Our Trip Up North

We just got back from a three-day trip to Cleveland to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Cassie. Bright and early Monday morning we left with Grandma & Great-Grandpa for a fun-filled drive. (A bit of preparation for October, when we drive sixteen hours to Florida.) Mommy had some "business" to take care of, while the boys had a great mini-vacation. I was not a part of these trips in the following pictures, but I got a hold of them from Grandma to share with you.

The boys went to the Lake the first night we were there.

Uncle Paul taught the boys how to skip rocks.

Grandma, Grandpa & Char-Bear

The boys, reflecting on the good day they had (check out how wet Lou's shorts are).

The next day they went to Kiddie Land, a place that Aunt Cassie used to visit when she was a little girl.

They had a blast. The park isn't too big, just their size, and they finished the day off with a nice Frosty!

The ride back was...well, I'm glad it's over. Charlie's at a tough age because moving around under his own free will is so new to him, so the last thing he wanted was to be strapped in a car seat. This was a good experience, though. I know that I have A LOT of work a head of me in preparation for our Florida car ride. Kevin and I talked last night and I think we may leave at 9pm, drive for about 12 hours, then get a hotel, do some swimming, get some sleep. Then get back in to finish the drive. If anyone has any good ideas for how to keep kids occupies in cars, please let me know. VCRs aren't enough, as we found out on this trip!

Rub-a-dub, 3 Boys in a Tub

We were pressed for time so I decided to throw Charlie into the tub with his brothers rather than draw a separate bath for him. It was a lot of fun for the three of them to be in there, and the bonus is that Louie and Benny were a bit more relaxed in there because of Charlie--not as much splashing and fighting like they normally do. Normally Charlie is confined into the baby tub, so he was all sorts of excited to move about the tub, which made me a bit nervous as he tried on a number of occasions to stand up in the slippery tub.

Introducing the future UNCLE Josh!

Joanie's birthday was July 2nd and that night, after her softball game and Josh's baseball game, Josh asked Joanie if she was interested in getting hitched. She said...YES! The date of the nuptials will probably be in October of '09--we'll keep you posted! They announced their big news at the Independence Eve party my parents throw. Here is a picture of the very happy couple:

The boys must have know it was coming because they've been calling him Uncle Josh for a while now :)

Reminiscing...

Already Lou and Ben realize how great it is to be young: they climbed into Charlie's crib and pretended to be babies again. Charlie does get a lot of attention, but I don't think they realized how much attention they got when they were younger. A whole heck of a lot more than poor Bear does! Back then we actually cared if they fell down or were really concerned if they started crying. Oh, well. Charlie will be better for it. (I hope.)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Joanie (and Uncle Nate...and Uncle Jeff)!

July is a great month for birthdays and in our family we always start off with three. Aunt Joanie, Uncle Nate, and Uncle Jeff all share July 2nd for the date of their births. The Uncles are vacationing in Myrtle Beach (they're thirty now) and we celebrated Aunt Joanie's on Monday because Wednesday is filled with baseball and softball games.

Here's a picture from the Quarter-of-a-Century Gal's B-Day:

The Future Thunderbolts!

Kevin doesn't get to see his two best buds from high school too often, so when Jon's wife Marcie organized a gathering of the guys and their families we jumped on it. While the Daddies went golfing the Mommies and boys went to the museum, then back to Brian's house for a cook out. The kids all got along, and Benny made a new friend!

Charlie, with Adam, who is about a month older than him.

Cooper, who showed Louie he wasn't the only one who could swing a bat.

Having some fun with the cornhole set

A common sight that day--Benny & Olivia hanging out.

They played really cute together!

Our Friend Lexi

June is already over and last Friday was the first time we went swimming with our buddy, Lexi! Here are a couple of pictures. Miss Lexi has already had a very exciting summer--a trip to Disney and traveling in the RV for a week! Hopefully we'll have more fun afternoons in the sun with her before the summer is over.