Our 4th....and Then Some

We had a nice and relaxing 4th of July week at the beach with family.  Aunt Z and Uncle Matt B were able to use some vacation time to come.  Yay!  Aunt Kristi and Uncle Steve came down, and Grandpa came for a quick 24-hour getaway.  Lots of fun.....

.....until.....Jude started feeling sick.  He was pitiful and was not in the mood for pictures.  He went to bed soon after this:

Jude slept through all of the fireworks again this year.  He would have cried and been scared anyways.  He shook with fear last month when some friends shot some off.  Matt and Steve treated us to fireworks 3 nights in a row.  Pretty awesome!

Eli was decked out in his glow gear again this year.  

Jude had a fever much of the 5th and barely spent any time on the beach.  Poor thing.

Eli reading a book to Jude....might be my favorite moment to date. Pure sweetness!

Always love a good shrimp boil!!  It was delish!

Not long after Jude was feeling sick, Eli started feeling icky too.  He slept off and on for the next 24 hours.  He was feverish and puny.  

Our last day there, he tried to rally and managed to help Uncle Steve catch some crabs.  Exciting!

With both boys trying to fight the crud, I still figured I'd try to get a nice picture of them at the beach.  Jude was not having it....Eli hung in there despite a fever and sore throat that continued on for the next 2 days.

Eli insisted that I take this picture.  He was so proud of himself.  Love him!!

So upon return, we ended up taking Eli to a walk-in clinic because he was in so much pain.  He was crying and even spit out a doughnut.  Whoa!  We knew it was for real.  Turned out to be a nasty virus that he was kind enough to share with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Kristi, and Uncle Steve.  No fun.  

With germs, another week of VBS, and hot days, we have been taking it slow.  I'll admit to feeling a little lazy this month. Thank goodness for outside activities like music class for Jude...

...and karate for Eli.  He and I had the privilege to see his Sensei earn his second degree black belt this week.  What an intense process.  Eli was pretty overwhelmed by all of the advanced techniques, forms, and sparring. 

Every once in a while, I muster up enough energy for something fun.  One morning, I set out a block of ice for with some of the boys' toys trapped inside.  They had a ball using syringes of warm water and colored salt to free their stuff.

Jude just wanted to pour.  Pour salt from one bowl to the next.  Pour the salt in the grass.  Pour the water out.  Pour the water on the block of ice.  

The first freed toy! Yes!!!

Once one was free, it was ON!  Eli was definitely into it,and it took probably an hour and a half to free them all.  In the end, both boys were soaked, but they had had a lot of fun.

Then there was the day Jude colored with markers....

As you can see, he decided to color himself instead of on the paper.  I think Eli and I were distracted with a reading activity while Jude took advantage of our distraction.  He's a mess, but at least he's a super cute mess. He can go from this:

to this:

in no time!  Our little rockstar is definitely taking advantage of toddlerhood.  

Thank goodness that with the craziness, comes sweetness too.

Still using the phone more the the camera on a day-to-day basis.  I may or may not be totally addicted to Instagram these days.  It is fun to be able to share pictures of my helpers making a "just-because-Happy-Thursday" cake with my followers.  If you aren't familiar, it is an app that is similar to Facebook, but just pictures, and I love it.

Finally, we are on baby watch around here.  My sister, Theresa, is 40 weeks pregnant this week, and we can't wait to welcome another nephew.  

 Hurry up, little guy!!!