Underwater

My sister has this super fun underwater camera and she let Emma have it for the week.

Christian

The kids have had the best time taking pictures underwater.

Nate & Em

Emma and Chrish

Nate & Chrish....I love this one!

Aren't they fun?!

Bubbles...

He is such a cutie.

Today

This is just a sneak peek at what my boys have been up to today!

Flying

Dinosaur Hunt

 This summer we've been playing with a LOT of ice. It's free and keeps you cool on a hot day.

 These ice dinosaur eggs have been a huge hit!

 To make them you just put a dinosaur inside a balloon. Put a drop of food coloring in the balloon with the dinosaur (that parts optional) and fill up the balloon with water. It helps to keep a little air bubble in the water balloon because then you freeze it and when you peel the balloon off the frozen "dinosaur egg" that little air bubble helps you get the balloon off easier.

 We hid dino eggs all around our yard.

 The kids and their friends had the best time hunting them down.

 We loaded up all the eggs in the wagon.

 Discovering more eggs.

 Then it was time to "free the dinos!!!"

 There was one egg just for McKenna that included something pink instead of a dinosaur.

This was by far Christian's favorite part. He loved throwing the eggs onto the driveway and watching them shatter into little pieces.  We still have some dino eggs in our freezer. I think we might try throwing them in the pool next time!

Best Idea EVER!

 We inherited a trampoline when we bought our house. It's been the most used toy in our yard.

Putting a sprinkler under it was the best idea EVER.

 They spend hours and hours out there every day!

ta da!

Perfection

It doesn't get any better than this on a warm summer evening.

Christian playing baseball with Ryan.

McKenna running around in her bathing suit doing who knows what!

Me chasing Will as he explores the yard.

I can do it myself

 I let Will use his own spoon the other night. I hate the mess, but he's got to learn to eat right sometime.

 He was pretty serious about getting those mashed potatoes in his mouth.

And they ended up all over his head too.

Bath time followed this event.

Go Nats!!!!

 Christian and Ryan got to go to a Nationals game last weekend! This was Christian's first time riding the metro.

 He thought it was pretty cool.

 The weather was not great, it was rainy and cool.

 But the Nats are a fun team to cheer for because they are doing so well this season (although they lost this particular game against the Braves).

 Ryan's friend Derek gave them the tickets and they all had a great time together.

 My boys on the metro.

Christian is officially obsessed with baseball. Somehow we've gotten into the habit of letting him stay up super late to finish watching whatever ball game is on. Ryan never lasts til the end of the game, but Christian is always wide awake making sure I'm paying attention to every play. It was so fun for him to experience a major league game.

Tech Girl

About the only thing Christian really struggled with this year at school was when his class would go to the computer lab. Apparently all the other kindergarteners use the computer all the time and my deprived child struggled to use a mouse. 

So this summer I'm actually trying to be purposeful about giving my kids computer time. Who would have thought I'd have to make time for them to be on the computer??!! This is McKenna's first time using the computer. Poor girl kept trying to touch and drag things on the screen. 

Sorry babe... it's not a ipad...but we should tell Daddy we need one :)

The Many Faces of Will

The top right is my favorite face and the one I usually see smiling back at me. He is a smiley boy and everyone tells me that ALL THE TIME.

Remember how I mentioned that Will's pediatrician wanted to send him to a dermatologist?  Well, after spending an hour and a half at the dermatologist with a busy one year old, we have now been referred to a pediatric dermatologist.  Two doctors now think Will has some symptoms of urticaria pigmentosa. I am almost completely convinced that they are wrong. I know, I know I don't even remotely have a medical degree but if he does have it, it's the most mild case on the face of the earth. Both doctor's I've talked to have basically been baffled by Will's "symptoms" (and I have really appreciated & been thankful for their honesty and their willingness to seek out other more knowledgeable opinions) so we are going to head to Hershey Medical Center in October to get a definitive answer. If the doctor's there are not certain they will be able to do a biopsy and come up with a conclusive diagnosis.  I am not the least bit worried about any of this. Will is fine and never has any of the discomfort that is characteristic of children with urticaria pigmentosa. Obviously, this is something we're praying about for our sweet little guy, but not something we are worrying about :)  I'll keep you posted once October gets here.

