Animal Noises

Constant Entertainment

Zach seems to constantly find ways to not only entertain himself but he is constantly entertaining us.  We have had some pretty hot weather here so we are trying out all sorts of ways to keep Zach busy and all of us laughing.  Below are a few shots I took over the past few days.

We have been introducing Zach to the local pool and he isn't too keen on hanging out in the water for some reason.  He was more than happy to have some snacks and watch other kids enjoy the pool.

 Once we found the water spray park he was pretty thrilled though. 

This is how Zach helped me make a grocery list the other day.

And our trip to Target this evening may have Rich a little concerned but I thought Zach was hilarious!  We spent at least 10 minutes in the hair accessory/appliance aisle so that Zach could style his own hair.  He thought that pink hairdryer and curling iron were possibly the best things he had seen all day.  Ha!!

On to the next adventure!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there!  I'm especially thankful for my dad who has done so many great things for me over the years and impacts my life each day more than he will ever know. 

On a more local front, here are the boys and their dads.

June

Summer is here and I feel like time should be slowing down a little but that doesn't seem to be the case.  What happened to drinking lemonade on Mamaw's porch swing or playing all day and then catching fireflies before bed?  Do we really have to grow up? 

June has been busy thus far.  My rowers were great this season and two of the boats (9 girls) qualified for Nationals.  Regionals was full of nail biting tension and the qualifications had us all yelling, jumping, and some of us even crying with excitement.  It has been 4 years since I took girls to nationals and it was definitely time to return however I forgot that it added 3 more weeks to the season.  Summer doesn't begin for me until I'm done coaching so last weekend was the last hoorah of the season.  My Ltwt 8+ finished 19th (not bad for such a young crew) and my Ltwt 4+ finished 8th.  Everyone left ready to step it up and go back next year.

Earlier this week I found a children's resale shop that was like waking up on Christmas morning!  They had all kinds of gear, clothes, and toys and I saw a great find right as I walked in the door.  See the photo below.  I pulled this out of the trunk and Zach immediately said "ooh, ooh, ooh!"  Next we rode around the neighborhood and block for 45 minutes only to end the evening in tears when we made Zach leave the toy behind and get ready for bed.  I knew he would like it but I had no idea just how big of a hit it would be.  Looks like I know what we will be doing with our summer evenings!

This weekend Zach and I are "housesitting" for a rower's family that was kind enough to offer us their house while Rich had a guys weekend at our house with a couple of his college buddies from out of town.  Happy Father's Day!  Zach and I will be in Winnetka enjoying the large backyard, playset, trampoline and pool.  Well.....Zach is still warming up to the idea of the pool but I'm hoping tomorrow goes better.  I'll try to get a couple of photos but it is hard to take photos when I'm the only adult here to play alongside of him. 

Memorial Day Fun

Happy Memorial Day!! 

We had a cookout at our house and quickly realized that although we had several friends over we weren't actually going to be able to really catch up with each other.  We had 9 adults and 8 children in our back yard.  It was fun but clearly the kids stole the show.  I am now starting to realize what it must have been like for my mom, aunts, and uncles at family functions when me and all my cousins were small. 

Anyway, here are a few photos and if any of you want to stop by for some great bbq food......we have plenty of leftovers!

Zach was a big help in getting the house ready for visitors.

And this is how most of our afternoon was spent....
Kaitlin and Lexi cooled off in the pool while Maeve and Lyra took to the blanket.

 Ryan was excited to be a pirate for the afternoon.

 Back to the pool for the ladies.

 Ava somehow escaped a lot of the photos but here you can see her taking charge as the giraffe water feature.

 Zach got in for a closer look.

 A couple of lovely ladies basking in the sun.

 And finally a few mommies enjoying a cold drink.

 Bro and his little guy found a nice spot to relax.

 Zach was happy to welcome a playmate in the pool.

Whew!  We are exhausted!

He's a Champ

In his patriotic red, white, and blue, with a rowing medal around his neck he proudly displayed the household plunger to me on Mother's day morning.  I really couldn't have asked for anything better than the smile that little champ put on my face. 

Catching up

Ok, so I've been lazy about updating the blog this spring.  Sorry!  Here are some photos from Easter.

Of course the Easter Bunny came to visit.

And eggs were dyed....

And well...eggs were kind of hidden and hunted.  This will be a bigger hit next year I think.

This past weekend I was away at our regional regatta where my girls qualified for nationals!! It was really exciting!  Anyone want to come watch us race in Oak Ridge, TN in June?  Anyway, while I was gone Rich and Zach got to watch the tree from our backyard be cut down.  I'm sad to see our big shade tree go but it was not in good shape.

Before...

Notice the man up in the tree....

Progress...

Zach was fascinated by the whole process.  That was one BIG tree!

After...

 Finally, while I was gone the boys went to the park to play.  Rich was nice enough to send me this video so I could see Zach even though I was hundreds of miles away.