pruned fingers and toes

Four words :: we. love . the. pool.

Pure joy.

stop and smell the (sunflowers)

Mike got this while he was recruiting at JMU months ago and it finally fits.  Just a small reminder of where it all began 10 years ago this September.

A sweet little reminder to stop and smell the roses ... or in this case, sunflowers.  It's darling how the little ones remind you to appreciate the small things in life, or notice things you normally wouldn't take the time to see.

Waiting for Harley to continue their game of Tug of War.  Try and guess who won.

My little adventure seeker, taking on the world. 

tiny drops of magic

Sprinklers are ah-mazing.  My favorite part about them is the adjustable height so that you can make it just the right size for the little ones.  How funny is this picture?  Three cousins, three completely different hair colors.

We were outside and I stripped both babes down to just their diapers to run through the sprinkler.  James thought this was normal, so he pulled his pants off instead of waiting for his bathing suit.  When in Rome...

This sums things up pretty nicely -- Declyn is seriously investigating while James and Brent think it's hilarious.

...and then he really let loose. 

I couldn't even tell you what was happening here, but I loved every second of it.

If you're thirsty, why wait? (side note: that's Brent's finger pointing to those two clowns).

beach babes

Just two babes, soaking up the sun.

This picture cracks me up.  The first thing that went through my mind was -- bodyguard.

Love my little family -- and niece, of course.

Testing out the water as soon as we got there.  Clearly Parker was more ready / inclined to go in at first then Declyn.

Practicing her model moves as she crawled to the water.

thank you, zoo

My mom and I decided to take two out of three boys to the National Zoo.  Despite it being super crowded, we were able to see a good amount of animals.  We even saw an orangutan eat a coconut!

Dec's 15 month appointment went really well -- still in high 90's percentile for everything and the doctor was complimenting him on his voice fluctuation / how he had conversation.  She made it a point that soon those babbles will turn into real words. :)

Testing out James' bike. 

Left : inspecting the wheels

Right : falling off

Center : back on, and celebrating!

now you see me ...

VA Beach bound to see our beautiful Parker Paige turn one!  These two weirdos were enjoying the fresh air slapping them in their faces.

How sweet is this rest area sign?

It took us FIVE hours to get there, so clearly boredom was setting in for all of us ... especially this one.  I did a little changeroo in the car, and Declyn took my dress and was playing peek-a-boo.

truck paint

I saw this neat idea of rolling toys through paint on Instagram.  Despite thinking the fan was just as fascinating, Declyn seemed to enjoy it.

Aunt Lyss took some sweet pics while visiting ...

Two hands, but three food/beverage-related items.  You do the math.

Of course Lyss 'taught' him how to feed the dog.  Something he knows nothing about ... ha.

Apparently him and Emmy were planning a way out.

Now that Brent is so much more mobile, Declyn is actually showing some interest in hanging out with him.

scranton bound

My grandma turned 91 and while we were out to eat, we surprised her with a little serenating at the restaurant.  The look on her face says it all.

This mama's boy always likes to check in.

James decided to share his milk with Declyn while out to eat.

GG surrounded by two of her grandkids and three great-grandchildren.

Since we don't make it up to PA that often, we always make it a point to stop at my Nana's gravesite.  She would have been Declyn's great, great-grandma.  And boy would they have loved each other!

Trying to make himself comfortable in the hotel room.  Clearly his height is making a portable crib an issue.

sweet dreams

All three cousins enthralled with the show.  Who knew one magical man could be so empowering?

No pillow needed when you have a fat nugget hand to support your head.

Love this face more then words.

We've ventured out to feeding ourselves with a spoon.  As you can see, it's going amazingly well.

Family date night :: mini-golfing.  This place was awesome, with entertainment literally everywhere you looked.  Mike even got squirted by a crocodile!

stuck

I was in our bedroom when I heard cries coming from down the hall.  And this is what I found.  She wouldn't attempt to either A. jump over the basket or B. move the door (that had a slight distance to begin with between the laundry basket and itself).  Not the brightest, this one.

Aunt Alyssa captured this one.  I just love how his eyes look, and that sweet, sweet combover.  My favorite is when his hair gets long in the front and you can sweep it to the side.

We each took a child and headed to the deep end.  Nothing like bringing your child back to the pool that you yourself went to as a child.  Talk about full circle. 

red, white and blue

A little delayed on our fourth post ...

Hurricane Arthur (who really wasn't as badass as the weathermen claimed) kept us from heading to VA Beach for our original fourth plans, but we didn't let that hold us back from celebrating America's day.

Declyn's Uncle Drew gave him these sweet aviators and I always forget to put them on him, so I started keeping them in the pool bag.  Luckily, Mike was wearing the same ones.

I don't care how grainy this picture is, I still love to see the moment where father and son are watching fireworks together for the first time.

Bottom left :: by far my favorite.

Trying out a family selfie while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Dec's face in this one really sums things up quite nicely.

Being the caring father that he is, Mike thought to bring some extra layers for Declyn for when it started to get a little nippy at night.  What he didn't care about, is what those layers looked like.  Case in point.

This poor kid had on his original tee, followed by a striped long sleeve, and topped with his short sleeve Red Sox shirt.  Thankfully, we took off his shorts and replaced them with pajama pants.

I was really trying to capture the essence of his outfit in its entirety.

His new favorite shoes just happened to land like this on the blanket, so I had to take a picture.