Video from the Pool

Here's the video that we got at the pool two weeks ago. Hopefully it might be warm enough out on Friday to take Sam again. Don't know what is with this cool weather!

More Words from Bailey

"Psss" (Please)
Gotten by bribing with a graham cracker

"La la" (Love you)
Said while dropping her off at Grandmas

Summer Nights

Last night we went to the pool again. We try to go at least once or twice a week. It's a nice way to cool off at the end of a long day and the kids really enjoy it!

Bailey really loves the water. She will hold your hands and just start walking. Then she gets really brave and tries to walk by herself and will push her hands away. She'll make a few steps before she ends up taking a drink.

Last night she would sit in the shallow end, but then would make a bee-line for the edge of the pool and start crawling out. The life guards would smile everytime they would have to walk around her.Sam has absolutely turned into a little otter since we started going to the pool this summer. At first he would not go down the slides, dunk his head, or play on the playground by himself. As the pictures show, he has made tons of improvement on all fronts!

He loves going down the slide and doesn't have to be caught at the bottom any more. Occasionally he will ask for someone to come and watch him go down though.His new love is the tire swing. He's good at holding on so Mom and Dad are able to get him really flying!Here's a shot taken after Sam arched backwards and dunked his head in the water.On nights that we go to the pool, the kids get to stay up a little later. As you can see, Bailey was in sleep mode before we even got home. Her little indicator is the thumb in the mouth, with the other hand playing with her hair.

Bailey's Not the Baby

Here's a cute picture of Bailey sharing her exercauser with her new cousin Madeline. Bailey is no longer the baby of the family! Hard to believe that tomorrow she will be 11 months old! :o(

Third of July

We had a great time on the Third. (Our fireworks are held on the third of July instead of the fourth) We got to our spot on the hill early and had a picnic. Once we were done, the rest of the family started showing up. We had a great seat for the airshow as most of the planes circle over us as they go to fly directly over the river. Here is one of the shots of the airplanes. They can be so loud, but it is an awesome sight.

Next we worked on making ice cream. That is our new ritual we started about 3 years ago. I make the ice cream the night before so it gets good and cold. We pack up the cooler with ice, take the ice cream freezer and all the bowls, and crank away to pass the time till dark. Sam also had his little Dollar Store fishing pole to keep him busy.

Once the ice cream was ready, everyone dug in. We made enough for about 10 people and everyone got to have seconds.

Sam had to get every last drop!And Bailey would go around to Mom, Dad, and Papa TJ to get what ever she could. She was certainly a little ice cream mooch!

Of course, the night ended with fireworks. Both Sam and Bailey fell asleep right as they started. But it was nice for us to sit and enjoy with our sleeping babies. It was really hard to imagine that we had gotten engaged at exactly that spot exactly 8 years ago! The Third of July is definately one of my favorite days!

Our New Roses

We got some new rose bushes to put around Andy's flag pole this spring. They are getting so big and have so many buds. And they smell wonderful. Luckily the bugs are leaving them alone, as they must prefer the pink Double Delights in the back of the yard.
Here's the kids hanging out while we were taking pictures!

Quote of the Day for July 10th

"There were two bunnies and they eat my Mom's pastas"

He meant hostas.

It's Been Too Long!

So I have really slacked off lately. My computer has been too full to download pictures from the camera, so I haven't been able to update much. I'll definately be making up for it-keep reading!

Pool Time

With the little bit of warm weather that we have gotten, the kids have been spending a lot of time at the pool. We've been going to the city pool and Sam has learned to be pretty independent. At first, he wouldn't go down the little slide in the kids area. It didn't stop him from going down the big water slide 10 times with me though! Daddy got him to go down the little slide and now he's fine playing all by himself.

When we're not at the big pool though, we pull out kiddie pool in the back yard to cool the kids off. They both have a good time.

