happy 4th of july...on the 3rd

This years holiday weekend kicked off with family, fun and fireworks...in that order. The Florida family was in town and we headed out on the train to the city for a little birthday shopping for Miss Hadley. A picnic lunch, some playground time and a loooong nap later, it was time for some beach front fireworks.

We're ready to head to the beach! 

You can tell the crazy had already started to set in...

 There's the cute!

like the firework hats?! Danielle and I are whizzes with duct tape, bendy straws, and pipe cleaners!

Once at the beach, everyone was off in all directions.

 Even M ventured off to play.

life. & quickly becoming one of my most favorite family pictures ever.

E was crazy, nuts about the sand this go around on the beach. He crawled in it, buried himself, threw it and even lay down in it. He was all smiles though!

Once the fireworks began we all sat down together and watched intently. E pointed and even let out a few "ooohs" for some really impressive ones. M "oooh'd" and "aahhh'd" a lot, and later, let us know that his favorite was the one that "looked like a hot dog."

It was three hours past bed time by the time the munchkins crawled in bed. M said he wanted to have another big day tomorrow. Little did he know...he would.

happy

Summertime calls for impromptu trips with Grams for ice cream...yes?

Do you remember when ice cream made you THIS happy?

...maybe it still does...

i wished for mud

My birthday present this year was an entry to the Indianapolis Mudathlon for Andrew and I. It was just what I wanted! Really! Gabe and Bobbie joined us on team Boiler the Muck Up and we all had a muddy blast!

 pre-race...nice and clean.

 The whole team...still clean!

Ready at the starting gate.

 1.5 miles in...wading through a 100 yard mud pit...NICE! 

Rule #1 - don't stop or you're gonna lose your shoes. It was up to my knees at one point!

 Come on Andrew!

 All done and still smiling!

oh...you want a full body shot?  OK!

 

 oh dear. 

I think we weighed an extra 100 pounds each. That mud was heavy.

 

The atmosphere was fun and energetic...the shower was cold...and the hamburger and beer tasted so good. The race itself was challenging and so much fun. We'll definitely be signing up next year! Who's with me?

summer time is watermelon time!

...even if it's for lunch and you're still in your jammies.

 You gotta keep an eye on this guy. He'll eat the rind!

Blueberries & Bananas...

Messy, messy, messy!  E loves to eat and every time, he is a mess.  This is a direct result of being a constantly moving target, periodically flipping up the bib to chew on it, and fingers in his mouth.  This morning required a bit more clean up than usual.  Oh.my.goodness!

Blueberries...EVERYWHERE!

...but he loved it!

Where is E?

This new discovery makes for one messy baby at meal times.

We don't finger paint at this house...

...we palm paint.

Squash, anyone?

I made my first batch of home made baby food last weekend and it was surprisingly easy and fun.  As you can see, we're starting E off with squash.  Two medium squash gave me about 12, 2oz. servings so we're stocked.  Here we go!

E was happy to open wide, but super funny, what the heck is in my mouth, faces were to follow...lots of them.

Believe it or not, he did end up happily eating every last bite.  

Next up...carrots...