Dad's 70th

 My dad turned 70 on July 11th.  The weekend before his birthday my brother and his family celebrated with him by hiking to the top of Hawksbill Mountain (elevation 4,050).

They carried cupcakes all the way to the top of the mountain to celebrate with dad.

Dad's real birthday was on a Wednesday, so we went over for dinner to celebrate. McKenna and Christian were so upset when they found out that we weren't giving PopPop a present that night. We had something planned for later in the week, but were just going to tell PopPop his present hadn't arrived yet. That plan was not acceptable so Christian and McKenna started to hunt around the house for their own presents to give my dad. McKenna found this toy saw and wrapped it up in a gift bag for him. When he opened it she declared "I got you that saw PopPop so when I come over here we can do projects together." Perfect!

Will loves his PopPop. He says PopPop's name all the time and gives him the biggest hugs. Anytime I mention Grandmom he always starts prattling on and on about PopPop.

She's always so helpful when it's time to icing the cake.

We went for a little swim.

Even Ryan got to be there :)

I just love....

 how McKenna is looking at PopPop

how Will is checking out the cake

how McKenna is wearing Abby's shirt that she left here even though it's too big
and then of course there's Christian's wild hair :)

Make a Wish!!

Celebrating PopPop wore the tiniest boy out.

The ride home was pretty quiet!

We planned a big surprise for my dad on Saturday. As Amy and I had been talking about what to do for my dad's big birthday she suggested that we buy him a kayak. He's wanted one for years. We looked into it and then got my mom on board too.

We wanted to really surprise him in a fun way, so we planned a big surprise at a local lake. I asked my dad to meet me there to help me keep track of the kids while we enjoyed the beach for the day. He agreed and he and mom arrived at the lake.

Ryan and I and the kids got there about 15 minutes early and we unloaded the kayak and Ryan and then the kids and I met up with my parents.

Christian asked PopPop to go on a hike with him around the lake and that gave the rest of us a good 40 minutes to get the surprise set up!

Abby and McKenna hiding from PopPop.

My sister and her family arrived a few minutes after PopPop and Christian headed out on their hike.

Ryan chased Will around.....

while everyone else was hiding.

Christian was doing a great job of getting PopPop around the lake.

I headed down the trail to meet them once they got close and as we walked back towards the lake....

everyone came running down the hill towards dad! Surprise!!!

He was shocked and had no idea what was going on!

So surprised!!!

Amy, Dad and Abby.

And then we showed him the kayak in the water. He got all excited because he thought we rented it for him for the day. He was completely shocked when we told him that it was his!

Nate with PopPop's new kayak.

Amy's family brought one of their kayaks, so Emma and Dad started to paddle around the lake.

We had a picnic lunch.

Then we played on the beach.

Abby, McKenna, Christian and Nate.

Oh how I love Nathan!

And Mimi loves her sweet nephew Will.

Will was "fun" to chase around the beach. I can just imagine how relaxing our vacation is going to be here in a few weeks.

Abby Girl

The weather was a little dreary, but it was still so fun to be together.

 Uncle Rob is quite the fisherman and Christian was so excited when he invited him to go fishing.

 Christian has decided that he LOVES fishing.

 Chrish and Sophie fishing.

 Christian has some pretty amazing beginners luck. He got to reel in a wide mouth bass.

 Christian's first fish.

 Amy and Dad kayaking.

 Charis and Emma kayaking.

 Will with his daddy.

 Will was worn out and fell asleep with Grandmom.

Dad and Mom.
Happy 70th Dad!!! It was a great celebration!