Finally!

I've been waiting just under 10 months for this! Sure does make my day! I love this boy!!!!!

Fun at the Beach

This past Monday, our little family of four took a day trip to the beach (obviously if you've been reading the posts regarding the the death of my iPhone and the debacle that ensued, you may have already known about the trip). It was a mere 3-1/2 hour drive each way, and was a really easy drive! The kids behaved fantastically, and hubs and I were really excited to be taking Chase to the beach for the very first time!

Just thought I'd share a few pics from our trip with you guys! Enjoy!

Of course you remember the u-haul we took from the parking lot to the beach. Yes, hubs brought shock cords to keep it all in place AND we brought a huge bucket to carry water with so we could create a little mini-pool-type-thing for Chase up by our shade tent. That worked out well (not).

Here's the little man taking it all in. You'll find almost every pic of him includes one or more fingers in his mouth... the joys of teething!

Loved this little one of him looking at mommy. Oh, and for the record, I fully realize his bathing suit doesn't match, and I'm quite distraught about it. The blue/green shorts came with a cute little matching shirt with -- you guessed it -- a monkey on it. Unfortunately, it's a 12 month outfit and he grew out of the shirt weeks ago! The shorts, however, barely stay on him! So I picked up another SPF-type shirt for him, knowing it wouldn't match. It was a painful thing for me to do, but I'm trying not to dwell on it... ;)

All smiles!

We weren't surprised, but he really loved the water! Even when it splashed in his face. Even when he put his salt watery hands in his mouth. This boy loves water!

Contemplating something, I'm sure...

Another cute pic, but those durn fingers!

A close-up of the water!

He was having so much fun!

I HAD to share this one. I swear every time I look at this pic, I think, "Thank you! Thankyouverymuch!" a la Elvis.

Still not sure how he wasn't grossed out by the salty taste of the water on his hands.

Chillin' in his big sister's chair!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! this picture!!! There are no words!

And, of course, a glimpse of things to come down the road. Little brother picking on big sister.

I tried to get a cute pic of the two of them together. This is what I ended up with. Not sure what LO's thinking. Chase's face, however, is purely hysterical.

This one's a bit better, but I'm pretty sure LO's forcing that smile. Ever so slightly.

My beautiful, 3-year-old girl.

Wow. What's up with Chase channeling Elvis the whole time we were at the beach?

Smile, buddy! Daddy's gettin' you!

LO conked out on the way home. We stopped for ice cream. I woke her up. She said she didn't want any. Shocking, I know!

This little guy had NO nap plans for the ride home. He had a great time!

Did I mention he had his first taste of ice cream? Dairy Queen, of course. He's looking at me like, "Are you sure I'm allowed to try some of this yummy goodness, mommy?" As you might imagine, he LOVED it.

LO finally woke up enough to realize we really meant business when we talked ice cream. She couldn't miss out on such an opportunity as this! Her eyes look like she'd rather be sleeping, but she sure did enjoy that ice cream!

One last shot of the boy as we got him out of his seat to relax for a few minutes after our ice cream stop. Those eyes of his. They captivate my heart!

Guess Who? - The Answers!

#1: Chase!

#2: LO! Duh!

#3: ME! (Told ya there was a twist!)

#4: Chase!

#5: Me again!

#6: Chase!

#7: LO!

#8: ME!

#9: LO!

NOTE: I would have included baby pics of hubs in here, but they didn't have cameras waaay back then! Ha! Ha! Just teasin'! Honestly though, his pics would be pretty easy to spot (can you say black & white?)!

That was fun! :)

Random Stuff

Last week we took the kids to the local water park for the first time. It was fun, but there definitely wasn't as much to do for them than I had hoped. They didn't allow us to bring any floats or anything for the kids to use, so we were very limited in the options at the water park. I did take a little disposable waterproof camera with us, but I haven't gotten the pics back yet. It was, like, FILM people. Like the kind you "drop off" and come back to pick up later. Crazy, right? I haven't done that in FOREVER! And it was obvious because apparently the little camera I had "expired" in November 2008. Ya. Apparently you were supposed to use it and develop the pics by November of 2008. You can tell how often we capture water activities in our house! I have no idea if the pics will turn out okay or not, but I'll share some of 'em here if they do.

I say all this just to show you this cute little pic of our boy after a tiring hour and a half at the water park, which literally was less than 10 minutes from our house. I took him out of his wet clothes and just put him in only a diaper (since I forgot to bring another outfit). By the time we got home? This is what I found in the back seat:

Isn't he precious?!

Saturday morning we went to the local farmer's market downtown. We scored some nice meat (got there too late for a good choice of tomatoes that I needed for my homemade pizza sauce) and enjoyed some time outdoors. It was slightly overcast, so not too hot. PERFECT for hanging out. I snapped this cute pic of my girl havin' a good time:

And of course her brother couldn't keep out of the adorable action...

Guess Who?

One of my heart mom friends posted a fun blog post the other day and I thought I'd do something similar. She put up pics of her two girls around the same age (in the same outfit even!) and let her readers guess who was who. I've posted some pics below (with a twist!) so you guys can have some fun, too!

So, try your best to guess who is who. Some are easy (the pink MIGHT give it away), but some might be harder to figure out. And don't forget the twist: there may be someone other than LO or Chase pictured below! Good luck! :)

I'll post the answers Wednesday morning...

Lake Trip

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the lake and I totally forgot to share a few pics with you guys! We had a great time and LO definitely loved getting in the water (at a little beach) and building sand castles. Chase was NOT a fan of his life vest, but I do think he ended up having a good time anyway. :)

This face is PRICELESS! You can tell he is straight up MAD about putting the life vest on. I love it!

Here's a cute pic of him snacking on some crunchies. He likes to use TWO hands 'cause that means double the food!

I just love this one with his little hat. So cute!

Daddy was throwing him up in the air and he was LOVING it!

LO pondering her next move.

More splashin' fun with daddy!

My precious girl!

Somebody got slap WORE OUT by the end of the day two hours we spent on the lake!