summer vacation, part one

early morning beach trip with mom.

boy, she digs really big holes!

this water park is always so much fun!

especially when dad saw this as he toweled off...

dad and i went fishing on the rocks one day. caught a little crab.

i like to splash around the pool myself this year.

aunt dee came to visit from tampa and mom put her right to work.

she is obviously experienced with little boys...

our father's day sand tribute to dad

(not sure who caleb is, but he is the reason dad figured out we did not do this. and the 4 boys posing with it..)

mom and her crew at the pool. my bros are getting so big!

at the estuary. they built a new boat exhibit for me to crawl all over.

jack and i went to bed great, but ben crashed mom and dad's anniversary dinner (6/21 was 7 years!). he pretty much stayed up all night.

charlotte airport is definitely my favorite. we did not see jeff gordon but who cares? we got to inspect his car! i am going to love nascar one day.

mom is going to need a real vacation after my sumer vacation.

teaser

a look at photos to come. ten day vacation was nice -- a bit hot, but who would ever complain about warm weather?? i introduced my brothers to lots of great family!

here they are resting after a walk on the beach

my favorite part of virginia visit...an early morning tractor ride at the harter house

12 weeks?!

when did 12 weeks go by? mom does not remember the first month at all...i told her they just cried and ate all the time.

i hang out in the crib sometimes. this morning mom and dad would not take me out.

jack is still in love with the silly playmat giraffe. with our help, he will hold it in his little hand and try to eat it.

our little chubby ben has become much more active lately. he loves looking in the mirror and laughing with himself.

jack is still just the happiest little guy and..

..ben is still very handsome.

and i (finally) love these guys so much! they snuggle me, i hold them, they try to eat my cheeks and i can make them laugh! i can not believe how big ben is!

here are some new videos of them moving around...

ben laughing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI7npFpcpiw

jack playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBlNe29Txnc

self potrait

i drew myself in november...

and again in june!

 

what in the world?

i can not belive it is 6:45 and this is what i see...

(don't feel bad for vincent, he could've put Jack back in crib without a problem...but since Jack did not stir all night until after 4am maybe he thought he was up for the day...)

for those wondering "how do you do it?" the babies woke up once each last night and we rarely see or hear from matty after bedtime. raising awesome kids is not hard!

and look, ben's hair is still perfectly coiffed after a full nights sleep. i do not style it!  he was just born with a great hair-do. right maria? mom?

the graduate

i am officially graduated from my first year at pre-school. we had a "moving up" party at school and next year i will be a blue whale.

this was getting my diploma with mrs. angela and miss gabriela. mom said it was the lack of sleep that made her weepy, until she saw the other moms crying too. she can not believe i have finished a year of school.

on the walk home mom realized i failed one lesson

when you think they could not get cuter

they start laughing!

must be these stinkin' cute shirts

the cutuest shirts from the lovely girls at http://threesisterz.blogspot.com/ - check it out!

weekend.

this is how jack wanted to sleep last night. all night. he and mom did not sleep much...

me as superman and little ben on the other hand...

yesterday we went to touch-a-truck again.

me and my buddy cooling off at the playground.

no words

just cute

ahhh..success

mom considers the day a complete success, even overlooking my horizontal temper tantrum on the busy sidewalk in front of the library, when this happens by 8pm...

..and this is the scene at 9

the added bonus was not one stirred until after 1:30am

more from the past week...

jack and ben trying to eat their hands during tummy time. at least they are not crying like usual!

devin and i cooling off in the giant fountain on the greenway...

...while my little brothers stayed cool in the shade.

me and daddy did some people-watching with a smoothie in downtown saratoga

and i am the only one who can get mommy into a pool. she had a great time playing "sea monster."

my cousins rachel and devin

cousin schuyler hopefully rubbing some style off on ben.

devin the baby whisperer

and who can resist baby feet??

congrats jenn!

i can not put these pics in order...but here are pics from our trip to albany to celebrate jenn's graduation!

matty holding jack. he is loving the babies (this week).

jack and ben lounging in their travel ride.

ben protecting himself from the sun

we had lunch with the grandparents

i fell asleep two minutes into the ride home. thank goodness :)

before taking a spin in uncle vic's convertible with my cousin devin!

ben meeting aunt patty. i think she liked him!

hamming it up with my brothers!

and my very happy brothers when we got home! they are already savvy travelers like their older brother.

we have many more pictures but mom has got to do some laundry...blech