Beach Boogie!

Nothing amps-up summer like a trip to the beach! We vacationed at the beach with my parents, Dana, and Lindsey & Jason --- and came home with a zillion pictures to prove it. The kids had fun playing in the surf (although truth-be-told, we had to convince them each day that it had anything fun to offer over the pool).




In true form, Griffin was laid back and had fun digging in the sand and splashing in the water. Next year he'll be even happier when he can R-U-N with his brothers!




Miles LOVED riding the waves. Each day he would look around and ask, "ok, who wants to boogie with me?"


Miles did a great job flying his kite (though Aunt Lindsey did chase after it on one occasion). We eventually tied it to a chair and it zoomed through the sky for hours.




Noah loved boogie-boarding until his infamous "wipe-out". After that, he preferred playing in the sand and skipping stones.


My dad made a really cool net so that the boys could fish...my parents took it out for a first run. The prototype didn't work as planned...but they did draw quite a bit of attention!





The adults stayed active all week! Bocce, paddleball, football, kites...you name it, this group played it!

We also loved the pool, the pier, and just hanging out at the house....more posts coming soon!

Happy Birthday, Mason!

Our niece, Mason, turns 5 on August 4th -- so we traveled to Raleigh to help her and Shannon celebrate. The cousins had a blast playing together and Mason's party was the perfect way to wear out the boys before our drive to the beach. Getting to see Mike's parents and the Larsons at the party was icing on the cake! We can't wait for our next visit, Shannon & Mason!

Flippin' for the Pool!

We joined our 1970's pool this summer and LOVE it. It is full of neighborhood kids (picture lots of boys and bikes strewn in the grass on the other side of the fence) and fun new families for us to meet. Mike and I foresee many summers spent here.

Here are some highlights from the weekend (lower the volume as I'm often - embarrassingly - cheering into the camera).


Miles was the only little boy at the pool doing flips. He drew quite a crowd! Over the weekend several dads were overhead using Miles as a role model for their older sons - and on Monday night a handful of middle school kids were begging for an encore!


Of course, Miles learned from the master....


Noah held his own with his 'mad dashes' on the diving board. The boys spent hours on this diving board! (I was asleep at 9pm on Sunday night after so much time treading water!)


Griffin made dozens of baskets while we were there. Mike said he kept pulling on him to 'lift him again'. Now if Griff would just start walking, maybe we could teach him to use the net in the driveway!

Let's Build!

Ed Haenni (our good friend Scott's dad) gave the boys some of his incredible, hand-made building blocks for their birthdays. He surprised us last week with another supply: extra long blocks, extra short blocks, even some hollow ones. Miles & Noah have been building non-stop, while Griffin has been perfecting his role as "The Destroyer".


Miles and I built a cool fort. He actually hung out in it for awhile!


Dad helped with this creation. They used EVERY block!


Miles built a cool spaceship for his astronaut toys.


Noah was so proud of the iceberg he built for his penguins.


Miles and Noah spent Saturday morning building "Fun Town" complete with little buildings scattered around and a road to get in.


"My work here is done...."


Another tower bites the dust.....here we go again!

******
Thanks, Ed! You've gifted us with hours of fun!

Our Balance is Back!

We had one of those weeks in the Brown house. For some reason I woke up three days in a row with a headache which made the sword fights, an arm bite, a toppled over plant, a spilled coffee bag, a poop smeared in a wet spiderman bathing suit (while out of the pool, thank goodness....but so gross that the suit was not saved!), a melt-down of "I'm so scared of camp!", and all of the other normal ups & downs of being 1, 3, and 5 seem amplified. I asked myself a couple of times if I had 30 boys or 3! We were all thrilled when Mike got home from Chicago tonight. He greeted us outside & the boys rushed to him and immediately posed for this picture. Ah....our balance is back!


While playing on the slide, Miles said, "I'm the biggest, Noah is the meatiest and Griffin is the littlest." I laughed and almost correct him -- but then thought, well, Noah is pretty meaty!


For a boy that hates to nap, Noah is constantly pretending that he's sleeping. He was trying so hard to hold in the giggles while this picture was being taken (as if Miles really thought he was sleeping?).


Its so cute to see all 3 boys playing together (yes, Miles is under there somewhere). Mike always teases me (and Dana) because we learned this to be called 'pig-pile' while the rest of the world calls it 'dog-pile'. Whatever its called, the boys loved it!


If you look closely, you can see tiny feet and legs scaling the play-set. Both boys perfected a new way to enter their 'spaceship' tonight. Miles was so excited when he did it, he yelled, "I can't wait to show Dad!" Whenever Noah got nervous he yelled, "Yikes!" Guess I can't say he never listens to me!


