Taylorsville Lake

We have discovered a very relaxing and enjoyable place to visit on our days off... Taylorsville Lake. It is a little out of town, but the drive is worth it! The lake is a very peaceful and family friendly place where we can anchor and swim or float (and once the little ones get bigger ski and tube!) 

Levi jumping off the back... he's 5 and fearless.

Judah with his karate air move... and his mama Danielle and brother Levi in the water. Every picture I got of him I only got his legs- he's just too fast!

Brian and Eli

Eli and Me... and the alligator.

Otto

Otto's 1st Birthday!

Otto turned 1 on September 1st! Brian took the day off and we traveled up to Cincinnati as a family for the day. We enjoyed a picnic birthday lunch by the Ohio River! It was too windy to light the candle, but Otto didn't seem to mind. He was just delighted that we were giving him sooo much attention - he was all smiles and baby squeals. After lunch we ventured to the Newport Aquarium where we explored life under water...

Boys...

Otto opening his gift with Eli's help. Eli painted the wrapping paper!

Otto climbing into his tonka truck.

Can you see how delighted he is here... it was so sweet to see Otto just savor the attention.

Mama helping, since I was hoping not to have a clothes change.

Otto and butter cream frosting- yum!

Sharks! This picture was taken in a room that has a huge glass wall the size of a movie screen. When we walked in Eli immediately said "This is not safe! We need to go! This is not safe Papa!" After we explained to Eli that the fish wouldn't get us he calmed down a bit and enjoyed watching the sharks and fish. We even got to see some divers go in the water and feed a couple sharks!

Littleness...

Do you remember the days when you could fit into a 5 gallon bucket... and be in total bliss? I don't, but watching Eli play surely brings me back to moments of childhood joy! I love this little guy he makes me laugh and appreciate life everyday. 

Otto in Eli's Paint....

I had a feeling that this was going to happen... paints are washed and put away every time now. It's just too tempting for the little guy.

Wagon Rides!

I find it so funny how much Eli LOVES to pull Otto in the wagon. Here is a short video of him "at work." The other day he pulled Otto in the wagon all the way to visit Brian at the new Sunergos location. It took us about 30 minutes to get there and 30 minutes to get back. He was pretty tired by the end, but of course still had some energy to stop and play at the park on the way home. 

 

Otto Discovering

Otto is growing more curious everyday. In this video he was playing with a little musical train trying to figure out how it all works. 

Outside Toys!

Birthdays mean new fun toys! and with our boys both having their birthdays this summer we have been given some great gifts. Eli got a trike with all-terrain wheels and Otto got a wagon with the same! We took a walk around the neighborhood  with the wagon and it was almost easier pulling them in the wagon than pushing them in a stroller- those tires kind of glide over all the sidewalk edges and bumps.

Eli Painting Faces

By far Eli's favorite art expression is painting, and just recently we noticed that he started to paint faces. This is a new concept for Eli so I thought I would capture it.

Otto and His Jig

I am learning quickly that Otto loves music and dancing. This is a small glimpse of him doing his very own shimmy shake.

Children Making Music

This video captures these two so well. Eli is drumming away and Otto is singing and doing his little wiggle like dance and of course ends up chewing on the drum.

Otto Chasing Eli

It is so fun now that Otto is getting more active. Eli just loves playing with Otto and daily asks Otto to chase him on Rody, so I thought I would capture a little of their noisy fun for you to see.

Fun with the Washtub

We usually have this washtub filled with wood for small backyard fires, but this day it was empty and Eli and Otto decided to make it their toy of choice for a while. I love the first picture here- Eli is lounging in the washtub talking to Grandma Kay on the cell phone. 

Bubble Fun!

Eli was given some bubbles for his birthday and we have had lots of fun chasing, catching and blowing bubbles- Otto even had some fun with the bubbles too!

Eli's 3rd Birthday!

Eli's 3rd birthday was a very enjoyable day from start to finish! We began with making some cupcakes for a little get together with a couple of Eli's friends, Miles and Isaiah, at the park. Eli loved mixing the blue food coloring into his icing.

I like this picture because you can see Otto peeking out behind my back. 

Eli asks for a balloon every time we go to the grocery store and I always tell him that we will get him one on his birthday, so we made a special stop at the grocery store so Eli could pick out a balloon this day. I think he picked the biggest balloon they had.

Mid-day we took a walk to visit Papa working at the new Sunergos location.

Eli wanted Papa to decorate his cake. This year he asked for a spider on his cake. 

Playing with one of his birthday gifts- hungry hungry hippos!