The Cutest Baby EVER

I think we found a baby....

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a great weekend!  We all went to Mom and Dad's beach house with friends.  Mom and Dad had some of their friends, and we had our friends Christy, Brian, and Kallen.  Such a wonderful weekend - homemade popsicles (Pahk-sul as Graham calls it), fun times for the two little boys, hysterical card games with everyone, good food, beach walks me, Kyle, Brian, and Christy, and even a firework show across the water in Cape Charles.  (My camera battery died early into the weekend, so I missed all the fun times in the water.  The water was PERFECT for little kids - knee deep for about 50 yards out.  Graham and Kallen had a HUGE area to play in!)

Same Photo Shoot

When Graham was six months old, we took this same picture - same outfit, same couch, etc. - and it ended up in the paper.  I couldn't resist recreating the scene with Brooks!

Botanical Gardens - the Mazes!

One of the many things on my "fun" list for the boys this summer is going to the mazes at the botanical gardens.  We did it last Friday, and Graham had a ball!  With the hay  bales, he quickly learned how to climb over if he found himself in a dead end, he rearranged all the American flags in the red, white and blue maze, and he finished off the trip with a run through the fountains.  We explored the cactus area, and we sat in chairs together to "have a talk" in one of the little houses.  Graham's new words - "Mommy, come sit down and have a talk."

Graham The Hot Dog

Pool Party With The Smiths

We had the Smiths over for pool time and dinner.  Graham was a little too excited to have the upper hand in the most recent squirt gun war.  (Kallen definitely won the first round at the beach.)  The boys had a picnic dinner on the family room floor, and after dinner Kyle lead them in a round of "dizzy bat" (without the bat).  HILARIOUS to watch them both try to run after spinning around.  WE LOVE THE SMITHS!!!

Harvesting

I've had some  luck with a few things in my garden this year - swiss chard and kohlrabi are my greatest successes.  The kohlrabi is as large as Graham's head!  And my swiss chard is as long as my arm - so yummy!

And another picture of my sweet baby Brooks.  He just goes with the flow!  As long as he's part of the group, he's happy.  Very social little guy.

CHEESE!

Graham made his own camera with his bristle blocks.  Say CHEESE!!!

And a picture of my sweet baby Brooks, too!

Norfolk Zoo!

We are getting as much time with the Smiths while they are here as we can!  We don't want them to leave!!  We took the boys to the zoo last week - so fun to let them wander around and see all the animals!

Father's Day

Now I know there is something wrong with this post - Father's Day and it looks like Kyle is doing all the kid work.  He was celebrated and given adequate time of rest that weekend.  And his choice was to hang with the family for father's day.  We made our first batch of homemade ice cream - chocolate ice cream with samoas - so delicious!  (I bought a LOT of girl scout cookies this year.  Intentionally.  I chopped up three boxes of samoas  and froze them with the thought that we would make ice cream.  I still have the chopped thin mints!

Giddy-Up Papa!

Mom and Dad were over the other day, and the minute Dad sat down on the ground, Graham climbed on his back and said, "Giddy-up, Papa"!  So cute!  (And my wonderful dad is so great to indulge - with such a bad back!  I think Graham has his Papa and Gigi wrapped around his little finger!)