Cousins (Mass picture dump! You're welcome, Jared.)

 Back in June my brother came to visit and Scarlett got to play with her cousins! August did too, he was just slightly apathetic about the whole thing.

We went to the splash pad, which A was not a huge fan. It was nap time, and he's not a fish.

"What are those things?!"

I'm pretty sure Jacob stood here for a good 15 minutes. 

"Iz cold! Oh, I'm good!"

This is my favorite! Lucas loved the water!

"Oooo...where'd it go?" 

"Victory!" 

A giving Lucas loves at Grandma's. 

Then, it was horsey riding time after our awesome steak dinner. 

August thought it was hilarious to crawl under. 

The End!

Swim Yessons

A while back we had FHE at a friend's house--swimming and BBQing to kick off the summer. My kind of FHE. Scarlett loves swimming. She wouldn't eat a bite and had to get in the pool. Well, she was in the hot tub (not heated and connected to the rest of the pool), didn't realized the middle was deeper, stepped off into water over her head, and couldn't get back out. Bethany and Michael came to her rescue. She was completely fine, but terrified of the water. All night and for the next week she kept retelling me the story of how she got stuck in the "big water". And how she had to eat lots of food so she could get "bigger and bigger and bigger" to go back in the pool.

We kept going back to pools to get her reacquainted. Each time she got better. Having floaties helped too. These ones they allow a public pools, since they are "coast guard approved".

Then we got the opportunity to do swim lessons!

Scarlett felt like a big girl going to "swim school" and LOVED it! "Dere-sa teacher dere!"

Deep Breath! Motor boat just ran out of gas!

"Not do dat again. Go back over dere."

Kick kick kick.

Learning how to float. Scarlett could not relax! I'm surprised Morgan still had both her eyeballs at the end of the week. Putting any part of her head in the water is a big deal...Scarlett always tried to pass when it was her turn.

Just keep swimmin'....what do you do we swiiiiiim....

Oh man, that face gets me every time! 

All I wanted out of the lessons is for Scarlett to not be scared of the pool. 

So, "swim yessons"=SUCCESS!!

August weighs in

Some of August's favorite places are the bathroom sink, on top of our half wall, and the fridge. 

He and the fridge are like BFF's. He can hear that thing open from anywhere in the house. Crack that sucker and you'll hear the fastest little hands and knees in town! Pre-super-baby-climbing era I would just leaving the fridge open while I made dinner and he'd be happy as a clam. Then, he found the Brita water spout. He's now having fridge withdrawals.

Okay, back to my point. August is a good eater. He weighed in at the pediatrician today at a whopping 16 lbs. 13 oz. Putting him at less than 5th percentile. The guy is going to be rear facing until he's two! And not by choice! Where the heck is all his food going!?!

All skin and bones! I think he must climb off all his calories....

This is what it's like having a big sister

You get to play dress up!

 Your ride to pick up chicks...has chicks on it...

And you get pictures of boobs.

"Yook, Mom! Dey match!"

In Scarlett's defense, the baby she was drawing did have boobs.

Aren't sisters the best!

I've always wanted a blue eyed baby

I knew I had to marry someone with blue eyes, because I HAVE to have a blue eyed baby. Some want their girl, their boy, their whatever...I want my dang blue eyed baby.

But I guess for now this brown eyed guy will just have to do.

August is not much of a water baby. He lasts 15 minutes and gets cold. I wonder wear he gets that from? Possibly from a father that freezes in Hawaiian beaches dead of summer.

He is still quite fond of climbing, and hide your crayons. He'll eat'em. Markers too.

"Intz" or "Dis"+ pointing = wants.
Says both dada and mama, but only if we're not in the room.
He says yes, but not no. Waves and says bye...but when he does it to me when I leave, it makes me not want to leave so much :/
"daydoo" = thank you.
August hugs are the best. August kisses are even better, although we need to work on the open-mouthness of it all. I finally got my cuddler after Miss Scarlett the non-cuddler.
August can stand up on his own and take a few steps.

Today we blew out some candles. I can't believe this happened one year ago.

We had a mini monster party with my family here in town. August kept looking at us to make sure that this was proper cake eating etiquette. You've got it dude.

Then, he ate nothing but icing. And learned he could fling it on the floor.

Today he had a birthday. 

WHAT THE HECK?!? 

Today he had a birthday. 

August is one.

Meh. That blue eyed baby ain't coming any time soon. I'm keeping what I've got. Those deep-get-lost-in-his-gaze brown eyes and all.

So, does he walk yet?

Since August started crawling and climbing before Scarlett, I for sure thought he'd be walking by now. At the end of the month he'll be a big 1 year old! I must say though, I'm really glad he's not. Newby walkers are the worst, or so I thought until we had August.

August can get to where ever he wants to be. He's tiny, but man can that kid climb. 

"Where'd August go?" usually means trouble.

Saturday night after putting the kids to bed, August was crying (not super unusual). August was stuck up straddling the side of his crib.

Sunday afternoon. August isn't to be heard from. He was found standing in the toilet.

Sunday evening. August again is suspiciously quiet. Here's where we found him.

(He can shimmy his way onto the toilet and then up to the counter from there)

Today he made his way onto the kitchen table.

So, does August walk? Nope, with climbing skills like this, who needs to walk?

Memorial Day Extravaganza!

Michael has few days off during the year, and Memorial Day happens to be one of them. We wanted to do something fun so we headed out to Bonnie Springs.

We rode the little train. Scarlett thought it was super cool!

We met some new furry friends. The zoo was much smaller than I expected, but they have some cool animals like a cavy, wallaby, bob cat, wolf, and half-wolf-dog-thing.

The ugliest alpaca ever. And meeting baby birdies. See August's little finger? Pointing and babbling is the coolest over here right now.

Feeding the crazy deer.

August's thought bubble, "Seriously? Stop taking my picture." 

P.S. It's all dirt and gravel. Umbrella stroller = worthless.

Jail—"Scarlett, make a sad face." Well done, Scarlett. Well done.

They did cheesie little skits every hour or something, and the black guy was always the one in trouble, in jail, being hanged. Coincidence?

Overall, it was a nice-should-go-at-least-once kind of adventure but a bit pricey ($10 for adults and $7 for under 12).

Oh yeah. And supposedly it's haunted. They told us after we had gone through all of it and after the merry go round moved on it's own while we were on it.