Mother of the Year Award

HA!

So, there I was...Axel in one arm headed to DVD section of our local library after spending two hours at a birthday party.

My timing couldn't have been better.

Lucas (entering the Sugar Crash/I Need Food ASAP Stage) had already found new friends in the kids area so Axel and I searched for the perfect DVDs to cover a trip to from Ohio to New York to New Hampshire to Vermont to Canada and then back to Ohio.

This is no little trip.

This was no little library bag.

Recognizing the need to get both my sugar belly kids out of the library as soon as I could, I was almost running to the DVD's. I start grabbing anything that looks half way interesting or educational and toss it into my HUGE bag. As I'm chucking my DVD's in, I'm talking to Axel about how exciting they will all be and how he is going to love them all. Not once did I ever mention that we were going on a road trip. Axel would figure that out soon enough.

Boy, I started getting the looks from the other moms in the library! They were half mortified and half confused. One lady kept telling her kids, "You can ONLY TWO DVDs and then, we are going to BOOKS!!!

I just kept the pace up, happy as could be realizing what this must look like to those around me. I chuckled inside to think what was going through these mothers heads and what they would be discussing at there next playgroup! I'm pretty sure I grabbed about 20 DVD's in all which really is an enormous pile and quite absurd.

I should have turned and said, "Yes, these are for my baby to watch all day long so I can neglect him. You know, with his crib TV and all?!" Heeheeheehee.

Yep, I was definitely not winning any Mommy of the Year Award in the eyes of the 3pm Saturday library crowd.

Isn't life sweet?! Sure hope our trip is too. :)

Not To Be Missed

Here are a few photos, that missed the first round, from our trip to Gatlinburg, TN. These were taken the hotel pool. It was a great pool for all the "kids!" :)

Here comes Daddy!
Axel aka "Mama's Boy" anxiously waiting for Mommy to come down the slide.
Here she comes...check out that sweet tan!
Nice shot Grandma!Here comes Grandpa!
Grandpa's toes! I LOVE THIS PHOTO!!!
Playing with Grandpa.
Showing Axel a HUGE (dead) dragon fly that Lucas affectionately named "As-jay."
We are off to more summer adventures so the blog might be slow for awhile unless I get some connection time. :)

Happy summer to you all! We love you!

One Big Weekend

Yes, we had one big weekend right here at home! It was nice not to drive anywhere too far. :)

Friday night sparklers!
Saturday morning run/bike ride at our secret shady tree tunnel about 5 minutes from our house.
We had to test out our new bike! No more 12" bike for Mr. Lucas...16" is what is cool these days. Mommy has to work much harder on her runs now. Lucas is super FAST!!!
Bowling birthday party for Lucas' friend, Jackson.
Mommy even spend a few hours at the farm picking these beauties!
Mmmm...blackberries!
12 cups of blackberry jam along with 4 1-gallon bags full of frozen berries now living in our freezer! I'm addicted to pick-ur-own fruit!
Sunday was reserved for the Dayton Air Show. We missed it last year and were really glad we were able to see it this year. It's a great show! We were armed with sunscreen, frozen lemonade & water bottles (highly recommended), folding chairs, blankets, snacks and a bunch of airplanes!
Our friends, Heidi & Eric, are C-17 pilots so Lucas is there number one fan! He loves the C-17!
Here we watched it back up to get ready for it's part in the show. It was LOUD!
C-17 flying.
Heidi, Mommy & Axel.
Lucas & Nancy (Heidi's Mom)...notice Lucas' shirt? Yep, C-17 shirt from Heidi & Eric.
Blue Angels...Awesome Show!!!
Then to Heidi's house for a surprise birthday party. Happy Birthday Heidi!
Big helper.
We were soooo TIRED last night so it's a slow Monday morning for sure. We all had a great weekend!

Daddy

Lucas took this photo of Daddy! Lookin' pretty good don't ya think?! :)
Daddy is a pretty cool dude around this place. He's pretty silly too and lots of fun. Both boys get very excited when they hear the door open and see daddy's face after work. He is not a big fan of sitting around (unless Le Tour de France is on) so he always has fun ideas for the family. The other night we went to the park and played Freeze Tag and last night, a spur of the moment trip to Kings Island for some evening roller-coaster rides. Family bike rides a must a couple times a week and other exciting venues to keep things fun.

Bouncy castles at the Air Force annual Tatoo program.Jet flyovers.
Bike time.Star Wars Wii time.
So, it's only appropriate to celebrate Father's Day with homemade cards. (Something Daddy LOVES!)
Daddy, you sure are a special guy! In Lucas' words, "Daddy, you are the coolest and I like to play Wii with you." We love how much time you spend with us and love that you think family time is so important. We love you and think you are the best!! BIG HUGS and LOTS OF LOVE!

Coolin' Off

We've busted out the slip-n-slide numerous times this summer and it usually ends up as a streak-n-slide before too long.
The little pool has been perfect too because it gets super warm. It's our hot tub after sliding.
Axel is all ready to dive in!
Don't worry, no diving allowed...just big baby steps and lots of splashing.
This has been known to happen a time or two and usually gets some chuckles from the neighbors.
Extra slippery slip-n-slide! :)
The hot tub put to good use!Axel taking it all in.
I love summer days!

Little update: Between travels, we spend our days staying cool after morning exercise with sprinklers, the pool and obviously, the slip-n-slide. The farmer's market has been in our weekly plans and supplements our CSA Happy Box perfectly.

Oh, I can't forget to mention that most of our days also consist of various Star Wars pretend time. Lucas is still completely enamored with Star Wars and has even invented his own character named, Asje (pronounced As-jay), which comes from him typing the letters A-S-J-E and asking what he spelled? Asje is the most powerful Jedi ever!!

Axel spends his days trying to keep up with Lucas and getting into EVERYTHING! He's a climber so we have to watch him so he doesn't scale the book cases. He's a stinker for sure but a cute one!

Hope your having a wonderful summer!