old!

It started out almost a week before her actual birthday....Papa and Grammy visited on Mother's Day, and we celebrated by having a little early birthday party for her.



Here she is eating her birthday cake that she and Grammy made together, wearing her new dress from Grammy (and new pink croc shoes, even though you can't see them). That day we (Dan and I) picked up the perfect little wooden table and chairs for her birthday present...we had just found it on Craigslist for very little $$!! She was trying out for the first time.









Great-Grandpa (-Papa) and Great-Grandma came for a visit on Thursday, and dropped off her card and present--wow! 2 dollars! Great-Grandpa is reading her birthday card to her, telling her how great-great-great-great she is.

Of course, we all agree!!






These were her fun little cupcakes we made for her official birthday party on Saturday. A bunch of fun critters! The inspiration is in their "cups". If you look closely, you can see they are on feet! A great invention--silicone cupcake cups with legs. So, invariably, you have to make the cake into critters! It was a fun little task for me that day. :-)




Her brother, in all his festive birthday spirits!! He is creeping up on 7 months old very soon!











She and a couple of friends at her birthday party in the park.

She had been sick for the past day or two, and was obviously fighting the nasty bug that had plagued her brother and I all week. Her eyelids were droopy and her energy level was significantly diminished. However, she still appeared to have fun, and despite her illness, played on the playground and seemed to enjoy her party!

Since a couple of her best friends missed her Saturday party, we held a special one on Sunday with them. So, a week later, she was still blowing out birthday candles and listening to us sing "Happy Birthday" to her.








Here are the three of them, eating the critter cupcakes (these ones didn't have legs). By evidence of what remained when they were finished, it could be presumed that they thought the frosting was the best part. :-) It was lots of fun, and their giggling could be heard by all the neighbors, I'm sure! :-)

Spring activities

This was after a long day of playing with friends in the sunshine...water, sprinklers, picinics, trampoline, barbeque......what a fun day!!

Here she is chasing after baby emus at our annual MOPS trip to Gramma Lou's emu farm. She just wanted to pet one!

He got himself all rolled up into a baby burrito--all by himself! Needless to say, he wasn't all that happy about his little situation.

From Papa and Grammy's visit last week...she adores her Papa, and it took no effort to get her napping on his lap. How sweet!!

Sitting big

He turned six months old yesterday...so today we made it his first day to sit up in a chair and give his first college-try at eating some yummy carrots.

I don't know if any of it made it into his stomach! He had more fun chewing on the spoon! He was definitely very interested in the spoon as it moved towards his mouth; it was all I could do to get the carrots in before his hands grabbed the spoon! Very different from his sister! :-) I'm glad for that. I think he rather enjoyed this experience...and his sister enjoyed the entertainment from the sidelines!