Cousinpoluza!

Since our return from the East we have been caught up in a swirl of back-to-school dramas, unsuccessful attempts at scaling laundry mountain, doctors appointments (new orthotics & glasses for Quinn!) & preparations for William's annual trek to the desert. Which has left little time to sort through the 700+ photos from our very fun trip. Apologies for the delay in getting a new post together... better late than never strikes again.

Boys modeling their new backpacks as we head out for the airport

They did okay on the airplane... although the last hour is always a tough one... no nap for Remy so he arrived in a puddle of melted 2-year-old-ness. Lucky for us we had understanding neighbors on all of our flights!

It was such a treat to have all of the cousins together, although at times very overwhelming to have "5 under 5" all clamoring for the same toys & attention. A peaceful trip? No, my guys are too rowdy for peaceful, but it was great having all of us together.




The pool was definitely one of the highlights of the visit. Turns out my two little guys are tadpoles just waiting to learn how to swim. By the end of the week both boys would jump from the side into our arms... or in Remy's case, under the water. He loved going all the way under.


The baby pool was great for all of our littles... it had a nice sloped entrance was only 2 feet at the deepest end. Sure made the heat tolerable!



Remy pretending to be an elephant:
Uncle William/Daddy was the favorite pool toy:
Watering baby Brooke to help her grow:





We spent the most of our time in the playroom, aka the back porch.





The Suttons passed through town on their way home from vacation and stopped in for a quick dinner. Such a nice treat...wish we could have visited longer.





We also got to celebrate Grandpa's birthday...

The kids "helped" Grandpa open his presents:

After cake & ice-cream we braved the heat & mosquitoes to burn off some of that sugar energy:
"Let us in!"
Cousins crazy dancing:

Our flight home wasn't until late in the afternoon so we hopped on over to a jumpy house/playzone and attempted to tire out two bouncing little boys.








Quinn started school the day after we got home. Now that is a whole 'nother post! Drama-rama that will hopefully be soon sorted out.

I want kiss!

Even on our busiest of days, I love the morning routine at our house. Some days we have school or appointments or other commitments and have to jump out of bed, hustle through eating and dressing to race out the door. But on the days we don't have a schedule to keep, we take full advantage of being self-employed. On these leisurely mornings, one of us will get the kids up and bring them back to our bed for a family snuggle. There is just something magic about two sleepy, squirmy, giggling boys who love to give hugs & kisses & tickle our toes when they stick out from the covers. When I think about the future, of my littles being big grown up men, I know that these are the moments I will miss the most.

Earlier this week we got a bonus treat... during our morning cuddle Quinn said his first-ever spontaneous sentence. Hearing his sweet little voice say, clear as day, "I want kiss" was the best sound I have ever heard. So worth the wait. It is, once again, a good reminder that he will gain whatever skill is next on the list, all in his own sweet time. Our treat this morning was Remy telling both Daddy & Quinn that he "loves them sooooooo much." Made me tear up to hear such sweetness. I know when they are talking back to me I will regret this, but for now I am so grateful that the language explosion is in full force.

Last weekend the Grandmas treated us to a visit to the county fair. I'm not sure who was more excited about this adventure, the little boys or the Grandmas! We had such a great time all around...




Quinn loved seeing the rescue birds... the owl was his favorite.




One of the things we still struggle with is our pre-conceived ideas of how Quinn will react in certain situations. We try our best to keep these ideas from letting him try new things, to keep pushing the limits as much as possible. When we came across the pony rides at the fair we were pretty sure he would freak out at the prospect of riding one, but decided to give it a try. Worst case would be public meltdown, not the first & definitely not the last. Much to our surprise it seems that Quinn was a cowboy in a former life. Not only did he not freak out, he was a total natural on top of the biggest pony they had... one hand on the saddle horn, the other on his thigh. Rode around that circle like he had been doing it all his life. Needless to say I have been researching equine therapy options in our area... I think the kid was born to ride.





Remy was the one who was not so very sure about this pony thing... Thankfully Gima came to his rescue... a little hand holding & his very own hat did the trick. He ended up enjoying it & has been talking about riding "his pony" almost every day since.

My happy boys...
Second favorite stop... a big life-sized candyland game. No, they didn't want to follow any rules & actually play it... they wanted to take the goodies home!


A little rest & painting on a big mural...

And the biggest hit was having their very own ice-cream cones...






Last stop was another favorite for Quinn... a sandbox filled with corn. By this point it is way past nap-time so a bit of zoning out, scooping & filling buckets was just what was needed.


We got to have another summer adventure this week... lunch and a swim at a friend's house. My boys loved playing with the big kids (thank you Emma & Charlie for being so patient with these two monkeys!)


Happy summer days!