Griffin loves the slide. We're working on his technique (he tries to head down dragging one leg behind) -- but whether he toppled down or went down smoothly, he was always up for another turn.


Miles wrapped up the night by writing, addressing, and delivering his first letter to our neighbor Evan. He was so excited about it and asked a million questions about the postal process. Thankfully, I was skilled at answering them -- I failed miserably earlier in the night as Miles would say things like, "mom. tell me everything you know about Mars." Yikes, indeed!

Just For You, Griff!

Poor Griffin doesn't get as much blog-time since he's often asleep by 6:45pm -- so I thought I'd dedicate a post to some cute pix of him from the past few days.


We were at a local children's museum yesterday and Griffin crawled right over to this huge mouth model and immediately began brushing the teeth. Guess we know he inherited the Brown cleanliness gene!


Griffin loved his first taste of watermelon. It seemed he couldn't get his mouth opened wide enough!


Yes, Griffin is under this strainer. Gotta love playing with treasures found in the kitchen!


Griffin has such determination. Here he is bound and determined to get Miles' snack. Just wait until he starts walking...Miles and Noah (and me, gulp): LOOK OUT!

Tonight They Were Plants!

The boys were hot and sweaty after lots of biking....


(especially with the added weight of these favorite ninja turtle mascots)


So we bent the Sunday-Friday water restriction rules (1st time!) which say that we can only use outside water if we are hand-watering plants. The risk of a ticket was worth it when mid-way through the excitement Miles stopped and said, "mommy, its so much fun to be with you!" I melted. He quickly added, "its fun to be with dad, too!"


As we dried them off, Miles and Noah rolled right into a dance-fest....so excited about the evening's adventure! Except for Griff sleeping through the entire thing, it was a perfect family night!

For the record, we all took fast showers tonight as 'pay-back' for outside usage!

I Love You More Than The Entire World!

Miles (the anti-kisser) gave me a humongous hug tonight. Afterwards, he looked me straight in the eyes and in this sweet, sincere voice he said, "mommy, hugs mean that I love you more than the entire world." Its on the list of my life's highlights.





Maybe he was still on a high, after our fun evening with the Williams. We had dinner together and then shocked the kids by finally saying, "yes! we can get ice cream tonight!" They were in heaven. Noah ate until his mix-in gummy bears were gone, Miles made a chocolate beard, and Ella and Jack took their time and savored every bite. Griffin passed on his ice cream and spent the time standing like a champ (no walking yet...but he's mastered standing!).


Noah had quite a few spills today. He covered himself in band-aids when we got home. The funniest of the accidents was this morning when he pinched his finger in a shopping cart. He said with a hammed-up frown, "mommy, I pinched my finger....my finger is crying!" Even in sorrow he cracks me up!

Quiet Time --- What's That?!

Miles stopped napping 3 years ago....Noah stopped napping almost a year ago. I never insisted on quiet time so its all of us....ALL the time! Today I decided that the boys should have some quiet time. Miles begged me to let them have quiet time together. He said, "I promise we'll be good! We won't be loud!" They scurried to the playroom upstairs and started the fun. Loud banging drew me upstairs. This was my visual when I opened the door.


I hid my laughter behind the camera and muttered something about being careful.


I decided not the end the party (it is a playroom, right)? But as I shut the door, I did call out to them...."good job playing together! Let's continue this for another 30 minutes." :)

Crazy Storms in Charlotte

Rain has been our stranger....that is, until this past Sunday. We had insane hail on Sunday afternoon and have had crazy thunderstorms every night since.

Check out the roof of our playset! Isn't that crazy?!


After the thunder & lightening stopped, Miles & Noah (cautiously) went outside to play. It took little time to ditch the umbrella and stomp and lay down in puddles.


They were soaked when playtime was over. We stripped them down in the garage (with the idea 'to head straight to the bathtub').


Who knows what I was thinking, but I immediately blurted out, "I dare you to run in the driveway naked!" They were so excited by the spontaneity and lack of modesty.....sheer delight!

Rock Star Night!

Mike & I had so much fun on Saturday night! My dinner club celebrated 10 years together by hanging out with our husbands and playing Rock Band. Mike and I had never played before but quickly decided to put this game on our list for Santa!


Our girl band rocked. I loved the guitar...was a maniac on the drums...and fell apart when I had to sing (more like chant) a Rush song that I'd never heard before. Too, too funny!


Poor Mike used the guitar after me (he eventually figured out that he needed to lengthen the strap). Let us know if you need a mariachi player for your next event!


Once Mike got comfortable he rocked out. Man, how he loves that 80s metal!