Memorial Day Weekend

Oh Memorial Day! It was another gorgeous weekend at the beach for our family. We are lucky ducks, and we know it. Ever grateful to have a getaway so close by. And we were excited to be spending it with my parents, but sadly, their weekend got cut short after Grandma took a little spill and broke her hip Saturday evening. That woman is tough as nails and let my dad drive her all the way back to town (almost 2 hours) to get it checked out. She is working on recovering and rehabbing that leg of hers. It is going to be a tough road ahead for my mommy, but I know she can do it. I am confident and thankful that I can count on many of you for prayers.

As there wasn't much we could do back in town to help just yet, my dad encouraged us to stay for the rest of the weekend, and we did.  I won't lie...I felt a little guilty enjoying paradise while they were stuck in the hospital for tests, surgery, and recovery, but my dad was right.  We did our best to enjoy it and kept checking in on how things were going with Grandma.

Jude, as usual was down on the beach early.  Why does food taste so much better at the beach??  Clearly, Jude thinks so too. There was a lot of Lego action going on back up at the house, and when I finally convinced Eli to step away from his Legos and get outside, he was ready for a nap.

You know you are tired when you fall asleep on the beach!

The usual beach activities were enjoyed: sand, surf, sun, swinging, reading, and of course, walks for ice cream at sunset. 

Sunday morning was filled with: church on the island (we love it!), a pancake breakfast, playing with cars, and more Lego building. 

Over the years, many sand and water toys have been collecting in our beach storage room, and it was time to sort through them. While Daddy worked hard, Eli and Jude were happy to play with everything. The hula hoop was one of many discoveries from the toys.  Eli was cracking me up trying to get it going.  He never quite got it going very well.  Keep practicing, little man!




And after all that hard work, cold treats were a must. Yum! This boy loves his sweet treats. 

We hit the beach that afternoon, and Eli discovered another beach toy that day....the boogie board.  He enjoyed lots of rides on the waves with some help from Mom and even found the courage to try it on his own. 

Eli swam a lot this weekend.  He has found his confidence as a swimmer and couldn't get enough of the water. I am looking forward to having a water-logged boy....he'll have a ginormous appetite and will sleep like a rock.  Both are fine by me!  Jude still plays happily at the water's edge.  Running, splashing, digging, pouring.  The world's best playground and sandbox.

I love mornings at the beach.  The boys get up early, but are still quiet and calm.  They ease their way into the day.  Now I just need to figure out how to capture this and recreate it at home. 

Monday, we decided to take it slow, squeeze in a little more beach time while packing and cleaning up. We were all very eager to get back and visit Grandma who was ready for visitors. 

Just too cute not to share....Jude loves airplanes, and there are a lot of small airplanes that like to fly over the beach each day.  Each time he would get so excited and run to find the "meeeeuuum." That is what he calls airplanes because that is the sound they make. Duh! He would wave and point and call to each plane as it went by.  Like I said: Just. Too. Cute!

Always hard to leave the beach, but we know we will be back a lot this summer. 

In the Blink of an Eye

Holy cow, neglected blog!  Life is moving faster these days, or so it seems.  I have been struggling to keep up...with everything. May has been crazy busy and is going by in the blink of an eye!!  The past two weeks, we have been running from one thing to another with few moments to spare.  Jude is working on dropping his morning nap too, so that has made finding computer time even more difficult. The evenings have been spent crafting to create some end of the year gifts for Eli's amazing teachers who have been his teachers for 3 (!!!) years, and he thinks the world of....so with no morning naps, wicked busy afternoons, and late night sewing sessions, I am behind.  This is bound to be a messy, catch-up post; chock-full of phone pictures and maybe a bonus or two when I actually found time to pull out the "real" camera.  Here goes nothin'!

• Baby boy turned 18 months old.  I will (I hope....) get around to a post for him with some fun facts and all that he has been up to lately.  He is a funny kid and is talking up a storm. Dropping the nap (...and cutting 3 teeth in a week or so...) has been difficult on him. Some days he still takes two, but not usually. Sometimes the only way he will nap is in Momma's arms, and even though it usually destroys any hopes I had of getting dinner ready, I cherish the cuddle time. He is quite a handsome fella, at least we think so....and he has my heart. 

• Jude loves Eli.  Will do anything and everything Eli is doing, or at least try...even if he shouldn't. And when Eli wants to be, he is a very loving and playful brother....other times, he may or may not bully his little brother a bit.  Just keepin' it real.

 

• A few projects this month to keep Eli happy and busy.  I made him an Avengers shirt (totally followed these directions...I deserve no credit on this one, except in the execution...and the work is nowhere near my usual high, near perfect, standards.)  He loves it!  We also planted a lot of little individual flower pots.  These were a gift we had given Matt's mom before she passed away.  In the cleaning out of her things, we found them and took them, hoping to plant them one day.  Well, we did.  Not many actually grew, but we have 4 or 5 varieties (out of 12) moved into a larger pot already.  

