This summer we....

Since I haven't posted a thing since the beginning of summer, here is a snippit of what we did while the boys were out of school.  I didn't have a single activity planned for anybody.  I admit that I was a little worried about boredom, but we seemed to stay busy and have a great summer!

So, we....

visited the playground and splash park...

 while Shep ate....

visited another splash park and got to visit a fire truck while we were there, yay!

 Shep learned that he can finally (but barely) reach the gas pedal to the "big" four wheeler.  Watch out.

 Played in Mommy's purse.  He always puts on sunglasses upside down.  :)

Went to Limlodge and swam, swam, swam, and fished in between.

 Played with things we probably shouldn't have and put them in places they definitely weren't intended to be!

 Daddy took William to climb Pinnacle Mountain for the first time.

 Tube rides....

more swimming....

and a few other trips to grandparents' houses and lots of visits to our swimming pool.  Daddy and I even squeezed in a trip to Colorado, which I will try to include in a later post.  No promises. ;) The summer ended up going by super fast.  I was a teensy sad this weekend knowing that the routine was lurking for the week.  William and Charlie both started school today and had a great day.  More about that later, too!

Shep turns 2, peep peep!

I can't believe my baby is 2!!!!  

We spent Shep's birthday weekend in Texarkana with MiMi and Grandad.  The boys swam, swam, swam, and swam some more!

The birthday boy showing off his two year old physique.  ;)  He still has rolls, but they are slowly disappearing.  Boo.

MiMi outdid herself as always.  She cooked WAY more than she needed too, and then topped it off with the most awesome birthday cake EVER.  Shep is beyond obsessed with Thomas, so he was super excited to see this cake....

And the presents....Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, and more Thomas.  

Doing the honors...

And he approves of the taste, too! ;)

The birthday boy these days:

~He is a pretty good talker, putting 3-4 words together

~Did I mention he loves Thomas?????  He ALWAYS wants to watch Thomas, build train tracks, or read Thomas books.  He can name all the main engines and a few others.  He calls James the red engine "Jimmy."  

~He is a pretty good eater and especially loves ice cream.  

~He doesn't let big brothers push him around.  He isn't afraid to hit or fight back.

~He likes to do things on his own....put on his shoes, wash himself in the bathtub, brush his teeth, etc. He has been able to tell me since about 18 months when he tee tees or has #2.  He is even dry most mornings. Mommy just isn't brave enough to potty train yet since I still have to stay on top of Charlie about the potty. ;)

~He is a snuggle bug!  Loves to be held and hugged.  At night he loves reading a book and then I sing him a song....snuggling the whole time.

Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and in between

Early this spring, we had a visit from MiMi's sister, Aunt Joyce.  She lives in Florida, so we hardly get to see her.  She tries to come once a year, but we don't always cross paths.  I was so glad MiMi and Grandad brought her to Little Rock to see all of us.  Her visit was such a treat, but it still wasn't enough!

And this is how I spent my Mother's Day......digging for worms.....

so these little munchkins could go fishing at the creek!

 There were hardly any fish.  In fact, Charlie caught the only one we saw.  In case the picture is too small to tell, he's just a tad excited.  :)

 We went to the lake for Memorial weekend with the Tedfords, and the boys got to fish some more.  This time, they caught quite a few....many thanks to the cedar trees Daddy sunk near the docks this past winter. ;)

We were so glad to get to play with Anne's girls.  We've both been in such a hard stage with kids the past few years, that it hasn't been feasible for us to get to go together with all 6 of them.  Talk about the Brady Bunch, huh?  The kids had so much fun.  Mary Ellis and William swam ALL DAY Saturday and were absolutely exhausted. Charlie and Katherine loved riding the tube together (and yours truly, too) behind the boat.  Tollie is so easy going, she just did whatever all the time.  So did Shep.  He was surprisingly good and easy around the water.  All the girls doted on Shep....they wanted to carry him or hold his hand outside.  Mary Ellis even helped feed him dinner one night.  (Momma could get used to that)!!  

And lastly, a few pictures from playing at home.  These boys have lived outside since the weather got nice.  However, I can already feel the boredom setting in since school has let out, so I hope it doesn't get too hot too fast!