Summer time

We have been keeping busy over here, and I've been trying to take the pictures to keep up with it all.  Cal is REALLLLLY into swimming right now, and wants to go to the pool all day every day.  It is SO hard to take both kids by myself, so we try to go whenever Eddie is not working/playing golf.  Yesterday afternoon, Cal couldn't even open his eyes they were so red from the chlorine.  We didn't go back after naps yesterday because his eyes looked so painful.  He has "gobbles" (a mask), but doesn't really use them... maybe he will start!

Because it is so difficult chasing Andy around the pool deck, I have not been able to get good video of Cal swimming.  He is gaining confidence and is swimming further and further.  He LOVES to jump in from the side and swim to us.  We are working on him taking a breath in the middle.  It would appear he can hold his breath for a long time because he doesn't take breaths! Just keeps his head down going going going! It's funny to watch him go. 

He got it in his head a few days ago that he wanted to go off of the "paddle board" which, we figured out is the diving board.  At our pool, you have to pass the deep end test to be able to go down the slide or go off the board.  That test consists of swimming the length of the deep end and treading water for 30 seconds.  We are working on that now... we have a ways to go, but he is determined!

When we aren't at the pool, here is a look at what we've been doing this week:

We went to Marbles Childrens Museum in Raleigh with my friend Sara and her two boys, Billy and Chalrlie (along with every child in the world, apparently)...

 They had a HUGE train table, which Cal just loved.... Andy also thought it was fabulous, since Cal won't let him touch anything to do with the trains at our house...

 These cages made me a tad nervous.  Didn't bother Cal though!

 The basketball hoops were a lot of fun... until some really big kids came in and dominated the area.  The little kids scurried out of there pretty fast.

 There was a toddler room, which was completely empty, and we had a ton of fun in there... loved this quote on one of the walls...

 The mushrooms lit up... Andy was amazed

 Charlie:

 Next, we went grocery shopping.  Cal took this job VERY seriously...

 Andy wanted to help too...

 Cal's basket was getting full, so he had to use his chin...

 And then he decided to use another basket... but he just took everything out of one basket and moved it to the other one... go figure.

 He wanted to wash dishes... wonder if I can train him to do that at home??

 After lunch and playing outside in the fountain, the kids were exhausted and soaked:

It was a lot of fun at the museum, even though it was crowded.  I would definitely go back again... but it was stressful trying to keep up with Cal and run after Andy while dodging in between school groups and big kids running.  Sara and I both commented on feeling super tense when we left.

These next two pictures just make me laugh...

Cal and Andy play SO well with Sara's boys, and we have similar schedules, so we got together with them again this past week.  We met at my mom's house. She has a bunch of fun toys in her basement, not to mention, she has my brother's old aircraft carrier down there.  The big boys played with cars and planes, while the little boys wrestled... how funny are they?

 Andy was CRACKING up while doing this....

After naps one afternoon, I took the boys to the pool to meet Eddie.  We've been swimming, eating dinner, and bathing out there.  It is a pain to prepare for the trip to the pool (SO much stuff to take!), but it is fabulous to come home from the pool and only have to brush teeth and drop into bed.... ahhhh.....

We were on the way to the pool to meet Eddie and Andy was holding his lamb...

 Speaking of Andy, I can NOT keep him out of the dishwasher! Seriously, I bet he opens this thing 50 times a day.  And, you might be thinking, who really cares if he opens the dishwasher? Well, this morning, he opened it, pulled out the bottom shelf, and found a steak knife.  Sweet.  I put all of the knives in the far back of the shelf, so if he is pulling out the shelf while I am doing something like....I don't know....PEEING....that I will hear it and can run out to get him before he finds them. 

Getting child locks for the dishwasher is on my to do list this week...

All of the swimming we've been doing is flat wearing Cal out.  We came home from the pool yesterday and he took a nap (praise the lord), but then woke up and said he was still tired.  So he curled up on the couch... looking pretty cute, if you ask me...

 A while ago I shared the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies ever.  I made some last night for the boys and they were a big hit...and a BIG mess! They went straight to the tub after this! haha

Today, we were just feeling extra grateful for the blessings in our life, and we really wanted to go to church to thank the good Lord for hooking us up :)  Honestly, we need to go more often.  I hate making excuses, but for a while there, it was REALLY hard with the napping schedule, etc... I have no excuses now.  Andy is still wanting to nap, but I am working on him dropping it since he will have "school" in the fall.
Anyway.... we had a great service and I am glad we went.  I thought my boys looked extra handsome today, so I took some pictures!

