Cobblestone Dreams

Riley and Kyle had another fun summer week! Riley participated in a very fun Backyard Bible club though our church for most of the week and has a new found love for the pool! Kyle is picking up words and signs all the time now! He now signs bedtime, bath, outside, all done, more... I'm sure I'm forgetting some... and has at least 8 words including Mama and Dada (finally!!)!

Friday we had friends over for dinner and are looking forward to meeting the newest Bernier in September! Saturday Riley and Eric joined the Umsteads, including Mikes daughter Brandi and her adorable family, at a little water park near by. They had a GREAT day! Unfortunately, Kyle ran a pretty high fever all weekend long, so Tracy and Kyle stayed home and out of the hot sun and fun on Saturday. As always, Kyle was a trooper and aside from him 4 1/2 hour nap and over attachment to mom, you'd never know he was sick. Kyle and Tracy did join up with the gang later that afternoon to celebrate Uncle Mikes birthday. Happy Birthday Uncle Mike!!!

Before we move on to pictures, Riley and Kyle want to shout out a Happy Anniversary to Uncle Mike and Aunt Darcy and to Grandma and Papa! Here's to many, many, many more happy years!!

Also, Riley and Kyle want to wish Ms. Renai good luck on the CPA and thank her for her loyal and loving dedication to the surratt pack blog:-)
Enjoy the pix!!

Riley ready to slide down - look at that, she is getting her entire head wet!!!

Kyle spending some quality boy time with Mitch (Uncle Mikes grandson)

Tracy and Kyle swimming

The rest of these pix are from 4th of july with Grandma and Papa - Aunt Darcy passed them on to us the other day!

Grandma and Riley - awe so relaxing...
Like father, like son
Red, white and blue trio

11pm - Red is out cold (seriously, have you ever seen his hair look so red!!)

Riley going down the water slide

Please pause the fireworks!

Happy Independence Day from Riley and Kyle!

The Surratt Pack had a great 4th of July weekend in NC with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Darcy, & Lexa. It was a water filled weekend with boating, swimming at the pool, and watching excellent fireworks over the water! The kids LOVED going fast on the boat - we heard a lot of "faster Papa!" This was Kyle's 1st outing on the boat and he couldn't get enough. The fireworks were wonderful and the weather was fantastic. Kyle held strong until about 10 and then crashed hard (we were all impressed!) and the girls stayed up until we got home (11ish) and they were all happy the entire time! We could not have asked for a better night!

Another entry to our family "kids say the cutest things":
While discussing the fireworks finally, Riley explained that the "fireworks were letting go with all their might"! She is so darn cute!

Thank you Papa and Grandma for another wonderful weekend!
Enjoy the pix!

Kyle steering the boat (with a little help from Papa)

Kyle feeding himself dessert!

Riley working on one of Grandmas art projects
More art! Riley new passion is coloring - look at the beautiful view behind her - what a great way to wake up!Ut-oh, Riley burned her finger - crisis avoided thanks to Aunt Darcy, vanilla extract, honey, and the Internet
Kyle cuddling with Grandma on the boat
Riley and Lexa getting ready for the fireworks
Papa and Kyle waiting for fireworks

Da-who??

Riley and Kyle are enjoying the summer more than ever! We have spent a lot of time at the pool with friends and family this week. Riley and Kyle both finished group swim lessons late last week and Riley began a session of private lessons with just Lexa at the beginning of this week. She has come a LONG way this summer! She doesn't want to hold on to anyone any more and bops all over the pool now (with arm swimmies on of course!). She actually LIKES the pool!!

Kyle can't get enough - he jumps in from the side, holds his breath under water, and tonight even floated face down and kicked for a while! No fussing at all, he loves it! Kyle is also saying quite a few new words... Dada, book, but no Mama! He even has a name for Aunt Darcy (Da!) but no Mama!! There is no doubt about her name - Everytime she comes hear, he screams "Da"!!

