This week in review...

We all (me, Eddie, Bama, Grandpa, Little Eddie, Nicolas) hit the mall and the kids were being good so we treated them with those wonderful little germ filled rides. Of course they had a blast! (and we sanitized them after) I think this was the ice cream truck..

Firefighter Eddie

And last week was also Nicolas last week at swim lessons. He did really good, figuring out he could actually float on his own in his float suit, so he loved to kick all over the place. They also had little fish to play with so we would throw his and he would have to swim to get it.

Grandpa and little Eddie hanging out in the baby pool

Daddy and his monkeys

We also celebrated little Eddie's 5th birthday!!!! I decided to try a place called Monkey Joe's- they have a bunch of those big blow up bounce houses and slides. It was SOO much fun!! I was the only adult in our group that went with the kids and I tell you, I had just as much fun as the kids!!

Headed up the slide, it was a steep climb!

Way at the top

In one of the toddler play areas, I couldn't get them to hold still long enough to get a picture

But they had a lot of fun!

There was some obstacle houses, so I told little Eddie it was just like Wipeout and he loved that!

Nicolas is a little daredevil!

Deciding how to get around this obstacle

After 2 hours we headed home to open presents!!

Reading a card

Socks!! Wow, thanks! ;)

And a digital keyboard!!!!! He LOVES music and buttons, so this was perfect for him.

Thank you so much Grandpa and Bama!!

And a bowling set!!!!! This kid LOVES to bowl and he's pretty darn good at it. Thank you Uncle Eric and Aunt Chantil!!!

Nicolas is safely locked into his seat so Eddie gets to open all his gifts in peace

And a Cars book! Of course he loves cars and he loves the search and find books. Thank you Grandma Denise!!

Playing some tunes together

Pinata time!

Eddie pulled the lucky string! CANDY!!!

Bowling action shot

Nicolas' turn

Time for cake! A big 5 years old now.

After cake it was time to relax with the new games.

Talking to Uncle Eric and Aunt Chantil to say Thank You!

Coloring in the new coloring book

Nicolas figured out you can stack the markers and make a really big one!

Spending some quality time with Grandpa and Bama before they had to leave before the sunrise the next day. Thank you SO much for coming to visit and having so much fun with us! We love you!

All the boys enjoying a quiet moment and playing Eddie's new game.

Fourth of July Reunion!!

Wow we have been having the best time lately with the best company!! We have had Bama and Grandpa with us for a month now, and the week before July 4th we also got to have Uncle Bobby and his girlfriend Amy! We had a lot of fun with them. Uncle Bobby us a science teacher so he was doing all sorts of experiments with little Eddie. And playing games on the computer!

And learning about static electricity

They even played Go Fish!

On July 1st we headed out to the lake where we had 2 cabins. The weather was phenominal, the view was amazing and the company was awesome!!! Right away we went out to the deck to check it out. We enjoyed a lovely sunset.

And Nicolas did a little sweeping. Ok, he did a LOT of sweeping, the entire time we were there.

Uncle Bobby and Amy

Uncle Bobby, Amy and a squirmy Nicolas

When the kids went to bed, there was big Guess Who game off! It's a tricky game and everyone has their own strategies. ;)

The next morning (at 6:30) the kids were up but nobody else was so we went down to the lake to see if the fish were biting. It was a nice quiet morning and we saw some fish, but only the little tiny ones were biting, and they ate all our bait!

There was SO many geese- even triple what is in the picture- all around us and I had a feeling of America's Funniest Home Video deja vu. Thankfully they kept their distance and we kept ours.

Later on when everyone was up Uncle Bobby and little Eddie played some Boggle. Nicolas "assisted"

But it was such a beautiful day that we took the games on the deck so we could enjoy the sun!

And Nicolas had a little snack while he watched.

Before dinner Uncle Eric and Aunt Chantil came to join in on the fun also! We had a great dinner and Aunt Chantil and Amy offered to clean up. Aren't they great!

The boys waiting around to have Grandpa's birthday celebration

Singing Happy Birthday

What do you know?! He blew the candles out in one breath!

The whole family gathered with the birthday boy

The next morning the Aunts and Uncles were on kid duty while breakfast was being made

Cooking up some yummy breakfast!

Right after breakfast we headed out on the lake with a patio boat. Like I said, the weather was PERFECT and it was a lot of fun.

Bama, Nicolas and Amy

Aunt Chantil and Uncle Bobby

Little Eddie enjoying the ride

Grandpa, Uncle Eric, little Eddie and Eddie

We found a spot good for swimming and the boys dove right in! Uncle Bobby was too fast so I didn't get an action shot of him.
Uncle Eric

Eddie

Nicolas is fearless, so you know he was itching to jump off the boat too. No worries, we lowered him down from the ladder. Once in the water his face lit up and he yelled "I did it!!"

