Introducing Mary to Rabbit Park

We took Mary and her brood to Rabbit Park. The kids had a ball flinging water at each other and rolling down the hill. You gotta love being young! Yes, I know the above picture isn't that great. The sun was in our eyes and the boys were fighting over an empty water bottle (yes, you read that correctly. The bottle was empty.) But at least, we were all together. What more could you ask for?



Mary and Sam, Holly and Noah. Here I am trying hard to hold onto Noah before he bolts away so Dan can take a picture of us! As you can tell from the pictures, I am MUCH taller than Mary, but all of my neighbors that week kept thinking she was me!



Isaac and Carter were so competitive sometimes that it was funny. So, you think you're going to hug your mom's leg? Well, I will too, then! And I'll hug it harder!

Mary's visit continued!

The boys loved playing in our little pool in the backyard. But as you can tell from the many, many pictures I've posted, they wouldn't always pose for the camera very well. Prime example, Isaac above who is not thrilled with the paparazzi camped outside his pool. But enjoy the pics anyway!


Carter just chilling like he owns the place!


Oh, I love this picture. You're so focused on smiling Isaac, that you almost miss a tumbling Noah in the back!


Carter and his action shot.






When the boys would get tired of playing, they'd try to balance on the side of the pool. It was really hilarious to watch them fall off every few seconds. They'd just try again!


The boy decided to play a game where they'd line up at the shed, and yell "Ready, set, go! (and by the way, yes, I do like to put the sunblock on thick. That's why if you look closely, Noah looks like he has a tub of Crisco on his face!)



Then they'd take off like a shot, running as fast as they could to the pool (Mary pointed out that Carter was usually first because he would cheat -- he would start running before he yelled "Go!" Hmm, it's like he knows how I used to cheat playing Scrabble with his Dad.)


After running so fast to get to the pool, they jumped surprisingly slowly into the water. They played this game over and over and over again. They had so much fun! Mama just cooled her feet off in the water and chatted with Aunt Mary!



We played in the pool the next day, too. They sure loved running and jumping in that pool. Here's another action shot of the boys running and jumping into the pool with wild abandon. They were having the time of their lives. The picture above cracks me up!

Big Machines

We went to our Children's Museum here in town. They had a "Big Machines" exhibit and boy did Carter and Noah love it. They had the most fun climbing up on these machines and in some cases, helping the operators move the machines. Noah was very somber and serious about the whole thing and Carter was more excited. Enjoy the pictures!







Carter, Noah, and their friend decide to play in the fountain after playing with the big machines. They took their construction hats and decided to soak their Mommas with the water. We didn't mind, though, because it was so hot!





Carter is thrilled that his water hit the mark, namely Mom and her friend Anna.



Noah gets ready to fling water at his Momma.

After a long day, Noah stares at the river in contemplation.

Rabbit Park - Take Two

The boys love the water park so we go as often as we can. This last time, both boys decided the stone face was thirsty. Neither boy saw the other give the stone face a drink so it was really funny to me that they both did it.



Carter decided it would be fun to fill up his water pail and water the park's shrubbery. He would fill up his pail, carry it up the hill, water the bushes, and do it all over again.



Carter loves the water. How fun for him to be able to throw water everywhere, like he tries to do at bath time!


Noah flinging his water at some unsuspecting soul. He had so much fun filling up that cup of water and throwing it at people.




It was hilarious to watch how happy Noah was after he dowsed someone with water.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! We celebrated by taking the kids to a parade and then watching the fireworks. We had a great spot to view them and it was gorgeous watching the fireworks explode over the river. The boys loved it! They got to eat junk food and stay up late. What's not to love? I didn't get pictures of the fireworks, but I did take some from the parade, so enjoy!



Carter hanging out with the "big" kids at the parade. He felt pretty proud of himself.



Noah kept trying to run off, so we had to keep a firm grip on him until he got some candy. And then, he was quite content to sit and hang out. It took him a good 15 minutes to eat that sucker and it took me a good 15 minutes to find a garbage can to throw the stick away!



What's a parade without being on Daddy's shoulders?



Daddy and Carter goofing off between parade floats. Carter figured out pretty soon, though, that you couldn't run after candy if you're on Daddy's shoulders. I've got to say, though, that Carter was very non-aggressive. He didn't scramble after the candy. He just stood there and watched as kids fought over candy. Then he'd cry that he didn't get any candy and a "big" kid would give him some. It worked like a charm for him, every time.

"I am your brother, best friend forever." That's right, you American Idol fans, it's Renaldo, complete with his white costume. Apparently, this is the best known "celebrity" our city can afford. I'm not complaining, though. Dan and I were laughing so hard once we realized who it was, I almost missed my photo op. But I chased down the float, and whoo-hoo, here's Renaldo! Enjoy! (If you didn't see the American Idol episodes with Renaldo, you really must you tube them.)

Air Force show and Fireworks

We went to the Air Force air show last week. We met some friends there and the boys had a ball. The first time a plane went overhead, though, Noah started crying and covering his ears. After his initial fear, though, he loved it and would say "Again!" after they flew by. Their favorite was probably the Stealth bomber, but who doesn't love that? Carter insisted on using the mini binoculars his friend had each time a plane went by. He'd go around yelling for his "eyes" when he heard a plane in the distance. I'm not even sure he saw the planes when they went by because I don't think he had those binoculars ever pointed in the right direction!

When the fireworks went off for the first time, Carter had been playing with some friends a few feet away from me. He took off crying and running blindly through the crowd yelling for me. I had to run after him and scoop him up. Like Noah, though, once he was secure, Carter loved them and both boys would ooh and aah along with the crowd. So cute!

Dan and I ate way too much fair food but that's part of the fun, I guess. Noah was so excited to have Starbursts for the first time, that he kept trying to eat it with the wrapper still on. The Charlie Daniels band played and all the kids danced around to the fiddle in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," wearing, of course, their glow sticks. (I must admit I danced around with them! It calls to the Kentucky girl in me, I guess!) It's definitely summer time!

Rabbit Park

Well, we call it the Rabbit Park because there is a huge statue of a rabbit on top of a hill, but actually it's a water park. Water jets out of holes in the ground and there are cool waterfalls. The boys love it. The water bursts out of the holes unexpectedly at times and it's always hilarious to watch the boys' reactions when they lean over a hole just to get splashed in the face a few seconds later with a burst of water. I can never get that moment on camera, though. The last time we went, a girl kept dousing me with water. I got soaked!

Enjoy the pictures! We tried to take a family one, but as you can see, it's really hard to get a good family picture!