July in Florida was great. Papa and I started taking the boys to the beach more often (by the end of the summer, we were beach bums at least once a week - we all LOVED having fun in the sun, and Grandma Kathy enjoyed a morning to herself). We had so much fun that we fell asleep sitting up. Michael is leaning against the side of his crib sound asleep. The boys are still in cribs with containment cubicles (crib tents). I have sown and resown those bad boys until they are mere tattered shreds held together with a hope and a prayer. Michael insists that he gets a "full zip" every night and that I zip it "even downer." I am thinking about converting their beds to toddler beds the next time Bob is home for a week or so (sometimes Mamas need reinforcements).
When the boys were little, we loved taking their picture in the big chair. We tried this year, and this is the best bad picture of the bunch.
Most of the pictures we took look a little something like this.
Michael just chillin' with Papa. Since he was a tiny little man, Michael has loved his Papa like nobody's business (I think the feeling is mutual).
When Bob drives to Kentucky, he always tries to bring Papa along for the ride to help share the driving duties. One of the perks of the summer trip is baseball. Here the two peas in a pod are attending a Reds game. I asked Bob to send me a picture of the two of them at the game. I think it was 90000 degrees at the game and that might explain why neither of them look too happy.
As patriotic Americans, Bob and I have a civic duty to bring our boys up to be good citizens which is annually celebrated with a parade and fireworks. Since leaving Arlington, we haven't been to a 4th of July parade, and I sure do miss it. Hopefully, next year I can convince Bob that we need both a parade and fireworks (he made me choose one or the other this year).
When we moved to Jacksonville, everyone told us how awesome fireworks at the beach are. Sadly for us, this year, due to budget cuts and that stupid housing crisis which drops property values and thus tax revenues, there were no fireworks at the beach.
The city of Jacksonville puts on a display over the river near downtown, so we parked in a parking lot nearby and watched the show. It reminded me of hanging out in parking lots to see the Ranger's 4th of July fireworks when we were kids, it was nice to keep the tradition going, but next year, I want the beach).
The boys had a great time. They had snacks and were so happy to be hanging out with a parking lot full of patriotic Americans.
Of course, Grandma & Papa came with us (we had to learn that firework patriotism from somewhere), and we enjoyed every hot second of it.
James spent the majority of the time racing. That kid loves to run. I have no idea where he picked up that gene, but I'm glad that we were able to contain him between the white lines. After the show was over, we should have applied some of those racing skills to getting strapped in and out of that parking lot. I'm pretty sure we spent more time waiting to get out of the parking lot than watching fireworks. My fingers are crossed that they bring back beach fireworks this year, and if not, we may just have to go to the beach and light a few fireworks ourselves.
One of the best parts of summer is that the zoo splash park is open. The kids love splashing. Unlike most moms, we head to the splash park first then cut out when everyone else starts to show up and dry out as we look at the animals.
The boys loved hanging out with all the sea creatures. Michael was obsessed with the dolphin blow holes.
One of the hardest things to learn at the splash park is that you can not run. I'm pretty sure my kids don't generally walk anywhere, so getting them to slow down at the splash park is quite a challenge. Thankfully, there are lots of teen volunteers to yell at them as well.
I have always loved sea turtles and ocean life in general, but I had no idea that by watching the Turtle movie put out by SeaWorld that I would spark a three man turtle love fest. The boys are really into sea turtles. We talk about their nests at the beach, we pretend to be sea turtles and wiggle our way through the sand to the ocean, we reenact the sea turtle ride from SeaWorld, and we refer to our mom as "Mommy Sea Turtle." Ryan especially likes to be a baby sea turtle, and I guess you can't always be Princess Leia.
While the sting ray looks really cool, it is also very slippery. We had a couple of unfortunate incidents on that sting ray, and let's just say, they really stung.