Tracy, Riley, Kyle and some friends also took a day trip to a near by beach. It was hot but everyone had a great time! We are ready for our family trip to Emerald Isle! Tracy ended up under the weather the rest of the weekend and Eric was super dad all weekend long!

Riley at the beach

Kyle at the beach with his "camera" smile!
Sprinklers in the backyard with friend Mackenzie

Dance Party!

We fell behind on blogging for a couple weeks, but we are back and coming on strong - 2 posts within a 5 days! We had such a fun weekend with Grandma and Papa!! Eric and Papa played in Papa's member/guest golf tournament for the third year in a row. Sadly, after 2 years of victory, the duo came in second but will be back with a vengeance next year:-)

Riley, Kyle, and Tracy enjoyed hanging out with Grandma at the pool and lounging on the back deck and we all got to go in to town for the Friday night music in the streets.
Now we are back home and back to the regular routine - playgroup on Monday, school today and tomorrow... etc... and lets not forget swim lessons!!
Enjoy the (many) pix!

Riley at the golf course enjoying the best part of the tournament, Cookies!

Kyle has taken a liking to Ri's putter - watch out Tiger!

Awe... snuggling with Grandma (hes out cold!) Doesn't he look like Riley here?
White boy in the bath - couldn't you just eat him up?!
Morning routine - all three on the back deck playing ball - look at the gorgeous view! Grandma and Papa put up glass where the rails would be - it looks awesome!
Papa and Ri with one of the many crabs down town
Playgroup - sprinkler day!
Kyles 1st time in the sand box and buddy Ruthie fell in beside him.

Maybe now he'll get in our sand box...

Riley and 2 of her buddies (John and Duffy)
Kyle on his way up!

Botom video is Riley dancing with Eric at Music in the Streets - she HATEs performing, so if she knew I was taping that, she would not be happy with me!

Bottom video - we just had to show Kyle's improving walking and climbing skills (however still amusing!) Also, he has on his 1st pair of velcrow shoes and finds them very fun! Note how wet his shirt is... this is not sweat, it isn't even hot outside. His shirt is soaked with spit... we are hoping by the time he is 12, he'll learn to keep the drool in...

Happy LATE Daddy's day!

Riley and Kyle want to wish all the wonderful dads out there a Happy Late Fathers Day!

We spent out fathers day at Bebe's pool, swimming and just kicking back! Eric was pampered all day which hopefully makes up for the rest of weekend that he spent working on our ever improving backyard and deck!


Its been an extremely busy couple weeks. The weather was crazy hot for a week and now seems to be getting a lot better! We have spent a lot of time at the pool and Riley seems to like the water a lot more this year than last. Kyle is fearless and just jumps in whether you are ready or not. This is just one example of how different the kids are! Darcy and Lexa have joined us to play at the pool and that seems to give Riley some extra confidence. She just LOVES her cousin! Swim lessons started for all the kids this past week and so far, so good!!



Soon after our last post, Kyle got sick yet again! This time is was Mono! He's a popular little guy with the ladies:-) Kidding! As it turns out mono is very common in kids and it isn' t diagnosed very often b/c it just shows as a cold. However, it is a little less common in a child who is 13 months old! The doc drugged him up (steroids and an antibiotic) and he hung at home with mommy or daddy for the week. We've already been back for our follow up appointment and although is tonsils are still really big, his spleen feels great and he is no worse for wear (Eric and Tracy may have a few more grey hairs)!

Aside from that, Kyle is really coming into his own. He is a full time walker (still looks like a monkey walking!) and is much more likely to battle with his sister over whatever the moment calls for, rather than just giving in to her as he has in the past. He is still a super cuddler and is always smiling.


Riley had an exciting 2 days at school! Every Tuesday for the rest of the summer, the ice cream man now comes to school and on Wednesday her class gets to play on the lily pad on the playground. The lily pad is a huge sprinkler contraption and she and her friends had a blast this week getting wet and running their little tails off!


