Summer Fun, Part One

We are big fans of summer in this house and we have been taking full advantage of the warm weather, no school, and fun things to do that the season brings. Here's a quick look at some of what we've been up to:

 

 

 

 Backyard sprinklin'

 

 Gardening

 

 Doing the Camel

 

 And feeding some other hungry friends

 

 Decorating the driveway

 

 Getting a-mazed at Incredible Dave's

 

 Swimming

 

 Hoping things are non-toxic after we licked them off

 

 Feeding some duckies

 

 Doing the library's Summer Reading Program

 

 Climbing trees

 

 Staying up late with Mommy, Daddy, and a giant bucket of popcorn to watch the Lion King

 

 Painting our cousins some birthday presents

 

 Bubble twirling

 

 Dancing like nobody's watching (well, Aidan seemed to realize someone was watching)

 

 Drinking a cold one

 

 Discovering we have a frog friend living in our front yard

 

Finding new playgrounds

...And splashgrounds

 

 Familiarizing ourselves with the cookbooks

 

And learning new tricks.

 

 



Project Squash

Well, our little man is officially SIX MONTHS OLD! Tear :-( 

He weighed in at 16 lbs. 1 oz. at his six month check-up, with a height of 25 inches and a head circumference of 17 1/2. So, he is still a shrimp with a giant noggin,  but he is working on evening it all out. He is also working frighteningly hard on trying to crawl. Like it is literally a matter of moments before he figures it out. Other things he has been up to include chewing on any and everything, scooting, rolling, cracking up, and being super cute. So, before we get busy baby proofing our house, we will share some pics of perhaps the biggest six month milestone... FOOD!! He got to start a day before his six month birthday because Aidan's birthday wish was for it to take place on his birthday, so we moved it up a day. Don't think Liam minded since he has been stalking us as we eat and drink for weeks. Poor guy couldn't wait to get his hands on some vittles.

"Your days are numbered, squash."

 



 Trying out his high chair a few days before the big event.

 He even thought it was so cozy, he took a snooze in it.

 

 And Rylee was more than happy to show him how the toys worked.

 

 First course: ice cold water. Mmmmm

 

 He was unconvinced at first.

 

But then he got the hang of it!

 

 "I am the boss of this squash!'

 

 Rylee even got to feed him some.

 

And this was the scene when he was done. Yes, we got out the hose. ;-)

Monsoon/No Firework/Birthday Weekend! (also known as the 4th of July)

 

Soooooooo, Mother Nature rained on our 4th of July parade. Like big time. But we had a great time anyway. And Aidan turned 11 (11?! WTH?!) in the process. Here we are in all our red, white, and blue glory.

 

 Red, white and cute at a new playground.

 

 And grocery shopping for provisions because we suddenly can't do a picnic with fireworks downtown...but still smilin'!

 

 Standing!

 

 4th o' July toesies

 

 

 

 

 

What do you do when it rains on the 4th? Well....

 ...you eat mail.

 

 ...and wrestle an octopus

 

 ....and smile real cute

 

 ...and eat an overly iced cake

 

 "Holy crap, what is that thing, and when do I get some?!"

 

 

...and you go to the movies. Past your bedtime. Awesome.

 Making sure the popcorn ladies layered the butter.

 

 

 Eating popcorn. LOTS and LOTS of popcorn.

 

Special birthday donut breakfast 

 

 He didn't want cake. He wanted sugar cookies. With icing and sprinkles. So Mommy took it to the cookie-sandwich-rolled-in-sprinkles level.

 

And we finished off the evening with a violin concert. Totally normal.

Right???????????

Fantastical Gymnastical!

If there was any question whatsoever whether or not Miss Rylee would enjoy gymnastics class, we had our answer pretty quickly. Her first session at Louisville Gymnastics has just come to an end and she love love loved everything about it. She loved her teacher, Miss Jill, and she learned so much over the eight weeks. We are very excited to be starting another session right away! Yea! Here are (probably way too many) pictures of her pioneer voyage into the world of gymnastics.  

 

 

 Special shout out to cousin Avery for the hand-me-down leotards. Here is Rylee modeling her proper gymnastics attire and sporting an ear-to-ear grin.

Rylee made so much progress over the course of the session:

 

 She went from crawling on the beams...

 

 ...and face planting
 

 

...to walking on the beam all by herself

 



...and doing solo somersaults

 



...to doing backwards somersaults

 

...even to doing somersaults ON THE BEAM!

 



...and into a foam pit with no fear at all!

 

 

 



Doin' the ring thing

 



Learning proper hands on hips technique (just what she needed- some more attitude)

 



Getting dump trucked

 



Possibly the best action shot ever.

 

 



Breezing through the uneven bars

 



Bars with friends

 



Raising the bar (he he he)

 



She didn't even mind when she had a sub. Plus, he let her build towers, which made him automatically cool.

 



Hula hoopin'

 



We learned that sometimes you are the log roller...

 



...and sometimes the log rolls you....... and you fall out.

 

 



Dismounting with a smile 

We always looked forward to our stamp rewards at the end of each class

 



 

Ahem... practicing some of our new moves at home

 



Liam too. Clearly he has a future in gymnastics too.

Last day of the session POPSICLES! Can't beat that!

 

 

Giving Miss Jill a hug goodbye. We're going to miss her. But we are looking forward to meeting our new teacher and learning lots more tricks and having lots more gymnastifun!