Bailey loves the water just as much as her big brother.And Sam likes to wear his "woggle goggles" (kids show reference).But she lets you know when she's ready to get out.You can barely see her two new teeth in there!Here's a few pictures of Bailey sunning herself.And standing of course!

The Balloon Festival

There is a great hot air balloon festival that they have every year over in Galena Illinois. This year we were able to go and had a great time! First they sent up a few balloons, which landed and came back later.
We tried to keep Bailey happy as there wasn't much for her to do other than be held or sit in her stroller.Sam got to go in the bounce house and on the obstacle course with his cousins. He got a skate boarder tattoo too!There were so many balloons that I couldn't keep track. It was an awesome sight. I was surprise how closely they had them packed in. There were even three of the balloons that were tethered and could take you up and down (for a fee).Here is the football balloon, which was one of our favorites!Sam came back from the fun and sat with us for a bit and watched. And Bailey too of course!They even had a band playing. They would get the kids involved and let them play instruments and come up to help sing. Sam got to go up to sing the Chicken Dance song, but froze and wouldn't move. Here was our other favorite, a monkey balloon. It was complete with a man in a bananna suit.Here is Bailey playing with Dad's necklace. It's one of her key indicators that she's getting tired. This comes just before sucking on her thumb and playing with her hair.Just before we left, they had all of the balloon pilots light up their balloons for a great picture.

Our New Water Service

For those of you new to this story, we've had some water issues lately. We thought it was bad, but then had an easy fix. However, in fixing it, something else went wrong. Long story short, we needed a new water service.

A new water service is not cheap! So we decided that we were going to get what we could out of the experience. Bailey went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day so Mom could get something done. Sam stayed home so that he could watch all of the work. Boy did he enjoy that!

I must say that we did get quite a bit for what it cost us. We had a back hoe, jack hammer, two dump trucks, a cement truck, and a whole lot of workers involved.At first he acted shy, but eventually he was asking what each of the buttons did.Sam even got to go for a ride.

While we were waiting for the cement truck to arrive, Sam worked to help clean up the area with the guys.
He thought that it was pretty neat to be able to get down "into the street".Once the cement was poured, the guys let us put Sam and Bailey's name in it. Unfortunately it was covered with asphalt the next day.

Everything went as smoothly as it could, now we just have to work on paying for all of the "fun".

Daddy's Ice Cream Adventure

We have a local pizza parlor that is famous for their "Barn Burner". It is 30 scoops of ice cream with all of the toppings-one scoop of each flavor. Daddy and his friend Brian decided that it sounded like a good idea. The girls working were so excited because none of them had ever made one before as it isn't requested very often.

They heard the horror stories about having a large amount of melted ice cream to eat, so their goal was to eat it quickly. Half way through, their smiles were replaced with extreme shivers. they finished it in 28 minutes! No reward, no famous honking of the horn, all they got in return was a bill.

Sam needed something as well of course, but enjoyed watching them make pizzas and playing by the game machines more. He figured out that a lot of the balls get lost behind the machine, which he is small enough to reach!

Bailey would beg from everyone that had ice cream, and bend over backwards to try to eat mine too!

Our Fishing Trip

We got to go fishing in Missouri and it turned out to be a great time. First we all loaded up into Pap Pap's truck for a short ride to save wear on the little legs.
Sam waved good-bye to the cows as we left.Mom and Bailey enjoyed the ride with the wind blowing.While Dad looked on...The weather was great for some early evening fishing.And Sam did well with his new Superman fishing pole.Dad got the first bite (and most of the rest), which Sam had to inspect.Bailey played with Pap Pap and Grandma while we waited for the next one.And we found one of the loud bellowing bullfrogs hidden in the ponds edge.Sam actually touched the next fish...But didn't really like it!But he helped Daddy put him back in the water.That's the fish in the middle at the far left.It was a lot of fun, but we were happy to get back.Incase you want to go some day, here is where we were at-SERIOUSLY!And to top it off, we stopped for a little shopping on the way home. We got Miss Bailey these cute shoes!