Holden's Life Just Got a Little Better

He's discovered the joys of a bubble bath.

Life is good.

So Long, Farewell

It is an unwritten rule that I like my friends to stay close to home so I can see them whenever I please. For the most part people comply with these rules. But for some reason THESE three

decided that moving across the country to go to medical school was more important than me being able to see them willy nilly. Naturally, we needed to have a going away bash, but since our go to hostess with the mostess was the guest of honor, the rest of us scrambled to step up to the plate. Good news! The party turned out anyways, even with me as one of the organizers.

We did a lot of this...

and then posed for some formal shots, since who knows what kind of grown ups we will all look like when they get back.

Lastly, we had the children (minus baby Ember, who had the good sense to go to bed before the madness started) provide the evening's entertainment by trying to get them to pose for a photo. This is the best I got.

I know what you are thinking, THAT was the best you got? Sad but true, primarily because SOMEONE's child (the one on the left with the apparent glass eye) was not being very cooperative. The other children were not pleased.

But hey, I wouldn't be either. The little show off thought we were there to take pictures of him dancing. Seriously, some people's children...

Dear Derek, Lara and Jack. We will miss you lots, so come visit lots. Thanks.

Our 4th (and 3rd, and 5th, and 2nd...) Of July!

Having the 4th of July on a Sunday really makes for an endless weekend of endless fun!

Pictured: The Centerville Parade
Highlights: Perfecting Paula Abdul clap (Holden); eating taffy through the wrapper (Holden); watching the parade on Dad's shoulders (Holden); and freaking awesome hair day (me).

Not Pictured: Pretty much everything else...Guess I was too busy having fun to take good pictures.
Highlights: Three, count 'em, THREE(!) barbeques; s'mores; swimming(x2); breakfast picnics; and leaving church early after being puked on repeatedly by a toddler (not mine).

Odd

You know how parents are always lamenting about why they even bother buying toys when their kid just picks random stuff to play with? Well, Holden is no exception. He has always preferred real phones to toy phones, real remotes to toy remotes, etc. But this one threw me for a loop....

Yup...A plastic spoon and a lime. He has carried these around the house with him non stop for the last 3 days. I have to beg him to leave them behind when we go anywhere (you know, to avoid the inevitable weird looks we would get). Hopefully he gets over this obsession before the lime starts to go bad, or things could get ugly.

My Thoughts On Our "Campout"

I feel as though "campout", similarly to "scrapbooking" and "gardening" needs to have quotes around it lest people get the wrong idea about my skills. Those of you who are die hard campers would laugh at my less than 24 hour overnight jaunt that I consider to be my summer camping trip. I slept in a tent and I ate s'mores. It doesn't get more camping than that, right?

Holden decided to start the trip off right by getting completely filthy before we even stepped foot onto the campsite. If a little bit of licorice face keeps him from having a total meltdown during the car ride, so be it. Yes, you heard me, again with the licorice. Don't judge.
Side note: Turns out Reo about has a panic attack seeing our child get dirty. Good thing Holden and I clean up the shananigans that take place while Reo's at work, or he might have child protective services after me.

We brought along the men folk in the form of Reo and my brother in law Dan to do the hard labor, like putting up the tent.

Thanks to their skills we got down to business lounging around inside the tent in no time.

Holden discovered that throwing rocks around the campsite is the funnest thing ever. Except maybe throwing rocks at people's heads. Time-out is hard to enforce in the great outdoors, but after getting clocked with a couple of boulders, you figure out a way.

I discovered that Holden has no fear of water, not even sicko, murky water. A nice morning stroll around the reservoir turned into a fully clothed me chasing a fully clothed Holden into a freezing cold body of water before he could finish diving in headfirst.

One of the best parts of camping is catching up on my trashy magazines. Shocker alert: Jake and Vienna didn't make it? If those two kids can't work it out, my marriage doesn't stand a chance.

Reading all those trashy magazines has helped me realize my true potential. I should definitely be moonlighting as a papparazzo. If Reo were famous you would totally be seeing this picture in the next issue of Us Weekly, don't you think?

Due to Reo having that previously discussed problem with Holden getting dirty, he was only allowed the (untoasted) marshmallow part of a S'more. Holden didn't seem to mind.

Overall, a good time was had by all. "Camping" may be something we attempt again.

Signs

Signs that things have gotten pretty lax at the Manning house these days:

1. The first thing Holden says to me when I go to get him out of his crib every morning is "licorice?" When I inevitably say no, he follows up with "Watch Elmo?" Depending on how early it is and just how lazy I am feeling, sometimes he wins on that one.

And also, I usually give in on the licorice later on.

Wouldn't you? Look how much he loves that stuff!

2. My cleaning closet is looking, well, unclean. At best...

3. Holden spends way too much of the morning looking like this:

The benefit of our new laid back lifestyle? We get to spend more time doing stuff like this:

Thanks for finally showing up, Summer. We are big fans.

Say No To This Kid...I Dare You

Who wants to be the disciplinarian for my child? Anyone? Because I'll be honest, between the super cute pouting and the cheeseballing, I just don't have the heart. I left the mini tantrum that followed out of the video, because some of you don't have kids yet, and I'd like you to. But even that was kind of adorable, in it's own way.

P.S. Once again, sorry about the bad quality. Steven Spielberg I am not.

P.P.S. Don't be alarmed that Holden looks like he is scratching 10,000 bug bites. That is his attempt at the sign language word for please.