Dog Days!

With temperature has being over 100, we've spent a lot of time at the pool lately! Both kids have become great swimmers! Riley is now swimming the length of the pool and she has decided to join the swim team next year! (if next summer is this hot, Eric and I are going to be miserable at the meets!!) Kyle is officially swimming - last week he rescued a toy dinosaur, tread water to give the toy to a friend, and then swam back to the wall. The first time he lifted his head for a breath and swam a substantial distance, he exclaimed, "Am I FIVE now??!!" As it turns out, only 5 year olds can swim on their own!

We had a great visit with the Grinnells last week as well - however I remembered to bring my camera down stairs but forgot to take an pix! Drew and Kyle got along great and Sam is such a cutie!!

The kids have loved growing our 1st garden ever and can get enough of our fresh cucumbers!! (they still won't eat the squash or tomatoes but we have hope!) The corn turned our pretty good too and are cantaloupe are coming along nicely!

Riley and Kyle also enjoyed a great week of Backyard Bible Camp (Kids Give Back)! I'm going to attempt to upload a video:-) We have tons of beach pix to come soon!!

Summer Fun!

July! It is already JULY!! We have had such a fun and exhausting summer so far - and the best way to tell the summer to date is through pix!

We started our adventures in Vermont! Cousin Danny got married to adorable Tori and the wedding was beautiful!! Aunt Rita and Uncle Vin really know how to throw a party and as always, the views of Vermont were amazing! Such a perfect setting for a beautiful wedding! The kids were GREAT in the car! Who knew that all we needed were old school CD walkmen to keep everyone happy and chill for a 10 hour ride!

We all loved seeing all the cousins too! Since the last time we have all been together, FOUR baby boys (including Kyle!) have been born. Kyle and James hit it off within minutes! They ran and played so hard that Kyle puked! but kept on running! Kyle still asks to play with James! Too cute!

James and Kyle in Aunt Rita's yard

Look at that setting behind Riley - wow!

The week following Vermont we headed down to NC to see Grandma and Papa for the annual Member/Guest tournament! I didn't take pix but the kids had a blast swimming in the pool and biking all over the neighborhood! Riley has improved her swimming so much and Kyle is a little fish in his own right - too bad he can't pull his head out of the water - he'd be on swim team! The guys didn't win but played really good golf!

The following weekend we were actually in town! It is a good thing too, b/c we finally got to join in on all the fun of one of Aidens birthday's! Happy 6 birthday big guy! The party was at a Mad Science Lab and the kids had a GREAT time. Below, Ri is floating on a disk and twirling all around the room!

And of course this past weekend was the 4th of July! We had so much fun on Papa's boat, in the pool, and watching the fireworks over the water on the boat!

snuggle time with papa!

Matching suits:-)

Swimming in the Bay

Tubing! Kyle was the first to give it a shot but Riley loved it most of all! Where as Kyle and Lexa cried at the first big bump, Riley yelled "yippee!!"

Grandma had a super idea this year... we boated out to watch the fireworks and after, Papa dropped us off at the pre-parked car. The ladies drove the kids home and Papa, Eric, and Justin drove the boat home in the pitch black night:-) We all made it home safe!

Grandma and the kiddos!

Kyle's first Flying Squirrell game! smushed between 2 doll babies, Ruthie and Cerys!

Riley at the game - the kids hung out happy till the game ended (10:30 - not bad!) Cotton candy and icecream helped!

Nutzy!

Riley stayed with Lexa down in NC this week so Kyle has been an only child... it is a good thing he has a sibling b/c he definitely needs someone to talk to! He has been a non stop chatter box since we got home and has been cracking us up. Here he got into Riley hello kitty stamps and made himself "look like Morris' daddy" (a friend from school) "who has lots of tattoos"!! (update: I saw Morris' daddy this morning and Kyle's tattoo's below don't even come close to the ink this guy has on him:-) LOL!)