 And Andy appears to be ready for football season... can't say I blame him...

 Excuse me, young man....when did you become so OLD looking?  When we cut his hair, he is going to look SO old!

 So, that's about what we've been up to this week!

This week is going to be all about getting ready because...

On Saturday, Eddie and I are leaving the boys and heading here...

y'all, I am soooooo excited for a week long date night!

soaked

 Back when Cal was just a wee one, I would write posts asking any of my (few) readers for advice... and you always came through for me, whether it be sleeping (or the lack thereof), eating, etc etc etc.

Well, I am back at it again.  Any advice or in sight you can give me would be fab!

Cal has been fully potty trained since March.  He's been doing great, and we are thrilled, obviously!

Here's the thing... he wears a diaper to bed, because he is a HARD sleeper and we don't think he would wake up to go pee.  He SOAKS this diaper every night.  Like, through the diaper, clothes soaked, sheets of big boy bed soaked.  And it is happening often.  Like, 5 times a week often. 

We have tried cutting him off from water after dinner.  But he plays SO hard after dinner/bath that he is really thirsty.  We limit his drinking to one sippy cup of water after dinner to bed time.  And that's it! He also goes potty every night before the bath and again before the bed. 

He is wearing an overnight diaper, and it doesn't stand a chance against him. 

Frankly, I am sick to death of changing the sheets on his bed almost daily.  The sheets are about to be threadbare because I wash them so often.  He has two sets, thankfully, so I can take one off to wash and replace them right away... (just to wash those the next day....). 

Any tips? What are we doing wrong? Should we not give him water after dinner? I get really thirsty at bed time too, so I know he wants to drink... we tried "double bagging" him last night and he was still soaked. 

Yours in urine...

FUN necklace!

So, y'all remember when I told you about that Blonde Ambition blog that I have been enjoying? Well, last week, she did a post about these adorable necklaces:


(they come in a BUNCH of different colors!)

And a link to the where you could find them for $19!!!!!  These little numbers usually are more like $50 at J. Crew.  So I ordered (two) and I can't wait to get them!

I guess the site had a huge response to her post, because they are now offering a giveaway on Blonde Ambition's blog.

But seriously, even if you don't enter the giveaway, you should go to and join GroopDealz they have some ADORABLE stuff for wayyyyyy cheap.  It's one of those sites where they send you a daily email with their deals, but I have already seen 4 different things I have wanted in the past few days. 

Anyway... just thought I would pass this little tidbit along... because I would like it if y'all shared little tidbits like this with me!!!

shop on.

Airport

Again, I am kicking myself for not signing Cal up for camp this month... but, instead of lamenting that fact, we are trying to get out and about doing something fun every day!

This past week, I decided to take the boys to the observation deck at RDU airport.  If you live locally, you should really do this with your kid. 

Driving there, my car said 101...nothing like playing outside when the thermometer is over 100! But, actually the deck is covered, so we were in the shade, and there was a breeze blowing, so it wasn't too bad at all. 

Cal LOVES watching the airplanes take off and land, and Andy, my wild one, just likes to go go go go go.  So he had fun walking around the deck... until he discovered the ramp at a slight incline that he could run down... no pictures of that one-- I was too busy diving to catch him. 

Anyway, there is a deck where you can see the airplanes, and then a little grassy spot with a "runway" set up for the kids to pretend on, and then there is a little sand pit with a jungle gym.  We did the deck and then pretended to be airplanes while running on the runway... then we were HOT and it was time to go.  We were there about an hour, but it was the perfect way to wear them out!  After we left there, we met some friends at Chick Fil A for lunch!

 Also, can I just comment here about their hair....

Cal sooooooo needs a hair cut! He actually got on this past Saturday-- don't worry! It was SUPER long, but I kinda liked it long....
Andy, on the other hand, we debate about constantly.  He has these curls... and in the humidity, they turn into spiral curls, in the back.  When his hair is dry, the hair looks normal.  But when we go to the pool, the curls straighten and his hair is down his back!
Cal had curls too, and when we gave him his first cut, they never grew back. 
I LOVE Andy's curls and I am not ready to cut his hair yet... but I think it might be time.  What do you think??
Eddie's mom is begging us to not cut it...so maybe we will wait until after she comes to visit in a few weeks....

look! I love to point!

sigh.  seriously???

my life!

