Weekend at Pearl Lake

After Jenn's shower, the boys and I went up the cottage with Mom, Dad and Jenn. Since neither Ed or Pat were there, I think Dad was even happier to have the little guys along. He's no longer used to being outnumbered! 

 Dad added a railing to the loft so that it would be safer for the boys.

Jojo was just up there to try it out. He's all about climbing ladders, but there's really no reason for him to be up there yet. TJ, on the other hand, slept in the loft with Buppa both nights we were there. They had a ball!

 I "caught" TJ just like he "caught" Ed back in June.

 This boy loves to fish! Someday we'll give him a hook...

Josiah is still not a fan of this floaty fish. But he sure looks cute!

I love this pic!

 Guy time with Buppa while dinner is grilling

 Me and Jojo

Aunt Jenn-Jenn made pudding pops. I think Thomas is a fan. :)

The ladies and Jojo went to the flea market in Princeton Saturday morning, something that at least I haven't done in years. It was fun to wander through! Jenn and I both got $20 queen sheet sets, and Thomas scored this alligator hat, courtesy of Jenn.

 We celebrated Jojo's birthday. He was all about the whipped cream!

My new favorite picture of Jojo! What a ham!

Lake Weekend with the Cooks

We've missed spending weekends with the Cooks at Mattoon this summer, so one weekend in August we recreated the fun at Round Lake in Michigan. We rented a house on the lake, brought the boat, and spend two days boating, relaxing, and eating well. 

 This lake had a great sandbar--perfect for anchoring the boat and doing some small kid swimming. Here's Dustin, Kelly and Abbey (and Baby C) enjoying the shallow water. Isn't Kelly's suit cute?!

 The sandbar was shallow enough that Jojo could touch in a few spots.

 The four of us

We also celebrated Ed's 35th birthday with his favorite, homemade apple pie.

TJ got a lift back to the house after an afternoon of boating.

A Boy and his Blankie

Josiah is our snuggly child, no question. But in the past two months, he's begun a love affair with his blankie, a soft blue blanket Aunt Alli and Uncle Micah gave him when he was born. If it's sitting on the ground, he'll walk over and flop down on it and just lay there. At naptime and bedtime, as long as that's in the crib with him, he's a happy boy. He loves to rub his face on it and just snuggle into it. He has also started carrying the blankie in his teeth and then tripping himself as he walks on it. You'll see a little of all of that in the video.

Dancing at the Social

One weekend when Ed was out of town for Tucker's bachelor party, I heard about an ice cream social being held at the local fire station. I was all about anything that would get us out of the house, so I jumped on it. I took the boys on a "date" to Qdoba for dinner, and then we killed a little time at PetSmart (great place to spend 30 minutes or so with kids). We got our ice cream at the social, and they had a "fishing pond" where kids could spend a quarter to cast a fishing pole over a blue painted board and "catch" a prize. But the highlight was the live band. Both boys got their groove on!

Beach Videos

This first video isn't as funny as it was in person, but (both at the beach and since then), every time we try to video TJ singing, he clams up. So this is the best we have.

We listen to a lot of pop country in the car. TJ has picked up the lyrics of a few of his favorites. There's "5-1-5-0" and "Red Solo Cup," specifically.
The smaller kids were playing on the couch cushions in the beach house one morning and Thomas started singing 5-1-5-0. (For anyone who hasn't heard it, the words are something like: "5-1-5-0, Someone call the po-po. I'm goin' crazy, thinkin' 'bout you baby.") Then Annie picked up on it and is also singing it. I'm sure her parents were thrilled that TJ got this stuck in her head shortly before their 12+ hour drive home.
Then TJ started singing "Red Solo Cup" until Annie jumped in with another round of "5-1-5-0." I'm sure you can see how the morning went from there...




This next video is much shorter, I promise. It's me skim boarding. For the record, I did have one or two decent rides, but this it the only one worth watching.

Josiah's 1st Birthday

Guess who turned 1?!?!

We had fun giving Jojo his first cupcake. 

He was very serious about it--no big grins--but definitely dug into it. 

 Yum...frosting!

Frosting fingers

 I had an image in my mind of how to decorate the cupcakes--I wanted to do cute little orange goldfish on a blue frosted cupcake. My execution did not match my vision. At all. Sigh...

TJ really enjoyed his cupcake. And he wanted a candle in his cupcake too. 

 Here's our big 1-year-old with his teddy! 

 With the age blocks

Silly face.

Josiah is a pretty steady walker now. He has to be, trying to keep with (or get out of the way of) Thomas! He's eating primarily people food, and as of his doctor's appointment the other day, is now on soy milk rather than soy formula. We have an appointment with an allergist next week to find out if he is truly allergic to dairy. He's got a grin that lights up a room, a silly, scrunched up nose camera face, and a determined personality. He has 5 teeth, with a 6th on the way, weighs 21 lbs and is 30 in. tall. We love our sweet boy!

At the beach

Every other summer, we do a big Ruble family vacation at the beach with Alice's siblings and their families. This year's group numbered 35, staying in 3 beach houses on Atlantic Beach, NC. It's a relaxing, family-filled week that we all love.

Aidan and Jojo hanging out in the shade of our beach cabana. Jojo took his morning nap each day on the beach in this tent.

 The view from our rental house. Gorgeous!

This is my second favorite photo of the boys from the trip. What's my favorite, you ask?

This one.

A couple evenings after dinner we walked down to the beach to play in the tide pools. They're perfect for skim boarding, little kid boogie boarding, and general kid fun. Plus, the sun is setting, so no need to lather everyone up in sunscreen!

 TJ tries to keep up with the big boys. They are great about playing with him and letting him in on the fun.

 Giving Jojo a ride.

 Loving the gentle tide pool!

Giving Lauren a ride.

 TJ and Lauren were buds on this trip, which was so nice to see. In the past, TJ sort of beat up on Lauren and was more interested in the bigger kids. They loved standing in the ankle-deep ocean together and digging in the sand.

Digging in the sand was hands-down TJ's favorite activity. In fact, all the kids loved it. Some castles were built, but mostly they just dug holes and moats.

The kids buried Ed, and then TJ wanted in on the fun too.

TJ wasn't always real sure about the waves; he'd cling to me like I was hanging out over a steep cliff if I carried him waist-deep into the water, but most of his screams were screams of joy as we jumped waves. Jojo, on the other hand, didn't ever want to leave the water.

He started walking more on his own during the beach week, but the sand was a tough surface to conquer. He was perfectly content holding onto a finger and walking on the beach, but he constantly led his finger support into the waves!

 We also celebrated Alice's birthday at the beach. Not a bad way to spend a birthday!

 Aidan and Jojo usually sat next to each other for meals. This resulted in a lot of food and cup sharing.

The kids enjoyed hanging in a kiddie pool on the deck when they needed a break from the ocean.

 All the kids at the beach. Happily, the adults still outnumber the kids. 

Mary Beth feeding Aidan and TJ goldfish crackers. They look like little baby birds. But when your hands are sandy, getting fed is a good alternative!

 Jojo gets a lift. We have a similar photo of TJ from 2 years ago.

 Alli and Micah swing Aidan.

Friday afternoon, Alice, MB and I took all the kids (except the babies) putt putt golfing. The 3 bigger kids and Grandma played together, and MB and I kept score for ourselves while TJ and Lauren usually did a first hit and then either hit or dropped the ball into the hole. TJ had a blast!

 Our family of four

The immediate family--all 15 of us!