4th of July

The Fourth of July was quite eventful for us this year even though we stayed home and I had to work. Somehow we still managed to pack a lot in to one day. I went to work at 6am and then came home at 9:30am to take the boys to the neighborhood parade. The night before, Chase helped Dave and I decorate the boys' stroller for the parade. It turned out just darling! The parade was great! The Meridian fire station near our house brought a fire truck for the kids to see. They also gave the kids little fire hats as well. They lead the parade around the neighborhood and then stopped at the park in the front of the neighborhood. They hooked up to fire hydrant and sprayed water for the kids. Chase LOVED it!!!! He was soaked and was squealing with delight. Chase also rode a scooter for the first time that the neighbor kids let him borrow. It was certainly much easier for him than his trike as he could do it after only 3 tries. The neighborhood committee also had popsicles for the kids. After that, we came home, I went back to work, and Dave and Chase decorated the front yard with flags. I came home again by late afternoon ready for a bbq. While Chase had been napping, Dave had inflated his alligator pool with water slides for him. Unfortunately, the inflatable slides that came with the pool were wimpy and toppled over when Chase tried to climb them, so we decided to take them off the put his outdoor playset slide in the pool. Chase spent over 3 hours sliding down the slide into the water. Grayson liked the little pool also. Meanwhile Dawn and Dustin came over for a bbq. Finally by around 8pm the kids were wiped out. We dried everyone off and headed out front to do sparklers, pop-its and some small ground fireworks. We topped off the evening with ice cream. What a day!

Future Meteorologist?

Chase may be our future meteorologist. We had some good thunderstorms tonight and Chase was ushered out of the bathtub early due to heavy thunder and lightning. As Dave was drying him off I heard him tell Dave, “cowds pob-ems.” “The clouds are having problems?” Dave asked. “Yes,” Chase replied. I asked from the other room, “what kind of problems, Chase?” Chase told me, “dump wa-tur.” So apparently, the clouds were making noise because they dumped their water. Hmmmmm, interesting theory.

Jumperoo

Grayson just loves his Jumperoo. It's like his very first trampoline. Chase used to love it too. While Grayson jumps, Chase runs around it entertaining him. Chase kept pointing to the Jumperoo and saying "W," like the letter. This is not surprising as Chase sees letters in everything (like the Boppy pillow being a C). Dave and I looked all over that toy and kept telling him we didn't see a W anywhere. Finally it dawned on me that he wasn't saying W, he was saying Jumperoo. Chasese got me again! :) He is so patient with me though. Whenever I can't understand what he is saying, he just hangs his head and says "iz aw-right."

Picasso???

As Chase is having to spend a little bit more time at home this summer than usual (in an attempt to give Grayson some good morning naps a few days a week), so I decided to purchase some art supplies for him. It turns out Chase has found a new love in addition to books...painting. He wasn't too big of a fan of finger painting as he doesn't like the paint all over his hands, but give him a brush and some watercolors and he is a regular Picasso. He would just sit and paint for hours if I could let him (unfortunately his much needed almost constant supervision of his paint sessions limits his time at them). He still hasn't found much affinity for the Play Dough I bought him yet.

Picnic Lunch / First Tooth

I am now on my summer schedule at work, which means I work every other weekend and get some weekdays off. For as much as I miss my family time on the weekend, I am enjoying getting to do some fun mommy & boys things during the week when places are not too crowded. This week I packed us a picnic lunch and we headed out to a big park by our house that has a large splash pad. Grayson and I hung out in the shade of the Charlie Brown tree we had found (the park is so new that there is very little shade to be had under the immature trees), while Chase splashed around. Unfortunately, our bit of shade was on a small incline and every time I turned around to look at Chase, Grayson took off rolling down the hill. LOL! :) We also made a huge discovery this day at the park - Grayson's first tooth. Yes that's right, he's got a chomper!

Father's Day

Father's Day was pretty low key this year as I had to work. Dave had fun spending the day with the boys though. In true daddy day style, Dave took the boys out grill shopping for a new gas grill for our backyard. I picked up dinner on my way home from work and we had a nice celebration that evening. Chase particularly enjoyed reading Dave's cards to him in "Chasese." Anything that resembles a book gets Chase's attention. And Grayson, as if right on que, learned to say da...da...da...da about 2 days before DaDa's Day. What a present for Dave!

"It Happens"

This is Chase's newest saying and it cracks me up! We were driving down the street the other day and Chase dropped his book in the car and couldn't reach it - neither could I. He immediately started saying, "Help Mama, please help." But I told him that I couldn't reach it and he would have to wait until we got to our destination to get his book back. He said dejectedly, "alright...it happens."

D.C.

The first week of June I had to go to D.C. for work. It was terribly difficult to leave the boys for the whole week, but Dave did fantastic with them (as I knew he would). It was so rainy! I thought I was going to have to build an ark to get out of there. Despite the rain, I was able to do some good sightseeing. I spent one evening doing many of the memorials and then an afternoon at the Smithsonian. Not nearly enough time, I know. Dave will have to come with me next time so we can stay for a long weekend. I had a good time...I was just so sick of being wet. :)

Story Time

Chase is truly taking the role of big brother to heart. He is always looking out for his little brother by telling me that the baby is crying and I should go to him, or requesting that I bring the baby to his room to play with him. I know that the day Grayson crawls all bets are off and Chase will be in for a rude awakening, but for now I am enjoying watching them get along so well. Chase loves to read to Grayson in his "Chasese" and Grayson listens so intently as he just adores Chase. Chase will finish the book and look at Grayson and say, "Like dat baby, Like dat?"

Water Fun

Our neighborhood pool is not open yet, but it is certainly warm enough to swim. Dave turned down the temperature on the hot tub so that the boys could use it as a mini-pool. Between the hot tub, the yard sprinkler, and the water park down the street, we have certainly had our share of water fun already and summer hasn't even officially started. Grayson went swimming for the first time and I'm not too sure if he liked it as he was quite expressionless the entire time. Chase on the other hand is a born fish. He keeps asking me, "whim Mama, whim?" It is too cute!

Sun Devil

It's never too early to start them out right. Can you guess which one is Chase and which one is Grayson?