Graham's First Sentence - Unsolicited

Tonight Graham said his first sentence. And it wasn't in response to us saying something for him to repeat.

We went to my parents' house for homemade crabcakes (YUM!) tonight. My dad caught a bunch of crabs this weekend and made his AMAZING crabcakes. Graham also loves them. We were hanging out chatting after dinner while Graham ran around the house running like a crazy man. Kyle and I started to get up to leave, and Graham grabbed my hand and said - "Mommy - Sit Down". And he dragged me back - by my hand to the couch. Naturally, we all started laughing hysterically. Graham then proceeded to stand in front of the four of us and took a few bows. And clapped in between taking each bow. We were laughing so hard we were almost crying!

Botanical Gardens Marathon

It's been so hot that we haven't been able to go the botanical gardens as much as we did at the beginning of the summer.  We've been "summer hibernating" during this 100+ degree heat!  Well, the weather loosened up, and we headed out.  Heidi and I took the kids to the gardens last week, and we hit almost every highlight of the gardens.  Started at the fountains, went to the frogs, water pumps, then packed up and walked to the butterfly exhibit, then walked to the Enchanted Storybook Forest and parked ourselves at one of the house - McDonald house?  Can't remember.  Then we had a picnic lunch.  A fabulous, hot, day.  Graham slept for three hours that afternoon.  I can't recall the last time he napped that long.

Graham with some other little fellas wondering where the large fountain water disappeared....

Graham and Jasper at the "mister" fountains

Riding one of the frog fountains

Inside the butterfly exhibit - Zane and Graham were playing in the flower bed fountain.  The one where you're not allowed to walk....

Trying to catch a butterfly

Riding the horse swing inside the Enchanted Storybook Forest

Graham and Jasper LOVED running in the house, climbing the stairs to the back window and exiting via the slide coming out of that window.  I would see Graham RUNNING from the bottom of the slide down the side of the house, back in the front door, to climb the stairs again.

The End of Stay-Cation

Our Stay-Cation ended with our dinner club!  We've been part of the same dinner club for quite some time.  There are four couples - all from our church - and we meet quarterly.  Our turn to host happened to be at the end of our Stay-Cation week.  The perfect way to end the week.  And, the weather cooperated beautifully.  It was probably 75 - 80 degrees and no humidity.  So, naturally we had to eat outside.  We grilled lobster tails!  Such a great evening!

And this little fella joined us for the last part of our evening.  Good thing Graham was in bed - he would have tried to catch this "buddy".

Random Slices of Life

We took the pool fence down for the our church's youth group pool party.  Someone found her 'ol pool deck perch and parked herself there for a while!  (Kona)

Kyle found this shirt - and a few others - at the drug store the other day.  I have to say, I think it's irresistible!

And - our mysterious piano player!  One of Graham's favorite things to do is to get under covers - on the bed, on the floor, on the couch.  He's not particular about place.  Here he covered himself up with a blanket and proceeded to tap out a few tunes on the ivories.

The Kazam

Graham has a new toy.  (Actually, I should say Kyle has a new toy that he's enjoying with Graham!)  Kyle came home with a Kazam the other day after having some work done on his bike.  The Kazam is a "bike" for little ones to learn balance.  There are no pedals.  So, ideally kids will do a bit of the Flinstone-thing, pick up speed, and fly down the street lifting their legs up.  Ultimately teaching Graham how to balance and ride a real bike later in life.  As you'll see, Graham's attention span with the Kazam is very limited when there are large puddles around to play in.

The Ice Cream Truck!

I have heard the ice cream truck in our neighborhood all summer long but I've never seen it actually drive down our street.  After getting Graham up from his nap the other day, we let the dogs outside and heard the ice cream truck.  I rushed to get my purse, and we met the ice cream man just in time!  Graham bought the biggest popsicle they sell (I think) - the jolly rancher.  He was so tickled with the whole experience, you'd think he'd gone out an caught and cooked his own food!

(Ultimately, the popsicle was too heavy for him to hold.  So, Daddy helped - and ended up eating most of it.)

Who Knew The Hose Could Be Such Fun?

Graham discovered the hose to my vegetable garden the other day.  And played with it for probably 45 minutes.  By himself.  In a corner.  (We have a POD in our back driveway that's holding our furniture while we renovate - Graham snuggled himself between the POD and the vegetable garden and just squealed with laughter!

Beach Time!

A few days last week, Kyle headed to the beach early (before work) to go paddle boarding.  So, we packed up and went, too!  Graham LOVES the beach.  We had a few days of going out to breakfast and then to the beach or going to the beach and then out to lunch.  So relaxing!  We went last weekend with our friends Keith and Stephanie and their kids Alex and Avery.  The boys LOVED digging a huge hole and spent the entire time "fixin" up their hole. 

Pool Time

We spent a good bit of time at the pool during our stay-cation, too.  We had pool time and pizza with our good friends the Dauritys, and all three kids enjoyed their "squirt guns".  Every time we drive by the neighborhood pool, Graham says "squirt gun".  (I think he may suspect his squirt gun "lives" at the pool!)

The Zoo

One of our Stay-Cation adventures - The zoo!  We went with Heidi and her kids and we all had a ball.  The day was overcast, so the weather actually felt nice - not too hot.  and we started the kids in the fountains so they would be cool (wet) walking around looking at the animals.

Chasing the geese is a must.  I think the geese that "just happen to be at the zoo" each time we go are Graham's favorite attraction. 

Chasing Jasper

Graham can be very sweet with his friends - like he is with Jasper here - hugging him.  Or he can be a little .... shall we say brutal?  As much as he enjoys hugging and kissing, he also very much enjoys pinching, squeezing, twisting, hitting, and pulling.  We're working on this.  Unfortunately, Graham thinks his antics are hilarious.  Hoping it's just a stage!

Adventures In Food

Graham has a thing for forks.  In fact, at times he will not eat his meal unless he has a real fork.  And he definitely knows the difference between his little plastic forks and the ones that Kyle and I use.  So, we have started to let him use real forks.  Little unnerving when it's aimed for his eye, but for the most part he gets his food on the fork and in his mouth. 

Graham is always interested in what I'm doing in the kitchen now.  And, he typically pulls his little piano stool over so he can see the countertop.  We had a "Stay-cation" two weeks ago which was such fun.  I made a list of everything specific we wanted to do for the week.  (Otherwise I would have tended to fritter away my time!)  One thing on the list was to try new recipes.  Graham "helped" me make a cold cucumber soup with poached shrimp.  (Which was not my favorite dish, by the way.)  The cooking was such fun with Graham.  The eating of it was lacking.

My grandmother was in town last weekend, and after music class "Graham" picked up milkshakes for everyone.  He definitely has a thing for milkshakes and popsicles!