Can't Get Enough

Yet another beach weekend for our family.  We just can't get enough of St. George Island this summer.  

It was a pleasure to have Aunt Kristi and Uncle Steve's friends: Chris, Ken and their son, Andrew with us this visit. 

The boys were fast friends, though Andrew was having a rock star moment here and was NOT in the mood to smile for me.  That's ok, Little Man.  Eli always loves having a friend to play with at the beach...and Jude did what he could to keep up with the two wild ones.  There was no sleeping in with these kiddos up early each day, ready to eat, and hit the beach. 

It was a hot one.  The sand scorched our feet making us have to run to find relief in the shade or the water.  This meant, lots of time in the water...which was thankfully calm, though a tad bit too warm at times.  It is getting up to its near-bath-water-temperatures that it often hits by August.  The big boys tossed the football around a lot and the little boys were able to swim, float, and be brave.

The grown-ups stayed up too late each night talking, laughing, and flipping (cups, of course).  So glad to share our piece of heaven with friends.  Thanks for making the drive and playing with us. 

And Andrew, Eli is sorry that he missed the playdate you invited him over for on Thursday.  The drive was a little too long.  Haha!  But in all honesty, we hope to play again soon. 

Marianna

One of our latest summer adventures took us on a day trip to Marianna.  The littles and I loaded up early last Wednesday and drove an hour over to visit a dear friend of mine from college and her family. Matt and I like to claim this relationship.  If it weren't for us, LuAnne and Jason would never have met....and now they are happily married with two boys, not far from the ages of our two boys.  It was a wonderful reunion.  So great to catch up and meet their boys and have them meet ours.

They treated us right while we were there.  Bumpy rides in the back of the truck, a wagon ride around the farm, short hikes in the woods, bear hunts in a cave, and lots of cows and horses to watch.  A darn near perfect day for our busy boy.  So much fun.

LuAnne was kind enough to walk Eli out and let him "ride" on the miniature pony, Flash.  And do you see that precious new colt?  What an awesome way to spend the day!

Eli loved making new friends, and I don't think he put down Ryan's toy rifle and/or pistol much the entire time. Only when we went swimming after lunch.  Can you tell we don't have ones like that?  He was obsessed!

Thanks for the invite and the amazing day, LuAnne and Jason!  Your family is precious.  Eli loved playing with your boys and has wondered when we can play again. Can't wait to come back and visit again soon.  Maybe in the fall? ...And we hope to have you come see us too.  Not sure we can show you quite the time you showed us, but we will do our best.  I promise! 

Dump

Home from another beach weekend + a rough night of sleep for the Dude = a tired Mommy today.  Eyes were actually burning and tearing with exhaustion and of course, the boys didn't nap as expected this afternoon.  I found myself brewing cup of coffee #2 and sucking it down....only to end up with a nap from both of the boys after all.  Just a little later than planned....and now I'm too hopped up on caffeine to nap anymore.  Sigh.  What's a mom to do?  Blog of course!

As I was looking through my photos seeing what still hadn't made it onto the blog, I found a mishmash of pictures that don't really relate to one another at all.  Figured I'd dump them all into one post and be done with it. Enjoy the randomness.

A couple weeks ago, Eli went to a camp at a local children's theater in the afternoons.  It was smack in the middle of nap time which caused some "drama" of our own at home, but it was still a lot of fun.  The theme was "Pirates and Princesses" which was right up Eli's alley.

Friday, the campers got on stage to showcase for the parents a little of what they had been working on all week.  Eli wowed us by announcing his pirate name ("Captain") , clapping rhythms, and dancing a routine. My favorite, heart-melting moment was when he stopped mid-dance to wave to us and sign "I love you."  So proud of our budding young actor.

Dressing up and playing pretend is a favorite of Eli's as he loves to change his outfits and costumes multiple times each day.  One morning he bounded down the stairs announcing he was an army man.

Who cares if the temps push 100 degrees each day.  He was so proud of the costume he'd created.  He was so committed to camo, that even his undies were camouflage.  Another morning, Eli decided everyone should be a pirate,

 

.....even Jude.