After a few minutes with Daddy, Uncle Bobby took over with Nicolas and he was in heaven! I wish you could see his mouth because he had a huge smile the whole time.

Chillin out with Uncle Bobby

After some swimming we took a little tour of the lake. Nicolas helped to navigate.

But after a few minutes he was just too tired and conked out.

I was on Nicolas watch

A few minutes after the last picture, there was a slight "incident" with the boat taking on some water. So I very calmly requested to be back at the cabin with my precious children. Bama decided to stay back and play with us, so we spent our time filling water balloons to throw at the unexpecting group when they returned.

It may sound easy, but filling tiny little water balloons is hard work!! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures on the attack, but we did get them and it was fun.

Nicolas decided to rest for a minute and try to fake Daddy out to think he was going to sleep. HA!

Playing around with Uncle Bobby

Enoying another sunset

Bama and little Eddie waiting for the fire to roast marshmellows!

Grandpa, Eddie and Uncle Bobby. Men and fire...

Bama and me!

Eddie and I

The girls- Chantil, Amy and me

Amy and Bobby

Eric and Chantil

Daddy and little Eddie having a moment

The whole family! I know, the lighting was AWFUL and I was kicking myself for not getting a group shot at dusk the night before, but unfortunately Amy and Chantil had to leave a day early so I had run out of time.

Our little family

Eric and Chantil

Bobby and Amy

Bama and Grandpa

Bama and Grandpa with the boys

Uncle Bobby with the boys

Uncle Eric, Aunt Chantil and the boys

The original 5

Eddie and me

Bama taking a walk with her boys. This may be my absolute favorite picture!

All the boys filling up water balloons to have some "games". We probably spent 2 hours out there filling up and it took less than 20 to use them all.

Little Eddie was so happy to get to play outside all day and hang out with the big boys.

Seriously HARD WORK!!

We didn't use all, but easily more than half.

Little Eddie and Uncle Eric playing "baby ring toss". Little Eddie is telling him how to do it.

So Uncle Eric tries to get the perfect shot...

And he does! It's a ringer!

Nicolas thinks this game is slightly amusing.

Now they throw it back and forth to each other over the railing and suddenly it's really fun!

Our last night we are getting ready to have some marshmellows

Bama and Grandpa- married 32 years this month! Happy Anniversary!

Uncle Eric, little Eddie, Uncle Bobby and Nicolas are ready for some fun!

Nicolas' gets a marshmellow, mmmmmm

Now it's Eddie's turn!

A better Original 5 shot

Sweet little baby boys

Bama making a smore!

Nicolas got to help the fire by throwing in sticks he found with assistance from Uncle Bobby

The last night the boys (Dad, Eric, Robert, Eddie) went down to the lake to see if they could find the frogs that we could hear so loud. Bobby got a great shot of one as it was croaking! I just love this shot too, the boys all at the water while the moon lights their way.

We had SO much for for 4 days at the cabin, and I guess we wore Nicolas out. Finally back home he got to sleep with Mommy and Daddy while Uncle Bobby had his bed.

And it was Nicolas' turn for swim lessons!! The first day he was pretty happy about it, but he wasn't happy that I had to hold on to him. He wanted "down!" which just couldn't happen since he is only 3 feet tall and the water is 3.5 feet deep.

Day 2- bring in the Bama reenforcements!

Uncle Bobby was on little Eddie duty in the baby pool, helping him learn how to swim.

Kicking and trying to get me wet!!

After some meltdowns it was time to double team Nicolas. Lucky me, the sun was hiding that day and the water is cold!!

All tuckered out from a hard morning of swimming

Day 3 of swimming- we attempted to go for pony rides before the pool, but the stable was closed that week for vacation. Bummer! But they do have a great playground so we stayed to play until it was time to swim.

Little Eddie was so brave and went on this very high slide right away.

And then went rock climbing with Uncle Bobby

Bama was on Nicolas duty. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!

Playing ice cream shop

Bama wants chocolate!

And I will have Rocky Road. Please.

Uncle Bobby took the kids on a rocket ship to space!

They were loving every second!

Finally made it to the pool and Bama and little Eddie are hanging out.

Uncle Bobby got roped into getting in that day and Nicolas was having a great time! He was so brave, just working his way around the wall with no help.

He even swam all by himself! (with help from the float suit and board)

He did some great kicking. It was so much fun to keep Uncle Bobby for a couple extra days! Thanks for coming to play with us!