• Even though we still have a couple more days of school, summer weather is here and it is getting hotter.  The boys took their first "swim" of the season in our inflatable pool.  A very fun day, indeed.  Both boys were thrilled.

• I mentioned how funny Jude is, right?  Everywhere I look, I'm laughing.  One day it is Luke Skywalker taking a dip in our dishwasher and another day, it is a naked baby streaking around the house.  Yup, Jude figured out how to get naked....several mornings in a row, I found him in his birthday suit.  He loves it, and I love that cutie bootie!

•  Legos, Legos, Legos!!!  Lots and lots of Lego action going on around here this month.  

• Mother's Day weekend, we headed to our first wedding (...of 4!) this summer. On the trip over, I decided that I was going to teach Eli how to blow bubbles, so I stocked up on some sugar-free bubble gum, and we chewed and blew, and chewed and blew some more. 

• The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and the bride was stunning.  As usual, tears were flowing as her dad walked her down to give her away.  Such a beautiful day.  The boys did great and partied hard. Thanks to all the dancing, Eli now refers to weddings as "dance parties" and was glad that we have so many more weddings to attend this summer.  Both boys enjoyed exploring in the hotel room and taking a quick dip in the pool/hot tub. 

• That week, Eli started his swim lessons.  He picked right up where he left off last year.  Coach Malcolm had Eli working hard on his freestyle stroke for two weeks, and Eli did great! We are thankful to Coach Malcolm for all his efforts to help Eli, and proud of Eli for all of his hard work. We wish Malcolm good luck as he heads to compete at the Olympic Trials next month.

•  Keeping my other little water baby dry during swimming proved to be a challenge.  Week 1, I managed to keep Jude mostly dry with some minor dampness from splashing and sitting on the edge, kicking his feet.  Week 2, I didn't even fight it.  Swim diaper, sunscreen, hat, and he was good to go.  He loved playing on the steps....and only fell in twice. Oops. Yeah...Mommy ended up with wet clothes by the end of each lesson. Sigh! 

• We attended wedding #2 in Tampa the very next weekend.  (I told you this has been a busy month, didn't I?)  It was amazing to see one of our youth group "kids" marry his college sweetheart, and it was another absolutely beautiful wedding. The boys had a blast! There was a room with baby sitters for the kids where the boys spent a lot of time, but we were sure to bring them back for dinner and the "dance party."  They were breaking it down! Since there was no napping to be had on the drive down, we sneaked out early to pour the boys into bed.  Our room had quite a view, and we took in the sunset over the University of Tampa as we jammied the boys and settled in for the night.  

 

• From there, we decided it would be silly to be this close and not go and visit with Pap Pap and Lil, so we headed over to their place to spend the rest of the weekend.  Lots and lots and lots of swimming for both boys. Jude and Daddy had some pool time while Eli played with the girls next door. J loved being thrown up in the air....until the last time.  He was over it by the time I managed to snap the picture.  Eli successfully dove for toys in the deep end and made leaping catches.  So much fun! Glad we were able to stop in for an overnight and lots of pool time.  Thanks Pap Pap and Lil!

• In other fun news, Eli continues to move up the Tiny Tiger ranks at Karate and earned his purple stripe. He will continue training through the summer and work on his blue stripe next.  He is loving it, and we are loving the life skills and discipline he gets from it too. 

•  Our weekdays and nights have been busy busy busy too. With the school year ending, I have been tutoring a lot and doing some home school evaluations for our church co-op. Matt has been playing a lot of softball with extra make-up games in addition to the regularly scheduled ones. Despite it all, we are still trying to find time to make some memories with the boys. Whether it is rainy day book nooks and puzzles (Jude loves puzzles like his mama!!) or after dinner bike rides. I'm going to put it out there and predict that Eli will finally find comfort and confidence riding his bike soon.  I am guessing the training wheels will be off by the end of the summer....he has been extremely nervous and reluctant to ride due to several factors, but he is currently eager and excited. Not sure I'm ready for yet another rite of passage.  They are both getting so big! Jude could not stop smiling while "riding" his trike. He was in heaven....as long as he could keep up with his big brother.

It has been a whirlwind of a month....or maybe it has just been the last few weeks, but boy, it has been a lot to keep up with.  I felt like I was flailing much of the time ....and still do....the month isn't over yet!! I'm not sure I was at my best as a Mommy, but I tried. And we made it through.  Memorial Day weekend will have to wait for another post....and we won't even begin to talk about the fact that Eli's finishing up his time as a preschooler this week.  Nope. Not gonna go there.  I can't. Not yet.