Every time we pull out a bin of clothing with the next size up for Jude, Eli loves asking if he wore each item.   The robot jammies were a definite favorite of ours. 

 He couldn't resist seeing if they still fit.  A little short, don't you think? Quite a handsome (and adorable) pair!

Jude is on his feet a lot these days.  He tries to pull up on anything and everything.  Even got himself his first bruise last Friday as he loves to let go with one hand, but lost his balance and spun around to collide with the column in our great room.  Bonk.  Since then, I must admit, he's taken several spills and bonked his head a few places.  It hasn't slowed him down a bit.

And finally....the big boy is officially on table food for dinner each night.  He loves him some tofu and veggies. 

What a little stinker!  I could eat him up!

Birthdays and Mud

Another summer adventure took us down to visit Matt's dad and sisters for a weekend.  We intentionally chose the weekend of Ann and Kate's birthday so we would be able to celebrate with them while we were there.

As usual, Pap Pap treated Eli to chocolate doughnuts each morning.  We hung out, BBQ'ed, made parfaits, watched baseball, went to brunch, and swam and swam and swam.  Eli was in the pool as much as he could be and came out a prune every time.  It was a full weekend and a great visit.

While down there, Matt and Eli went with Pap Pap to the family storage unit to find some of Matt's childhood toys for Eli to enjoy.  We came home with 2 giant Playmobil sets:

this castle and a pioneer fort.  

They also grabbed some of the girls' old kitchen toys that looked fun.  Our idea was to bring them to the beach to have as toys down there....but in the meantime, we put them to good use in our backyard as part of a MUD KITCHEN!  This was one of the best things we have done all summer.  Once again, we waited for Jude to go down for a nap, and then headed out to get messy.

This was the only masterpiece to come out of a the kitchen.  A mud pie for Mommy.  The rest of the time was just a mud and water fest, and I let him have at it.  Eli had a blast and definitely got messy, but I knew he would and welcomed it.  When he had had his fill of mud, I got out soup and sponges, and we did the dishes.  I hosed Eli down and had him strip down before heading back inside.  He has been asking to do it again and again.  The hand-me-down toys were the perfect thing for this activity.  (Inspired by a sorority sister who posted pictures on FB of her own mud kitchen.)  Looking forward to round 2.

History

My body was covered in goosebumps, and I found myself getting choked up and teary as Eli and I watched the final space shuttle take off.  It was his first one...and it will be the only one he gets to watch.

What a moment in history.  And I got to share it with my big boy.  Goosebumps again.

Finally, Our 4th

Definitely still playing catch up and don't want to wait any longer to get our 4th of July pictures up.  (**Beware: There are a lot!**)  We went to the beach with my family for the holiday weekend.  It was a blast, as usual.  Jude worked on perfecting his crawling while Eli kept busy finding all kinds of mischief to get into.  It was hot, but beautiful.  The big boys brought kayaks for fishing, but still didn't have any luck. We ate awesome food, had epic cornhole battles, and celebrated America.  The weekend wouldn't have been complete without the superb fireworks show by Matt, Steve, and my dad. Eli got a kick out of all of the glow gear that Aunt Kristi brought with her.  The fireworks and glow gear had me working on my nighttime photography skills.  I still have some work to do!!

Sadly, Aunt Kristi, Uncle Steve, and Matt had to head back to Tally for work that week, but the boys and I stuck around with Grandma and Grandpa until Wednesday.  SGI was lit up with fireworks up and down the beach the night of the 4th (we did our show a night early.)  A memorable conversation while watching fireworks late into the night with an exhausted Eli:

E: This is my best holiday!

Me: Better than Christmas?

E: Christmas doesn't have fireworks.

Love it!  And love that boy!  He stayed up way past his bedtime while Jude slept soundly through all the the booms and blasts.  Extra days at the beach are always a treat. When we got tired and hot on the beach, we kept entertained in the house with puzzles, togas, and peek-a-boo.

It was a wonderful 4th, for sure!