Birthday Traditions and Festivity Preparations

Ever since Eli could talk he has asked for a balloon almost every time we go to Kroger. So, I started the tradition to let him choose a balloon on his birthday every year. This year he chose a ......

Everyone wanted to get a ride on it!

Eli decorating cup cakes for his birthday party with his buddies.

Worms on dirt.

Oak Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the little guy. So many mornings I look at him and think he grew overnight. In the first picture I think he is being camera shy.

Eli took this one.

Eli took this one too. This is a pretty classic face for Oak. Wide eyed with a slight "oooooo" sound. He is funny and cute.

I grabbed the camera and took one of Eli too - he decided to be camera shy.

Eli's 5th Birthday Gift

Yes, Eli has been asking for a black scorpion for almost a year now, so Brian and I decided it was time to get it for him. I honestly was expecting a smaller version, but when Brian took Eli to the pet store he pointed to the biggest one, of course. It will grow up to 9 inches long and it turns colors under different lights. Under the plant light here it is a blue color and under the display fish tank it is a green. So far we have been keeping it on the back porch. It needs to be in 80-90 degree heat so that's easy for now. We will get him a warmer of some kind for the winter. No, we haven't held him yet, but both Brian and Eli have touched it. It isn't aggressive and you can hold it. I bet you can't wait!

Eli named him Emperor. In the second picture he is drinking water. When we put him in this jar here, he bee lined to the water dish and drank for a couple minutes. He is a jungle creature, so he needs plenty of moisture.

Warning!!! This video contains a CREEPY creature...

Eli's 5th Birthday Gift: Scorpion from capture box on Vimeo.

Babysitting Co-op

Here is a picture of the little ones from our Friday night babysitting co-op (minus one family who will be back in the fall). We have been in and out of co-op over the past few months with the baby and being gone on trips, so I really looked forward to having all the kids here the other night. I wanted to take a picture because it seemed like they all grew a couple inches over the past months! A cute and busy busy crowd! I love these kids. :)

slide + baby pool = hours of summer fun!

Fun times. Brian suggested I set this up a couple weeks ago, and just recently I got around to it. The boys have been out playing in it everyday since. Brian and I even got on our suits and joined in once. Personally I didn't think it was too great. I need another 3 feet or more of water to land in, ouch, but a 30 pound kid - no problem. I ended up sitting in the pool and letting them splash me.

Summer Fun! from capture box on Vimeo.

Oak 4 Months

When Oak wakes he likes to just play in his crib. He will kick, roll around, chew on his hands and feet and make all sorts of sweet little sounds. Here is a video of one of those after nap play times.

Oak After Waking from capture box on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Song for Grandma Debby

Happy 60th birthday Mom! I hope Dad treats you like a queen today. We love you!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Debby from capture box on Vimeo.

Hilton Head, SC

Here are some pictures from our time together.

At the pool!

Brooke introducing Oak to the ocean.

Otto and Sarah with Gramps.

Eli and Nate were great buddies all week. Nate is a very sweet boy, I was really glad he and Eli had this time to get to know each other. Eli really misses him.

Sand dollars were a common find here. This one had little crabs on it.

Tree frog!

Weeeeee!

The first crab catch!

Mom and I tried to stay in the shade for Oak. It was a hot day. We ended up spending the crabbing time shopping and drinking cold drinks at a shaded outside bar. It was just too hot and sunny to spend the whole time on the pier with the baby.

Cooking the crabs

I had to capture each person's different styles of crab eating. Brian here spent about an hour cleaning and taking out the meat. Then he ate it all.

Mom, with her reading glasses on, got real messy. She flung all sorts of crab shell shrapnel around. I was sitting next to her so I know. She was persistent like Brian though, and kept at it for about an hour.

Eli just had fun playing with claws and breaking them apart.

Making wet sand castles.

Car Rides, Sleepy Children and Asheville, NC

We took a road trip to Hilton Head, SC, and stopped over in Asheville for the night. We were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed visiting this city. We have plans to go back again. Here are a few pictures from the car ride and Asheville.

Sleepy boy.... he had made an airplane out of his candy wrapper and was holding on to it. I saw it fall out of his hand when he fell asleep. Such a cute age.

This isn't the best picture, but I snapped this one of the square downtown. There was live music playing in the square and folks walking around the downtown area. The vibe of this city was pretty earthy and organic and trees are everywhere. We enjoyed it.

I had to share this. We went out to eat at a yummy restaurant called "salsas" (which came recommended by a friend) and sweet little Oak slept the whole time on this bench with only the carrier to pad his sleep. He is a good baby! I felt blessed. The food was tasty. Habanero margaritas are one of their specialities - very different, but worth trying.