Quick Trip To Raleigh

We spent 24 hours in Raleigh -- much too short but full of fun. The boys had a blast playing with Mason and Mike and I were way overdue on QT with Shannon. We also got to see the Larsons (including JuJu and our sweet god-daughter, Sydney) which was an extra treat!

Celebrating 20/20 Vision!

My intra-lasik surgery was a huge success! I went from 20/400 (legally blind!) to 20/20! Now its up to me to wear eye shields or goggles to bed for a week, keep my eyes completely dry for a week (except for the eye drops which last for 3 weeks) to make sure it stays that way.

With Mike out of town, my mom & Dana were on hand to help. We celebrated by having lunch at the Original House of Pancakes. Miles went straight to work coloring his place mat. Noah ordered chocolate chip pancakes and cried when they arrived cooked inside. The waitress promptly brought him a little cup of chocolate chips and that became his lunch. Griffin enjoyed the meal most of all --- Gram fed him water straight from a glass and then accidentally fed him a huge piece of fruit (Dana got a huge kick out of it). YumYum!

Filling the Summer Days.....

We filled our morning with ninja turtle play (aka rotating between sword fighting and 'holstering' swords to your clothes), "food art" (can you spot us all? Noah insisted on being bald!), a quick gymnastics class, then a 'monster party' (dressing up, eating monster food, drawing monster pictures, etc..)

By 2pm my brain froze. I could not come up with any ideas for practical, innovative fun that 3 different aged boys would enjoy. Yikes! We went through the checklist. Pool? Deathtrap. Sprinkler? Water Restrictions. Playground? Equipment is 100+ degrees. Library? Griffin is in a destructive phase. We all agreed that we had no other choice but to rejoin Charlotte At Play. It rocked! The kids ran/crawled around, used their imaginations and can't wait to go back. Perfect-o!

Happy Father's Day

The boys were so excited about Father's Day! Miles drew pictures all week and hung them in the kitchen windows to decorate for Mike. Noah announced on Saturday that we'd need party hats and a cake in order to really celebrate....so we loaded up at the party store with party hats and Star Wars themed games and accessories. After church, the boys made a chocolate cake for Mike...and we all devoured it while Griffin napped (the downside of being only 1!). We spent the afternoon at the pool and the evening at our rigged up 'water park' in the backyard. It was a great day!

Vroom Vroom!

Mike and Jonathan spent some guy-time on Saturday and rode Harleys to the mtns. Mike came home with ASU t-shirts for the boys -- and is already dreaming about which one will attend App State.








The boys loved "riding" the Harleys. Miles said, "I want to ride one when I'm 10...no 13!" Noah looked at him sideways and said, "well, I want to ride one when I'm 3!".











Miles used "protection" as they took off.





I loved, loved, loved Jonathan's t-shirt. It says on top: "Got your tickets?" and underneath with arrows pointing to his biceps it says: "To the Gun Show". Awesome gift, Trish!

After Dinner Dip!

With Mike in town we decided to head to the pool after dinner. Noah & Griffin had fun playing in the splash pool....while Miles was clearly 'over it' and immediately ready for deeper waters. He and Mike spent their time at the humongous water slides. It was Miles' first time on them and he couldn't get enough! (.....time to get that mother's helper before Miles' is forced to spend hours with me, Noah, and Griffin and all of the baby pools around Charlotte!)

Discovery Place!

We spent a few hours at Discovery Place today. We hadn't been in ages so it was fun to be back on our old stomping grounds. The boys found some favorite exhibits (the gravity chair and a ball table) and we also had fun with the new dinosaur exhibit. The boys loved building dinosaurs - while Griffin had more fun sitting in the block tub.

At one point the older boys hid from me inside an enormous wooden truck. I spent 3 minutes in a complete panic before Miles popped out and said with a huge smile, "we were just hiding from you, mommy!". Yikes! I just may be in the market for a mother's helper this summer!

Griffin's Baptism

Griffin was baptized on Sunday! It was such a special ceremony and it meant a lot to have my mom and Dana to celebrate with us. Chris Payne baptized Griffin - which was nice, since he also baptized Noah. Another great aspect of the service was that Mike and I exchanged wedding vows for the 4th time (the first part of the baptism is for the parents to recommit to each other...so we did it on our wedding day and again as we baptized each son). Rejoice!

Rock On, Griff!

Admit it, every parent does it at one time or another.....we take advantage of our little ones -- giving them Mohawks just to get a cheap laugh. This one cracked us up: Griffin's hair was perfectly primed as it was full of sunscreen. While he ate his peas, we shaped and molded -- and then just sat back and laughed.

I honestly hope that one of our boys has an alternative hairstyle someday (....I know, be careful what you wish for!).

Makin' the Most of Water Restrictions

Saturday is our one-and-only day to use water -- so we took advantage and filled up a little baby pool in the backyard. The boys had a blast sliding into the water....you would have thought we were at a water park. Looking forward to next Saturday already!

Summer Night with Fun Friends

We joined the Williams at their very cool pool on Friday night. Everyone enjoyed the water slide -- even Griffin! Noah asked Mike if he could "stay forever". Needless to say, the boys are looking forward to lots of playtime with Ella & Jack!

Mmmmm.....Tasty!

The boys are fascinated with the food chain these days. I'm constantly answering questions like, "what does a lion/frog/worm/etc... eat?" Tonight Miles and Noah were playing with two toy dragons. As expected, Noah said, "mommy, what do dragons eat?" Unsure of the 'correct' answer, I gave the boys a big smile and jokingly said "little boys!". Mike gasped and immediately predicted that we'd have two extra bodies in our bed tonight --- but Miles didn't skip a beat. He looked right at Noah and said, "boy do you look tasty!" Hilarious....

Tuckered Out!

While Mike was out of town I kept the boys running.....park, pool, playdates -- you name it, we did it. Two days in a row someone fell asleep mid-activity. Now....if I could only figure out what would get Miles to nap a little maybe I could hop onto that dusty treadmill!