Happy Birthday, Brother!!

Since Aiden's birthday is the day before Fourth of July, I decided to wait a couple of weeks to have his actual party to celebrate his second birthday. This year we held it at The Little Gym in Little Rock on July 17th from 4:30 to 6 p.m.  Grandma, "Aunt June", The Poe's, Callahan's, McCool's and three of his friends from school--Jake S., Mackenzie P., and Matthew S. were there. You guys had so much fun playing together and we encouraged you to act crazy!! After the party, we went to dinner with the McCools (we're so happy they've moved back to their house a couple of streets over from us). Here are just a few pics (we took almost 300!!)....

Princess Doctor

You love, love, love to play dress-up. Your imagination is definitely expanding and the things you conjure up sometimes is so funny to me.  Here, I believe you were a "princess doctor"--you'll never hear me tell you that you can't be something in life...Dream, baby girl, dream big! :-)

Fourth of July

Up until this year, we hadn't gone to see a fireworks show! Unbelievable since you're 3 1/2!! But your first one, you were a baby, your second one we came home from the hospital with Aiden (plus it was raining), your third one Aiden was a baby and now here we are at your fourth one and you got to watch not one but TWO fireworks shows!! Sherwood put a show on Saturday, July 3rd at Sherwood Forest. It began raining right as we were leaving the house but we headed over that way anyway, just to see. Thankfully we did because the rain stopped and we were able to get a good front row seat so we could watch them from the car. You loved watching them and I loved watching you--especially when you would make remarks about them ("Wow, that one is beautiful" or "Woah, that was sparkly/pretty/loud").

Our second show was the "big fireworks" show on the NLR side of the river. I had never been to those so it was new for me as well!!  We were afraid it would be incredibly crowded but we really lucked out with our seating--we took a big blanket and spread out on our grassy spot. It was a spectacular show and you and Aiden thought they were definitely neat!! It didn't last as long as I thought it would be the grand finale was awesome!! Can't wait to watch them again next year--in fact you've asked me several times since then when can we go to watch them again.  I love making memories like these with you!!

YMCA Swim Lessons

Mrs. Martha & I enrolled you and Drew in swim lessons at the YMCA. The session lasted for two weeks and you had lessons Monday-Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.; your session began on July 28th and ended on July 8th. We had planned for you two to take them together but you were split into separate groups.

Overall, I'm still not quite sure if the lessons have helped any. One main issue you face is your dislike of having water in your face, especially your eyes & ears! Every day your instructor went through drills--he had you all sit on the edge and splash with your hands and then splash with your feet. He used a board to teach you how to kick with your legs while keeping your arms super straight (you have a problem with wanting to keep your arms bent). He had you all do "starfish" which is where he taught you (or tried to) how to float on your back--you really didn't like this one because of the water in your ears. Last he had you guys pick a tree and whatever tree you chose, you jumped in the water as that tree.

You had 3 little boys in your group and they were all super rambunctious--none of you listened like you should have and you got very antsy while waiting for your turn. Dad & I had to get on to you several times for jumping in the water when you should've been sitting, etc.

I guess we can always try again next year. You've got a false sense of security right now in our pool because I bought you a swimsuit type thing with built in padding that helps you stay afloat so now you think you can swim all by yourself......

Aunt Pennie comes to visit

Aunt Pennie came to visit us about a month ago; our visits with her are always too short and not often enough. You love wearing her jewelry and she's so silly you laugh the whole time she's here.

Happy Father's Day!!

This year, Father's Day fell on Sunday, June 20th. We celebrated with a few presents to Daddy (mostly shirts, a new wallet) and took Dad out to lunch at Sakura.  We rarely get to eat out as a family--simply because the logistics of it all are a bit overwhelming and I so don't want us to be "that" family that has a screaming/whiny kid that can't be controlled in public. Long story short, you wanted filet but you wouldn't eat it when it was delivered--you picked at the rice and ate a few bites of soup. Overall it was a nice day and I wish we were able to show Dad how much we truly love him and appreciate all that he does for our family.

Happy Birthday, Mackenzie!!

We were invited to help one of Aiden's friends, Mackenzie, celebrate her 2nd birthday. The party was held on Saturday, June 19th from Noon to 2 p.m. at the Lakewood Park in North Little Rock. We were half an hour late getting to the party because we thought the party was at another venue so we had to go all the way home to get the invitation & to google directions. We finally arrived and the party was in full swing!!  It was undeniably HOT so we only stayed about an hour but you guys seemed to have fun!  An added bonus for you was that your friend, Sam, was also there--they came a little bit before we left so you guys only got to eat cupcakes/ice cream together....

Last Blastball 2010

Your last Blastball practice of this year was on Monday, June 14th. It's an co-ed intro to softball & baseball for ages 3-5. You've decided you don't want to play this sport again next year, but it was worth a try to introduce you to it. I think primarily because of the waiting in between your turn to bat and having to sit out in the "outfield" to catch balls, you just got bored. Soccer is definitely your sport since you're constantly moving. I will say that you greatly improved with your batting skills (still need some work because about 40% of the time, you knocked over the "t") and you didn't seem to be as afraid of getting hit with the ball as you were when you first started playing.  Of course, there's always next year and you may change your mind (especially now that Aiden got a baseball "t" set for his birthday and you guys fight over playing with it)....these are some pics we took. The last pic is of you wearing the "necklace" Grandma made for you out of the "flowers" you picked. She came to watch almost all of your "practices"--it was sweltering, miserably hot every time we went....