summer critters

Well, someone's always gotta kick off summer with a bullseye.

This year it was Kyren. So thankful we always seem to catch them right away. AND that kids are allowed to go on amoxicillan instead of doxycycline...which allows them to still be able to enjoy sunshine! No other symptoms beside this one. phew!

Lots of toads, in all shapes and sizes this summer. and Mr. Bullseye could not get enough of picking them up, squeezing them, carrying them around, and intimidating his more-squeamish big brother with them. 

Same with worms....

i love that he's my little explorer-- so much like me. digging in the dirt for hours is his preference. the muddier the better.

C... not so much.

Sometime during the spring we found a chrysalis in the yard. We didn't know if it was active or not, but we put it in fish bowl from Gramma Peg's yard sale, and kinda just forgot about it in the basement. At some point (in june or july?) i happened to glance at it one morning on our way out the door and noticed this giant moth crawling around it!!! Couldn't believe our eyes!

I let it go in the bushes, hoping it'd be protected there... and then lost track of it, so we never got to see it spread it's wings, or id it, but it was a cool surprise nonetheless.

Aww, and then there's Angus.

He's a giant Newfoundland (one of many pets owned by our friends the Lynch's) who's a big teddybear that wouldn't hurt a fly, but unfortunately knocks you over every time he bumps into you... especially if you're 3 and 5. He's super fun to look at, not quite as fun to smell, but will let you snuggle him, in all his drool, forever, if you dare. 

starting summer off hot!

The last day of May and the first few days of June did not leave any question as to what season we were finally in-- The boys were thrilled when i pulled out a new sprinkler i'd been saving for months (i think i got it at some consignment sale awhile back). It was called the Goofy Gecko, and it was an instant favorite. . .

C looks just like uncle seth here!

the best part of sprinklers

COLD and refreshing!

We also got to celebrate with Maddy as she got her interview and green card stuff all settled-- still can't believe she's here-- for good!!! woohoo!!

lots of red white and blue!!

and always time for a brotherly sword fight!

Summer in full swing!

the traverse

As we kicked off summer, we realized we were going to have lots of reasons over the next few months to have more car space. We'd made it through 2 babies/toddlers and all their gear with a honda civic and a volkswagen passatt. But somehow, even with less gear in tow, we (well, I) decided we'd limped through long enough, road trip after road trip, with little room for kids by the time we'd packed the bare necessities. I was proud of us for being able to do that for so long. But it was time. We were planning 3 big road trips this summer, and the prospect of 9 hours in a car several times with 2 active boys and very little entertainment was enough to send us shopping. That along with the fact that I was virtually unable to pick up friends' kids for playdates or babysitting, or just to help a friend out when needed. Something with a third row was my main priority. But neither of us could bring ourselves to settle for a minivan. So we had to start researching. Fortunately we had a deadline. We were leaving for Hatteras in 1 week, and thus about 2 days to locate, test drive and decide on a bigger vehicle.

I spent a few hours that night online after Dave's consenting for me to do so, and figured if I could find the specs we wanted, it was meant to be. I narrowed it down to 2 options, both in the Honeybrook area... so we dropped the boys with my parents and spent our saturday settling on this baby:

And the very best part... according to these happy campers:

the DVD player, complete with individual headphones for each of them.

...an hour or so into Road Trip #1 we decided it was worth every penny. 

3 months later we're still trying to solve the floor mat fiasco, but that barely warrants a post. 

Bottom line: we are SO thankful, especially this mama, for the extra space, and little luxuries of having a sunroof again, an automatic tailgate, backup camera, and being able to plug in the boys when we're going somewhere longer than an hour away. 

Thank you, Honey!!!

memorial day paraders

We had back to back memorial day parades at the end of May, the first of which the boys got to ride their bikes as participants!

 They were so excited!!

 Though a certain someone did NOT want to wear his helmet...

The next morning we met Grampy and cousins for the annual d-town parade, the highlights of which are the old fashioned cars and the firetrucks.

Oh, and the kuteness

Proud to be in the land of the free!

(Ok, now that's really the end of May!)

oh wait...

In playing around on my phone, I figured out how to upload some pics... which is really good news for posting the everyday moments I tend to only capture with my phone!

I found a few more from May that pretty much need documentation... because they illustrate what life was like for weeks on end over spring and summer...

Here is peter parker, in all his glory, taking pictures in disguise, for The Daily Bugle!

"Mom guess who I am!"

"Um... spiderman?"

" No. I'm really peter parker!"

...the rest of May...

I love that my firstborn was delivered the week of Mothers' Day. 

Every year I get to recall how special it is to be a mom the same week I celebrate having that kiddo (and my other precious kiddo)

I also love that their preschool has a Mothers' Day Tea, and puts on a special little show for the moms...  as well as a few surprises...

They weren't thrilled to pose with me, but at least i got one of them to say cheese...

Then, a week later, wearing the same outfits :), we had our first "graduation"...

and "move up" day for Kyr...

The Alphabet Scrapbook C had been working on all year long...

he was so proud!

Kyren showing off his climbing skills, in the sanctuary...

Christian and his wonderful teacher...

she gave him the "most curious" award

Kyren and HIS wonderful teacher,

who gave him the "asks great questions" award

We spent the rest of the month having LOTS of fun...

...with cousins

...with trips to the park, as things started to warm up and dry out

...and enjoying the loveliness of spring 

(bestill my heart!)

Then it started to really warm up... which made for some wet and wild playdates...

and necessitated summer haircuts...

thank God for Aunt Michelle!!!!

And suddenly, Summer was rolling in-- finally-- so we welcomed it up on the roof! 

It was a BIG month for sure-- and i truly wish i had been more consistently recording the play by play. Even worse, I pretty much put away my camera for most of the summer...and just snapped pics here and there with my phone. 

But it was precious nonetheless, and we enjoyed every square inch of it!

May

ok.... let's do this.
heading back to the very merry month of May..

We started off the month with the most spoiled birthday in history.
It began with a robot cupcake party with the cousins...

where Silas gave him his very own 2wheeler... (he's still growing into it, but was so excited!)

Followed by a heaping pile of pancakes to start off the next morning...

Then a surprise trip to the Camden Aquarium, complete with Daddy :)
 (wow! so amazing! a great 1st experience with the underwater world, which they'd been learning so much about all year, primarily through watching Octoanuts!)...

he got to see his favorite animals... and even dressed like them so they would match...

Then off to Gramsy and Poppy's where he and Kyren got their joint birthday gift...

a dream come true for every boy (and boy at heart)! They were the cutest little workmen, busily driving around like they owned the place, picking up pinecones and sticks and delivering them to the other side of the yard. 

 Coincidentally, Poppy had found time to hang the tire swing donated to us by Victor, who had been demolishing a local playground... just in time for summer!

(the expressions on their faces were priceless)

He had requested an Octonauts birthday cake... and instead of going crazy trying to make one, I decided to bite the bullet and have Giant's bakery do it. He loved it, and didn't seem to mind that mom hadn't slaved over it all day in the kitchen. go figure. It was the perfect tie-in to the aquarium, and I even found some Octonaut bath toys for the center of the table, which were of course the highlight of the hour. Win!

 In conclusion, I was a little embarrassed to put all of this on the blog... especially after the Cupcakes for Africa post!  And proceeded to spend the rest of the summer avoiding blogging altogether because of it.  I know, dumb. But our kid felt loved and special, and truly felt blessed to be turning 5 years old!

I think next year, we'll just take him to Africa... ;)