a monumental day

Who's growing up way too fast?

This guy!

He saw a video of his cousin, Willa, riding her bike for the first time...

And suddenly he was ready to try.

Amazing how immediately he got it (all thanks to his beloved balance bike)!

I was so proud. I remember like it was yesterday learning how to ride my own! In the blink of an eye, he'll be off to college.

And then it was on to a new splash park with the growth group gang. Ironically, growth is apparently what we excel in! Look what we've produced in the past 5 years!

And just as we snapped the photo, Kate said, "and next year there'll be one more!"

We all screamed, and I yelled, "or 2 more!"

She actually stole the words right out of my mouth!!

More screaming ensued and all the kids just stood there and stared at us like the crazies we are!

So my baby boy rides a two-wheeler...

...there's only one way to deal with that:

Time to start over.

And... July !

Ok, so i think this brings us into July...

Yup... according to my pictures...

we celebrated the 4th poolside with plenty of red, white and blueberry!

the boys are becoming quite the fish by this point, but do i have any pictures of them swimming? 

Nada.

b/c who has time to take pictures when lounging poolside, enjoying the independence of two little boys who no longer need your assistance in the water? Not I, apparently.

I did manage to capture this quasi-cool photo of these guys mesmerized by fireworks. . . the boys were so exhausted they barely made it a mile toward home before zonking out in the backseat. 

Koobie got a surprise from cousin sue-- 3 new homemade blankies (mini ones) to travel with, since his originals are beyond repair and need to stay safely at home if we want them to make it through the year. he was so adorably thrilled!

Celebrating 7 years of marital... silliness

and hopeless romantics...

and dashingly handsome couple-ness!

and then there was this milestone... sniff!
more to come on that later -- he was a natural thanks to the balance bike!

And then there was this surprise of a lifetime for ME--
the boys went to a gym party at Pancott's (where i took gymnastics at C's age)
and Mr. P himself was STILL there...doing the same old tricks, in the same old accent, looking only 30 years older, but just as spry and sassy. i couldn't believe it. it was like stepping back in time with my own kids! what a whirl!

Willa and Wyatt Week commenced-- and boy did we have a blast! 

The kids got along so well, and as always, were well matched age-wise :)

We swam, jumped, slip-n-slided, rode bikes, trikes and automobiles galore, please touch museum'd it, and ate lots of treats!

K had back to back weekend visits to the  Emergency Care Clinic-
once for an ear infection (random)
and once for a sprained knee that he was having trouble walking on without it going crooked.
that's always a tough call.
glad we went to make sure it wasn't broken. turns out kids don't have knee caps.
they grow over time apparently.
who knew?
he's such a brave little guy-- he and Froggy.

We also had VBS/Kingdom Rock in July, which was definitely a highlight of the summer--yet i failed again to get pics. i think they're on dave's camera-- but suffice it to say both boys had a blast, and have literally not let me stop playing the cd in the car for the past 2+ months!! I'm going a little nuts.

there was more to July...but i'll have to come back to that later...

New England Girls' Weekend

a few days after returning from Hatteras, I repacked the car (did i mention how thankful i am for the car??), much more lightly than we did for the week of vacation...for it was i alone who was traveling this time! All by my lonesome (YES!!) up to NH and VT to visit some incredible people from long ago...

got a nice little bit of serenity on Lake Winnipesaukee, thanks to the amazing Ron and Chris, our hosts for a couple of nights!

Sailing like Bob... way out on the lake...way far away from the dock...

relaxing with the one and only who can make me laugh my guts out

the crew, so blessed to know them all!

one of the very few pics i took of the ladies, due to having such a wonderful, non-stop talking time at the Chantry!

it was so fun to get away and have girl time (and lots of good food), nature time, and alone time in the car-- just me, God, and music! I definitely came home feeling refreshed, and so incredibly thankful for all of the blessings I've been given... in my long lasting friendships, dedicated, selfless husband, and wonderful parents and inlaws who gave up their weekend to watch our boys. OH the boys-- how happy i was to see them!! tho they were too busy having fun to notice i was back. stinkers :)

Hatteras!

Gia and all of her kids and grandkids together under one roof for the first time! 

It was a wonderful week of beach time, pool time, hot tubbing, ferry-riding, picture taking, kite flying, waiting out little rainstorms here and there, lots of naps on the beach, and a million different sand castles. It only took 2 beach carts and several strong men to get al of our gear to and from the beach each day. But we managed.

