Aidan

He is one funny little boy! I can't believe he is going to be TWO in less than two weeks!

Yes, We Love the Beach!

I took the kids to the beach on Friday, oh how we love the beach. We sat right by the water and had our lunch, and the kids played for HOURS! The water was a great temp, and all three of us spent some quality time in it! Sorry no pics of that, didn't want to ruin my camera, and the kids can't be in by themselves!

An Early Birthday...

Nealy performing the "squeeze" test

Not sure why they make them rub the heart on their nose...

The anticipation is killing her

Aidan can be so shy at times, he needed a little help

Aidan choosing a heart

Giving their animals a bath, one of the favorite activities there!

Yesterday Grammie and I took the kids to Build a Bear for an early birthday celebration. The kids each chose an animal and had a blast stuffing them and making them their own. Aidan's is truly a Detroit Tiger, just like Paws, and Nealy chose a bunny and pink Detroit stuff. Both are very cute, and Nealy has been dressing and undressing them constantly! Thanks Grammie!

Big Boy News

Aidan sporting all SEVEN pairs of new "Elmo's". He is SO proud of himself!

Aidan has made it quite clear that he is ready to tackle the potty. After being very good about using his potty, I've invested in some new big boy underwear! He was THRILLED, and had to wear EVERY pair at the same time. He did very well this morning, only having one accident while I was busy making lunch!

The Story of Stan...

What do you do when you want to meet Stan??? Well, You wait in line FOREVER...
Make sure you bring juice boxes, teddy grams, money for a corn dog (pronto pups were too far away), ice cream, waters, lemonade, and some smarties. And when all that is gone be prepared for:

We climbed all over the stroller

We pouted...it was nap time after all...

*sigh* this is what I ended up with, no choice of pictures to choose from, just a quick click and sent on our way. Great. My mouth is wide open, Aidan's asking where the hockey guys are, Nealy's eyes are closed. Yes, for THIS we waited for TWO HOURS! I just kept reminding myself that Steve Yzerman touched this same very cup! *sigh*

A Busy Couple Days!

The above pic just cracks me up.

Nealy playing with Onyx. He has been around for a few weeks now, and has taken a liking to us.

Onyx is very good with the kids, Nealy loves how he plays "like a real cat"...hmmm...what does that mean about Pretty Girl???

Aidan riding on the car, Gramps put new batteries in it today, and I had one excited little boy!

The kids and I have had a busy couple days. We went swimming in "Mr. Mike's" pool on Sunday after church...the beach was packed, it was hot...we love the pool! The kids are making progress with their pool abilities, Nealy jumps off the edge by herself, loves going under water, and has a mean kick. We will be working on getting her to float next! Aidan loves playing on the stairs, riding in his "boat", swimming with you, and blowing bubbles in the water! I thought for sure the pool would wear them out and it would be an early bedtime, but low and behold that was BEFORE the storm hit. Literally. During dinner. Lost power, trees, oh the excitement. The whole neighborhood came out to assess the situation, there were power lines down, police cars and...a FIRE TRUCK! Talk about one excited little man. Today was spent picking up the sticks in the yard and watching all the trucks going by cleaning things up. Truly an exciting day!

Togetherness

This is what the kids were doing this morning. Nealy was reading to Aidan, and yes, the boy does have his crocs on his hands...what am I to do?

The Zoo, Beach, and Random others!

All curled up together to get warm after our swim.

Wes left for NC on Tuesday morning. So on Monday we took the kids to the zoo to have some family time. It was a great day for the zoo, it wasn't crowded at all, as it looked like it may rain. Aidan had us all running after him (one of his new favorite games)! We are all missing Wes, and counting down the days until we are all together again.

On Wednesday I bravely took the kids to the beach by myself. They are SO GOOD at the beach, so laid back, so so good. Of course, I had to be the one to go into the lake with them, which I didn't mind too much, it was fairly hot out and the lake felt very refreshing.

Aidan has been stripping off his clothes during nap time lately. Yesterday I had had enough and told him to put them back on by himself...the results were pretty funny!

A Parade, Rain, and Fireworks

What are fireworks without glowing necklaces?

What a ham...

Nealy wearing Lala's crown, insisting that she was a princess, NOT a queen.

So serious as they wave to the floats during the parade, while wearing their Coastie hats!

Aidan wearing mommy's sunglasses during the concert.

Nealy and Gramps at the concert. Nealy was dancing in and on her seat!

Aidan and Grammie at the concert. Just a few minutes later Aidan started climbing on EVERYTHING!

It was a very weird end to Coast Guard week this year. After a week of projected rain/storms and nothing happening, on the biggest day of it all it rained! The kids were troopers though, and sat through the little showers during the parade, and fireworks. Thankfully they didn't last long so it wasn't too bad. We also went on Friday night to the Waterfront Stadium to watch the Coast Guard Band. The kids lasted for about 1/2 the show, and then we were off again!