Lawrences at the lake

Our friends Matt and Mo and their kids Cooper and Molly came to the lake for a weekend. We had a great time! Thomas had a great time following Cooper and Molly around and copying what they did.

Cooper went tubing with Matt.

Thomas and I went tubing for the first time. He wanted to hold the handles by himself. Next time we'll have to go faster...he enjoyed tubing but seemed a little bored by the slow speeds!
 

We spent a little time at the beach. Coop loved to run into the water.

Thomas had to try it too.

All 3 kids spent alot of time on the slide. 

Matt skied on the boom.

Cooper found the barefooting helmets, so of course Thomas had to put one on too. I wish he liked his bike helmet half as much as this one! Now every time he gets in the boat, he goes for the helmets.

Corn on the cob for dinner. Yum!

Random catch-up post

Here's a sampling of what's been going on in August so far...

T tries to off road it with Lightning.

Lately every time it gets very quiet, I know T is reading books. He's very gentle with the pages, except for 3D pullout books. He likes to sit in the rocking chair by himself and turn pages. On this particular morning, he moved the table and the box of books to create a little book nook for himself in the corner next to the rocking chair. 

Our little monkey climbs anything and everything. The motivation here is trying to get to his pacifier, which stays in his crib for nap and bedtime.

We celebrated Ed's 33rd birthday a couple weeks ago with lasagna and strawberry shortcake.

Kathy came to the lake and successfully slalomed for the first time!

Kitchen Dancing

This is Thomas' new favorite thing to do. Pretty funny!

Cousin week

The week after the beach, Ed and I both had business trips, so Thomas stayed in NC at Grandma and Grandpa's house with Aunt MB and his four cousins. Considering these kids only get together twice a year, this extra week (and extra time with grandma and grandpa) was a wonderful treat! Thank you so much to Tom, Alice and Mary Beth for keeping Thomas for the week!

Five cousins

Grandpa set up both babies with yogurt at lunchtime, taking turns with spoonfuls.

Lauren napped on the boat

Towel buddies

Corban and Jakin tubing! When I got back into town, Jakin successfully water skied as well!

At the Beach!

A couple weeks ago, we spent a week at Atlantic Beach in NC with the Ruble family and aunts, uncles and cousins, spread out among three beach houses. It was a gorgeous, sandy, sunny, family-filled week of fun!

Take 2 of an orchestrated family picture. Everyone looking at the camera with eyes open = success!

Micah proposed to Alli at the beach, adding an extra-special memory to the week. 

As long as he was holding someone's hands, T loved standing in the waves.

He really loved swinging between us on evening walks!

Lots of playing in the sand

Boys in the hammock

Chocolate eclair cake...yum!!!

The youngest generation is now eight strong, with the three babies (Emma, Lauren, and Thomas) each a month apart.

A family tradition...the ladies buy beach shirts in a rainbow of colors

MB and Lauren walk the beach

Each night one family cooked for all three houses. On our night, Jack did a low country boil: shrimp, kielbasa, corn and potatoes boiled with spices and dumped out on the tables for utensil-free eating. Check out all that food!

No plates, either...just grab from the tray and eat.

In the evenings, we took the boogie boards out to tide pools and played. Thomas loved being pulled on a boogie board. I think he's ready for tubing!

Corban (above) and Jakin (below) both did some impressive boogie boarding. My attempt (not shown here) was less graceful.

T riding on Annie's back. He loved this; she thought he was heavy!

Vacation also means a break from the rules...so you see Thomas standing on the windowsill behind the couch, pounding on the glass and yelling...just for fun. This does not fly at home!