 And later that afternoon, Eddie was out of town, so we went to dinner with mom and Jackson.  The boys had the best time together, and we decided to take a picture before going home.  Mom brought Jackson to our house for a bath in my big bath tub and some more play time.  They had a ball!

 See? We are surviving without camps!  But we are looking forward to having them next month!!! hahaha!

PS- I went to Target today to buy overnight diapers and swim diapers.  I left with a FULL cart... and no diapers.  How do you feel about that?

NC Zoo

This past Friday, my parents were going to take Cal and Jackson to the North Carolina Zoo. We thought Andy and I might like it too, so we all went! Cal and Jackson rode to the zoo with my parents, and Andy and I rode in my car.  Andy dozed off on the way there, so it was a very pleasant drive for me! I think Cal and Jackson argued the entire way there, so I can't say my parents' trip was as relaxing!

We got to the zoo bright and early and headed into the Africa section.  This zoo is HUGE-- I was stunned how large it is-- and it would take a full day to cover the place.  We knew the section for these boys to see was Africa. 

As much as Cal loves to run around, we still thought we should bring the stroller in case they needed a break, or if they wanted to have a snack while we pushed...

Just checking out the maps for us:

I had to go back and pull a few pics from the last trip to the zoo with gramma and grandpa.  The stroller pic above reminded me of this one below, from a year ago:

 We paused for a quick picture with all of the boys. 

 Next we were off to see all of the monkeys, gorillas, chimps, etc...

 But we had to pose with the statues before.  Just like we did last time!

this picture makes me want to cry-- cal looks so little!!!

 Jackson played on a soccer team this year (Cal was too young), and when we went to a game and they were short a player, Cal got to go in (he was in HEAVEN).  Since then, Cal refers to himself as "Soccer Star" (he's so modest).  My mom found this outfit at Costco-- super cool soccer shirt and shorts.  She got a few outfits (uniforms??) for Cal and then had to go back and get them for Jackson too.  The boys HAD to match at the zoo! This was their choice, I promise!

 I think the gorilla liked their bright shirts; he was staring at them constantly!

 After the gorillas, etc, we saw the sign for the dinosaurs.  We have seen the dinosaurs at the museum, and Cal really liked those, so I thought this might be fun to try.  When we first walked in, there was a dinosaur we could climb on for pictures...

Then you follow a gravel trail, where there are dinosaurs on each side... only these dinosaurs MOVE, and make noise...

 I tried to take pictures the whole way through, but Cal was NONE too excited about them moving! haha!

you can see the worker guy in the back watering something-- gives you perspective on how HUGE the things are

 Cal would hug the right side of the trail when looking at a dinosaur on the left, and then all of a sudden, there would be another one on the right, so he would go to the left.  He bounced back and forth the entire way through.  I know they scared him to death, but he kept saying how much he liked them!

 Little Nugget had fun too.  He LOVED the dinosaurs-- went crazy laughing watching them move all around. 

After the dinosaurs, we headed over to the elephants, and we let Andy out of the stroller then.  He was thrilled to get out and run away around. 

 Andy really liked pointing out the animals.  He would get really excited and squeal.

 My failed attempt to get a picture with the boys.  Oh well. Here is proof I was there!

 We let Andy play around a bit more before moving on...

We headed over to the rhinos next and they had some eggs you could climb in and on.  I love these of the boys...

After the rhinos, we had to take a picture in front of the jeep-- just like last time!

 

And then....
We went to see the giraffes.
And I can honestly say, I have never seen Andy act like this before...

 There was a big group of people gathered around to watch the giraffes come out, but when Andy went CRAZY wild screaming for the giraffes, all of the people turned their attention to him.  Seriously, it was the funniest thing ever.  He started pointing, then clapping, and screaming, and laughing and screaming some more.  UN. believable! I took a video of it...

This picture was taken after the giraffes were walking away.  The boys are waving bye to them, and Andy is spent after all of the excitement!

 It was such a fun day at the zoo.  I hope to go back again..maybe next year for more pictures!