We are currently in NC with Grandma and Papa, but those stories and pix will have to wait!
Enjoy the pix!

Day at the pool with the Umsteads - Kyle and Lexa are enjoying a puddle during adult swim. (White boy has to wear the goofy hat per mom!)

One of our many quarantined days spent out back. Ri ended up with a crazy high fever as well.

Peak-a-poo!

More backyard play, showcasing the newly finished old deck and the new canape - thank you Bebe!
She wore her, itty bitty, tinny weeny...

Fathers day at Bebe's house

Kyle with one of his many security balls!

Kyle's 1st day jumping in.

I Scream 4 Icecream

Summer has arrived! The weather has been beautiful and we have been spending tons of time outside, however we only made it to the pool one time this week! The week was as busy as usual but filled with lots of fun activities.

Music Class is coming to an end soon. This was a GREAT bday gift from Grandma and Papa for Kyle! Kyle, Riley, and Tracy have enjoyed every minute of it and are sad that it will be over in just one week. However we did get to go to a make up class, therefore we had 2 classes this week! We also had a great mexican dinner with 2 families on Saturday night. The kids had a blast and did such a great job entertaining each other that the adults got to really enjoy our dinners!! The Surratts also ventured out to the Greek Festival - Riley wasn't in an adventurous mood, but Eric and Tracy enjoyed some delicious Greek Food. Riley did LOVE the greek music and dancing!

On Monday morning, we hosted a kick-off-to-summer ice cream party for the MOM's club. About 40 of our neighborhood friends came over and made big sundays and played on our newly finished deck. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time! After naps, we headed over to the park to feed the ducks and turtles and play some more.

Everyone is peacefully sleeping now and the grown ups are soon to follow - have a great week!

It was camera week at Music class. No pix of Kyle because he was not in the mood to venture far enough away from Tracy for her to get a decent shot!

For those of you who know Ri well, you know she does not like to dress up... so we were all shocked when she put this tiera on and let me take a pix!

Kyle with another crazy expression... check out the shirt from Bebe!
Kyle helping prepare for the ice cream party - teaching him early!

Playing in our new sand box out back during the ice cream party - also the same group from dinner on Saturday night! Check out Johns cool shades!
Riley and Duffy feeding the ducks
Riley swinging

Fan-tube-stick

We have had a fantastic week! After getting back from our adventure to Atlanta, we settled in for our normal week, however Friday brought all sorts of excitement! Kyle had tubes put in both ears Friday morning. He was such a brave little man and did great! After a long morning nap, he was back to his normal smiley self and just to top it off, he started balancing and walking that afternoon! We love TUBES! He has also started signing this week, however he tends to use the sign for milk for Everything! But at least he is trying! Kyle also now has a few words... Taz (our cat), ball, and something similar to "that"...

We ventured out to Friday Cheers that evening with our friends Jennifer and Mackenzie. The weather was fantastic and the kids had a blast dancing and playing together (of course the camera was at home). Riley and Kyle spent the better part of Saturday with Aunt Darcy and Lexa on Lexa's new playground (again, the camera was home however check out the Umstead Update for potential pix).

Sunday was a FULL day with church, visiting Katie and Justins newest addition, Jeffrey - Congratulations!! Jeffrey is perfect!! That afternoon our friends Julie, Ruthie, and John joined us for dinner (again, no camera!). Memorial day was again beautiful and we spent a wonderful day with the usual suspects at Bebes house. Bebe heated the pool and we had a great day of swimming! Both kids slept GREAT that night!
Enjoy the pix!

Riley in Bebe's pool

Aunt Darcy and Lexa

Kyle in Rileys "lily pad" float - extremely masculine!

Riley in mid air goofing around

Kyle on the ATTACK! He walked back and forth between Tracy, Eric, and Riley at least 2 dozen times when this video was taken!