Dolphin rider and a whale of a tail. We had a summertime love of the movie Dolphin Tale. The poor dolphin, Winter, loses her tail in a fishing net and the rescue people figure out how to make her a prosthetic tail. At the zoo, there is a whole herd of Winters.
My baby sea turtle.
For now, the kids are still bathing in the same tub at the same time. James loves the shower, and he will stay in for hours. The other day, I had two in one bath tub and one in the other and before bath time was over, they were all in the same tub. That tub sure is getting crowded, though.
Michael is a quirky kid. He has certain likes, dislikes, and insane habits that I might have to admit he got from me. He likes things to be in their place. He will fight me every step of the way when I change where certain toys are kept. For Christmas, my parents got me a great organizational cubicle thing. I must have fought Michael for days on which toys went in which tubs. Thankfully, we have come to a mutual agreement that only a few things have moved locations. Perhaps the strangest thing he does is smell hair. Too much Tarzan watching, but this little loon likes to get up close and sniff with purpose (I think he substituted sniffing for biting - which is a good thing, but we have to address that sniff before he goes to school).
I have raised three dino nuts. The boys love dinosaurs. This summer, the t-rex named Sue was at the MOSH in Jacksonville. The kids and I went a couple of times to see her. They love going to the dinosaur museum. Most of these pictures are somewhat blurry as the shutter speed on my iPhone is definitely not triplet friendly.
Digging for fossils. What's better than big ol' bones and sand?
Back in the phone booth. I keep trying to get the kids to sit at the lunch counter and pose for a picture, but they will have none of it, so I guess settling for a phone booth is an adequate compromise.
Sue's biggest fans take another look.
Disney Junior made an appearance on DirecTV this summer, and the boys embraced it like a long lost pal. We adore Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and here is our version of a club house. Let's just say, that Mom is not a very good clubhouse engineer and we have no couch cushions that are removable - that's pretty tragic when you think about it, no pillow forts. We gave away all those couches with cushions when we moved. Oh well, sounds like pillow forts at grandma's are in order.
Ryan, as ever, on the move. When I look at our pictures, I notice that every picture of Ryan seems to be the back of his head or blurry. He is in constant motion. No wonder I'm tired at night.
Fancy clubhouse complete with comfy chairs and a "picnic." This is the life.
In July, Bob and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. We took advantage of Jim & Kathy's generous offer to watch the boys and spent a weekend in Savannah. We had a great room overlooking the river with a small balcony to admire the view from. It was so much fun (although when I made Bob take a second trip around on the sights of the city tour bus, I thought he might revolt). Our trip did have somewhat of a rocky start. Jim & Bob were out on the road, so Jim dropped Bob off in Savannah, and I borrowed Jim's car to meet him there. About 5 blocks from the hotel, the car died, and I learned the hard way that you should put the hood up when you are stuck in traffic & waiting for a tow truck. I never even thought to do that, but my knight in shining armor booked it from the hotel to where I was and saved me from my distress. It ended up working out just fine, and Jim came to pick us up and the Firestone guys gave us a ride to our hotel. It was a great time, and we were glad that the car didn't poop out on them halfway to Sue's house.
My soulmate enjoying a beer as we waited for dad. Gotta love waiting with cocktails.
In July, Bob took James and Michael on their baseball date night. Michael loved clapping along and was really into his hotdog and popcorn. I'm pretty sure that he ended up scoring some popcorn off of the neighboring dad if I remember the story properly. Who could resist this cutie?
James was the most challenging baseball attendee. He is a doer. If Star Wars is on TV, he will go get his Star Wars figures, Doc McStuffins brings out the doctor kit, and baseball brings out the run. This picture makes me think "watch out boys, he's gonna blow!"
James on the move. He is sporting Ryan's "Jackson-wheel Suuunns" souvenir cap.
James picked out batting gloves for his souvenir. Bob said he spent the whole night running up to people and telling them "I've got two hands, TWO HANDS!" (Which is sometimes what I feel like yelling, haha).
Awesome moments. Unforgettable.
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