Creativity

Just wanted to show a little bit of creativity from Jackson today. This is Leo from the Little Einsteins... the glue stick is is conductor's baton!! I love getting little glimpses into his mind!

Cutie #2

Wouldn't be fair to Harris not to show off some of his cute pictures, too!!

Cutie

Just some pictures from our morning out... he is such a cutie!

Who is He?

Harris is in camp this week, so I have been trying to plan fun things for Jackson and me to do with our rare time alone. Today we headed to the Children's Museum. There were lots of fun things to do, and he kept me running from one end to the other. However, his favorite part was the castle with all of its fun costumes. He tried on one after another after another until he had tried on almost all of them. These were some of his favorites...

Happy First of July!!

We have started a tradition of spending the Fourth of July with Nana and Papa T in Atlanta, but since the Fourth happened to be on a Wednesday, we celebrated the weekend before. The weekend was mainly spent in their pool, and I can't think of a better way to spend a hot hot hot Atlanta holiday weekend!

Nana made cupcakes for America's birthday, and Jackson and Papa T decorated them beautifully!
Jackson was a total fish. He was in the pool for hours every morning and every afternoon.
He loved playing Motorboat with Nana,
and jumping in with Daddy.
We were terrified that Harris was going to be out of control in the pool, as he demonstrated no fear of the water a couple of days earlier. He was a daredevil the first evening we were there, but for some reason, his interest in the water waned each day. The day we left, he didn't even get in!!

Before he decided against swimming, he did go off the diving board... a dozen times at least!!

Eventually, he chose the bike over the pool.

Even his girlfriend, Mavis (May-May), won out over the water.

We had such a great time with Nana and Papa T... the boys were sad to leave and have been talking about the pool (and May-May) non-stop. Jackson had such a good time that he didn't even notice that he and Nana didn't go to the bookstore (their special trip whenever we are together)! Thank you so much, Mom and Terry, for everything. As always, the food was super-yummy, the pool was wonderful, and the company was great. We enjoyed ourselves so much and will definitely continue the tradition next year!

Happy Fourth of July!

We spent the Fourth of July out at the country home of Katharine and Bryant's family... what a perfect way to celebrate the day!! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful location (see the picture above!)... right on the ICW, amidst huge old live oaks.

The boys (yes, it was all boys... Preston, Fordham, Pinckney, Reeves, Harris, and Jackson) had a blast playing in the pool and on the huge water slide.

The jeep was a huge hit, and we all loved watching Fordham and Jackson run it ragged. First they "fixed" it, placing all kinds of tractors and diggers under the hood, thenthey were off! Into the playhouse! And into the baby pool! And into the fence! So, Stephen jumped in to show them how it is done!

And what is the Fourth without beer...and watermelon???

These boys ate some serious watermelon.
After a fantastic boatride with the Bairs (all three boys fell fast asleep!), we loaded up two very exhausted, dirty, and pink-faced little ones to head home. Thank you so much to the Bairs and the Smiths for including us in your holiday plans. We had an amazing day that the boys will be talking about for a long time!

Girls' Night

The girls of our cell group got together last week for one last Girls' Night Out before Clary headed to Phoenix. Beth's inlaws were gracious enough to allow us to invade their beautiful home in Rockville for the night. We cooked, chatted, ate, chatted, laughed, chatted, slept, chatted, ate again, chatted... what a great time. It was incedibly relaxing and so much fun to get to know these girls even more than we have over the past four years. I am looking forward to many more nights away with them!!

Unfortunately, we couldn't get the whole group in the pictures... we are missing Lori (who got there late from work) and Emily (who couldn't make it). Thank you, Beth, for having us all out to Rockville... it was a much needed time away to recharge!

Evening at Folly

Last week, we headed to the beach after Jason got home from work to meet Mark, Clary, and Ashley for a quick beach walk and dinner at Taco Boy.

The boys were a trip... Ashley and Harris are the best of friends. They both search each other out in social settings, they dance and scream when they find each other, and they generally have the best time together. Above, they are both immitating Jackson's cool rolling routine.

Unfortunately, the Auler family has just moved to Phoenix this past weekend so Mark can do a fellowhip there. They have become some of our closest friends over the past four years, and we are extremely sad to see them go. We will always cherish their friendship and know that they will always be there for us. We are so looking forward to a trip to Phoenix to visit and to hopefully meet Baby Auler!!

Rolling

This is Jackson's favorite trick at the beach now. He rolls and rolls and rolls until he is completely covered in sand, head to toe. Afterwards, he runs to the ocean and jumps in to clean it all off. Just to do it again. And again. And again.