Fun was had by all (even baby Jack, who despite his cold was a super trooper!)...

and memories were made as the week flew by!

Gia and Will, making their way to the beach, not too far of a walk
(the boys were thrilled to be able to ride their bikes to and from each day)

day 1, k teaches w the art of beach rest. he's a quick learner.

brother/brother
father/daughter
bonding

the boys love playing with their big cousins, especially when they give them giant turtle rides!

riding through post rain puddles outside our house

party in the hot tub with all the cousins!

the Ocracoke Ferry

boys will be boys. Brown Brothers, the original.

Day 5, K teaches D the art of Beach Rest. He caught on fast as well.

Michelle, Matt and Jack wait out the passing shower...

C gets buried alive! for about 4 seconds.

the sunrise bids us farewell...on the last morning.

you work with what you have.
thankful we had THAT much space with which to work!

first camping adventure

After a scrumptious breakfast at our hotel it was onward to our final destination (kind of). 

We had been planning on stopping at the monster truck/Gravedigger's headquarters for months, and surprised the boys by pulling in, and letting them see the wonder for themselves. I know dave got pics, and i got video on his camera-- of the boys and he riding in an actual monster truck!--but i don't have them handy at the moment. It was definitely a highlight for them.. and so fun for me to watch their little boy faces experience something so fanciful (to them). 

Just a couple more hours and we were finally to Hatteras! 

First stop: Camping!

This wasn't originally in our plans, but due to some miscalculation of arrival dates, it turned out to be our best and most adventurous option until our house would be ready the next day. 

We hoped there'd be room at the campsite, since you can't reserve your spot in advance. 

turns out there was more than enough room...

we were one of a handful of people in the however many acres of campground!

the boys had a blast riding their balance bikes around the paths, and helped to pitch the tent and get all settled in by dusk. We told a few stories and they drifted off to sleep, no problem. I tossed and turned a lot during the night, but never got scared or cold. success! 

Along with morning came Father's Day-- and we gave Daddy his cards and gifts...and then sent him out for donuts and coffee, while we started packing up.

When he returned, the boys had re-packed his gift bag with seashells, and gifted them just as excitedly as the books we'd given him just an hour before...

...and he was just as excited to receive them...

so sweet!

We spent the day on the beach, by the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, something C and D have been talking about all year. So when K fell asleep on the beach that afternoon, the 2 of them went and climbed it together, just as they'd been planning (since last time C wasn't tall enough to go up). 

Definitely a bonding experience...

We hit the grocery store and then headed to our home for the week in Hatteras Village, and got unpacked and explored the 3 levels with great delight while we waited for our cousins to arrive. The boys quickly got acquainted with their bunkbeds, ran around like crazy with the cousins, and then willingly settled down for the first reading of The Dangerous Journey to round out the Father's Day. 

it was just slightly over a cute little someone's head. 

The perfect end to a pretty perfect adventure...

Ready for a week of new ones!

chincoteague

AND... this is where my pictures start to dwindle. 

We packed up our new car, with everything we could possibly need and MORE :) and took off for our Brown Family vacation to Cape Hatteras, via a day and night on Chincoteague. 

We had a blast exploring the beaches, hiking a couple of wilderness trails, eating yummy food, and yes, sleeping in a hotel!! We definitely would like to return again, as we didn't get to do as much adventuring as we would have liked... and if you're ever going for a night or 2, we would definitely recommend the Best Western as an affordable and very nice stay. 

The boys were so excited to just dig in the sand-- i don't think K even remembered the ocean from last year.. and the glee on his face was priceless. within minutes of arriving, he was soaked... clothes and all... and couldn't care less! 

The sun eventually came out and we changed into suits-- and spent the day just following their every whim... which basically consisted of digging and building castles. 

and making identical twin friends! we don't know this kid, but in the sunlight it was hard to tell he and C apart!

this was a very good sign for the rest of our week!!
every day. without fail.
best way to nap-- EVER!
(for daddies too)

hotel FUN!

incidentally, the wild horses, which we thought would be a highlight of our trip, were only seen one time, by the side of a road, behind a fence. so they didn't look that wild. we just kept driving.
oh well. maybe next time we'll come upon them on a trail and truly feel like we've done the Chincoteague "thing".

Onward....!

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.