New Hampshire

Last week we flew up to New Hampshire to visit John's extended family.  Grammie joined us on our adventure; we were visiting her family after all!  We had a wonderful, busy, fun filled week!  Many memories were made :)  Big Sister had a blast hanging out with her cousin and spending time with Gigi and Papa Dean (and the rest of the family too!).  She even tried to talk us into moving.  Little Bud took a break from teething in honor of the trip, and was his usual happy, sweet self (when he's teething, I sometimes forget what a easy, happy go lucky kid he is!).  Thanks everyone for such a lovely week!!

Ready to go at the Birmingham Airport (the new terminal is awesome!)

checking out our plane before boarding

Little Bud was so sleepy after our day of traveling!

Big Sister enjoying some pool time with her cousin

Excited for our water park adventure!

Big Sister loved the inflatable slide

Sweet Cousins :)

Big Sister bravely went down the green slide!

helping Little Bud with his walking

Another little cousin joined us for our day at the water park

Playing in the waves at the beach!

Little Bud was loving the ocean!

winding down with a few good books after a long day at the beach

This picture melts my heart!!
Even though it's been so long since they've seen each other,
they have such a sweet bond!

Bensons Park

checking out the pond with Gigi

swinging at the park

walking in the bear tracks :)

both girls had fun climbing

sweet boy

love him!

ready to jump in!!

cannonball!

John and I were able to go on a day date to Boston.
We toured the Old State House and walked around the North End

Faneuil Hall

The Freedom Trail

taking a break from shopping

It rained on our last day, so we went to a fun indoor play area

These girls had a blast climbing, playing and sliding

bouncing

this boy loves to slide!

monkey bars

sliding cousins :)

Papa Dean, Gigi and their great grands!

On our last night, they had a parade with light up bracelets and necklaces

after a while, they took the parade inside to the basement

dancing

Gigi and Big Sister

Thanks for a wonderful trip!!

Buckled up and ready to head to the airport

Almost home!

Serve Day

Every July our church has a city wide service day, appropriately named Serve Day.  Small groups from all over the state get out and serve their communities (there are building crews, cleaning crews, painting crews, trash pick up crews, clothing and shoe give aways, groups that host block parties in underprivileged areas, and the list goes on and on).  This morning we went to a retirement community in Birmingham with our Baby Praise group, and after that we went downtown to a "Fun Zone" set up by a small group that Jamie is involved in.  The kids and I participated last year, and again I was overwhelmed by the awesome people we go to church with!  It's wonderful to be a part of such a loving, giving group of people!

Thank You!

Little Bud's favorite new sign is "thank you".  He signs it whenever anyone gives him anything, but is especially appreciative when it's something edible :)

grapes and bananas are definitely his favorite foods!

Baby Praise

When Big Sister was about 5 months old, we decided to visit a small group listed in the church directory as "Baby Praise".  It's basically a music class, where babies and littles dance and sing along to kids songs and Sunday school songs.  For the past several years, it's been the highlight of Big Sister's week.  Little Bud on the other hand, is not a fan (notice a trend here...he doesn't like anything that requires sitting still and/or participation; he likes to blaze his own trail!).  For several different reasons, we joined a new play group small group this spring (that meets at the same time as Baby Praise), and have enjoyed meeting new friends, but Big Sister has missed going to Baby Praise each week.  Last week Grammie had Little Bud over to play so that Big Sister and I could attend the last Baby Praise of the summer semester (our church has 3 small group "semesters" each year).  Big Sister had a blast (and I was actually able to visit with the other moms, instead of constantly chasing down and reigning in Little Bud).  Big Sister was even able to play with her friends after class without having to leave early so that Little Bud could have his nap :) 

"Twinkle Twinkle"

"Dance Anyway You Want To..."

"...Stop When I Say FREEZE!"

"Wiggle Any Way You Want To..."

"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

"No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"

Ms. Beth, Big Sister and friends

Summer Fun at the Library

This summer both of our local libraries have had a fantastic line up of activities.  Some days I think Big Sister would like to move into the library, but she settles for visiting every chance she gets.  She usually tracks her week by which story time we're going on a particular day.  Both libraries have actually had so many extra activities this summer, that we haven't regularly attended story time (don't tell Big Sister though, she doesn't realized that we've missed out on anything!).

To say that Little Bud is not a fan of the library is a complete understatement.  Any time we go to anything at the library, I spend most of my time trying to pacify him with snacks, bottles, toys and even my phone (although I haven't let him play with it much after he deleted my phone app!), and most of the time we end up walking around outside the room where the activity is held because once he's bored with the snacks, bottles and toys (all of which he throws once he's "done" with them), he starts fussing and then moves to screaming, hitting, pulling hair and maybe even biting.  He's generally such a sweet boy, but he does NOT like to be contained, and he's been teething pretty much non stop for over a month, and teething brings out his mean streak for sure!

So, to summarize, Big Sister LOVES the library and Little Bud does NOT(keeping my fingers crossed that he'll change his opinion on that down the line)! 

Both kids however do love their cousin, who has been able to join us on a few library adventures lately.

This was before Little Bud's phone privileges were revoked! 

Pirate Cousins :)

scary snake - Big Sister bravely "petted" it's tail

keeping Little Bud entertained is almost a full time job!!

petting the turtle

Fishing

Today Big Sister went fishing with Daddy and Papa Jack.  The adventure started with the worm gathering.  Big Sister had a blast scooping up the worms and dropping them in her bucket.  She might love to dress up and wear all things pink and sparkly, but she likes to play in the dirt and mud too ;)  They only caught one fish, so they're planning to go back another time in the early morning or late afternoon to see if they can catch some more.