So Close

We told him if he still couldn't sleep at 10:00, he could come sleep on our floor.

He tried so hard.

An Evening Swim

As a general rule of thumb, I don't like to swim unless it's at least 90 degrees outside.  There is nothing fun about trucking to my towel soaking wet and shivering.  Sadly, that means our swimming days are becoming more and more numbered  So, more and more often I find myself packing up a makeshift (and pretty pathetic) dinner and text Reo to meet us at the pool after work. 

The kids don't mind the PB and J dinner one bit.

And seriously, do you think this little girl looks up to her brother much?  Tries to be just like him.   And then I disappear into the huge puddle of adorableness..

Ice Cream Tuesdays

My kids go to bed early.  Really early.  And while this has obvious perks, we pretty much shut down for the night at 7:00.  Because of this, I have a tendency to live for the weekends.  To get a little more joy out of the other 70 percent of my life I instituted one of my new favorite traditions...Ice Cream Tuesday.  It's a big hit all around.  

This is Harper's ice cream face.

Same day, different place each week, another day to look forward to (almost) as much as Saturday.

Ice cream Tuesday may just become a permanent fixture around here.

Anatomy of Harper's Summer

A long, long time ago, I wrote a post about how people shouldn't be sixteen months old in the winter.  For the record, July?  An ideal time to be sixteen months old.  Just ask Harper.

Our 4th

The Rundown:

We started our day with what is becoming a traditional 4th of July breakfast of champions.  Doughnuts and Diet Coke, picked up on the way to stake out our parade spot in the blazing sun, because I will never be hardcore enough to procure a shady spot the night before.  

We were joined by a whole crew of the fam this year, which exponentially increased Holden's taffy collecting footprint.

Which was good, because he spent the last week or so before the parade coaching Harper that she needs to help him clap so the people throw candy at them.

And I got a gift better than the 10,000 pounds of taffy Holden ended up with.  The news of happy hour finally within a reasonable driving distance?  Best news ever.

I mean, besides Gun Heaven.  Obv.

After the parade we brought everyone back to our house to show off our newly acquired pizza grilling skills.

The kids loved it.

What, you can't tell?

We threw in some eagle cookie decorating for good measure.  I was so engrossed in my craftmanship I didn't even notice Holden licking his spreader clean behind me.

We rounded out the day with what up until this year we have convinced Holden were "fireworks."  The snakes and pop its didn't fool anyone this year.

Which is why this was his face when he found out a couple of days later at the Manning BBQ that fireworks weren't going to be rained out after all.

Definitely going to have to up my game next year.

We finished up our patriotic weekend with good old fashioned red, white and blue pancakes for Sunday dinner.

All in all, another successful 4th of July holiday!

Kid Vs Kid--Family Photos

 So, my babies aren't into smiling for the (professional) camera.  Like, not even one little smile during their whole first family photo shoot.  Good thing they are still cute.

               (Holden at 11.5 months)                                                   (Harper at 14.5 months)  

Thankfully, this appears to be a problem they outgrow.

Big time.

Yep, getting smiles isn't a problem at all now...

Amazing photography work by Amanda Castleberry Photography.  It was not at all her fault Harper plays hard to get.

Rite of Passage

First Popsicle.  Pants optional. 

And the white Popsicle?  Brilliant.  Well played, Airheads Popsicle.  Well played.

And it's not a photo op without the cheeser face.