We spent our last night in Cincinnati at the home of our good friends, the Dreyers. Their kids, Ella and Will, are 8 and 6, but they were great about playing with the boys. Craig brought Carter over as well, and all of the kids played in the sprinkler and with squirt guns while we sat on the driveway and ate pizza in the heat.
Thomas was right in on the action, though he didn't like getting splashed!
So cute!
Jojo has a thing for very soft, plushy stuffed animals. He gets very exited and tries to eat them.
Here, he's attacking a snake.
Sunday morning we went to Great Wolf Lodge for brunch to celebrate Father's Day.
I wrote this post 2 weeks ago and just realized tonight that it hadn't posted. Oops!
Had to break out the double digit blocks this month...
Our happy little guy thinks he's a big boy. Move over, baby toys, he wants to play with the big kid toys, such as pushing cars around the room, cooking in the play kitchen, and anything TJ is playing with. He crawls at warp speed, has occasionally stood on his own for 3-5 seconds, and is more than happy to walk all around with a few fingers for support. He and TJ have started playing nicely together (for about 2 minutes at a time, but we'll take it!).
Jojo has also learned that a well-timed squawk works well to get him what he needs (particularly food), or get his brother (his favorite person, except for Mama) in trouble. Right now his two top front teeth are poking their way through, so we've been dealing with extra fussiness and a red monkey butt while serving as human chew toys. He waves and sometimes will do "so big." Sleeping through the night is still hit or miss, something we hope will improve soon!
Oh, and here he is his with one of TJ's toys, his latest and greatest teething remedy.
Yep, it's a play drill. This video was originally 42 seconds long, if that's any indication of how much he likes this!
We celebrated Aidan's first birthday and Corban's 9th birthday. Aidan looks pretty happy about the presents!
Aidan and Jojo played pretty nicely with Aidan's new toy. It was not quite as nice when the big kids got involved. Or when Aidan eventually bonked Jojo on the head with the hammer, but Jojo faces worse on a daily basis from TJ!
Silly boy! Aidan wasn't walking this weekend, but he was a very solid stander. Here he's standing and eating Thomas' flip flop.
If there was a theme to the weekend besides the wedding itself, it was jumping on the bed. Here are Thomas and Lauren bouncing on Grandma and Grandpa's bed; the night we arrived Thomas, Jakin and Corban had a 30-minute bounce-fest, complete with pillow fight. TJ kept stopping and saying "Guys! Yet's (let's) settle down." The boys would stop, and then TJ would hit them with a pillow again. They were having a ball. I think that's the best part of staying in a hotel--free rein to bounce on the beds!
We also tried out the hotel swimming pool. Here's Lauren on Ed's shoulders.
Does it seem like weddings are the theme of the summer? Because they are. The weekend of June 15, we had our 4th wedding of the season. This one was in Cincinnati--Ed's cousin Suzanne and her fiance (now husband) Caycee. As always, when the Rubles come, they come big, so it was a full house. It's great to have so much family time--we love seeing the cousins play together!
Don't they look happy!
The bride's entire family
TJ sitting with the big boys during the ceremony. Don't they all look thrilled?! About halfway through, he drifted and joined me in the pew in front. Ed was videotaping the ceremony and I was corralling Josiah. Then Thomas started singing "Red Solo Cup."
Not the best song during a wedding...though I think he was anticipating the party after the ceremony!
Annie and Lucinda, handing out programs
The Ruble siblings
Yep. TJ got his hot little hands on our camera again, and Corban posed again. Just like the last family wedding. Perhaps this will be a new tradition?
Our family of four
I LOVE their plaid shorts--so cute!
All the cousins (and second cousins) at the wedding
Jojo wanted to walk. Way better than crawling on concrete!
Father-daughter dance
Kids dancing
Dancing on Daddy's shoulders
Ed did not disappoint; we have a dancing with kids video from this wedding as well. Make sure you watch until the end--the last couple seconds contain the best part!
We've been spending plenty of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather this summer!
Look how nicely they're playing together!
Ed cleared some brush out of the "woods" in our backyard. TJ helped stack cut wood pieces.
Wrestling with the lion
Wrestling with Daddy
These pajamas are size 3 but very small--they barely fit TJ last summer. I had them in Jojo's drawer, and TJ found them and put on non-matching pieces. What else could I do but put the other non-matching pieces on Jojo?
I had grand plans for dinner one night--we were having steak and I found the appetizer pictured in my cooking magazine (Cuisine at Home) and thought it would be a great, light side dish. It's a grilled nectarine, topped with fresh mozzarella and basil, wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled with balsamic syrup. Yum! But...do you have any idea how hard it is to cut a nectarine in half? Ultimately we decided to skip the fancy appearance and just cut the nectarine into chunks. It didn't look as pretty, but it tasted just as good!
We've started using the boat to explore some good skiing lakes here in Michigan. We're lucky to have a number of really good options very close to our house. And that first ski run of the year? Fantastic!
Our summer wedding jet-setting continued as I flew to New York with my friend Diane for another college reunion wedding. Fourteen KDs happily gathered to celebrate Debbie and Seth's wedding on Long Island. A gorgeous weekend and fantastic couple!
The boys spent the Memorial Day weekend at Pearl Lake with my parents and Jenn and Pat while Ed and I were at the wedding. I don't think they missed us at all!
Playing in the sand
Swinging. Love the tongue!
Jojo in the laundry sink/tub.
Compared to (below) TJ in the same tub, at 4 months.
Driving the Model A
Refusal to wear a hat calls for drastic measures! Sunscreen in the hair creates a great mohawk.
TJ and Buppa sailing
Something about a jet ski is so soothing...TJ falls asleep on almost every ride!
Down the slide into the lake
Tubing with Buppa. He wasn't a huge fan.
I spent the week in Milwaukee with the boys before heading to another wedding the following weekend. Everyone had fun at Grammy and Buppa's house!
TJ is giving Jojo rides. Note the hitch on the truck--added by Buppa at TJ's request.
TJ wrestling with his friend Nathan
Practicing the art of dunking with Buppa
Jojo loves Ozzie!
Check out this sweet display of brotherly love. I'm pretty sure it led to a headlock.
