Alex's July Adventures!

We’re about to head out for vacation, so there will be plenty of new pictures when we get back…in the meantime, you’ll have to make do with all of July’s pictures!

We've had a great month. We went to the splash pad, which I enjoyed much more than last year! I still wasn't overwhelmed by the spray, but had fun once I warmed up to it! I treated some of the fountains like my own personal water fountain!



I was laughing and pointing at some of the other kids playing, but the picture makes me look like a little grownup!



This one is Mommy’s favorite picture from the day – I look like I should be in Riverdance: The Next Generation!



I kept trying to get the water to stop spraying, but it didn't work too well!



To continue the trend of water, we went to the pool by my friend Anakin's house. I had so much fun playing with Gabe and Ethan there! Ethan was put in time out, but Gabe and I went over to join him and commandeered a couple of lounge chairs of our own.



Then Gabe and I convinced a nice lady to spread our towel out for us. Then we convinced her to spread out HER towel for us too! We are going to have all the ladies wrapped around our little fingers when we grow up!



Then we got her to give us her sunglasses too! She tried to convince our mommies that we could keep them, but they politely told her we had enough toys already and didn't need any more, no matter how nice they were! Gabe and I took turns wearing them and felt so pretty!





Then I found a chip bag clip and thought that it would be lots of fun to clip it on on my lip.



It wasn't quite as much fun as I thought it would be! Yet, for some odd reason, I still did it about 18 times...



One of my favorite parts of going to playdates is all the fun stuff people have at their houses. Like exercise bikes. I'm so fit!



Anakin and I spent some quality time sitting around, eating rolled up PB&J sammiches, and practicing to be me. We thought we were pretty cool!



I have all of a sudden decided I love the water! Of course, having a just the right depth pool at the water park helped a lot! Mommy was cracking up when I started jamming to "Wild Thing"! I was totally going to town!



There were a few smaller fountains there. I liked sitting on them!



There was a slight incident, so we picked up an extra couple of travelers for the trip home! Luckily, we'd driving in a van with some friends, so there was room for all of us. For the record, it is possible to fit three bulky car seats into the back row of a mini van. Add in three adults and another car seat, and that makes for a whopping 7 people. I really liked riding back there with my friends!



There are always lots of babies in our group. And I get so excited when there are new babies! We went to the hospital to visit the newest addition, Taylor Grace. I like holding the little bitty babies - with lots of adult supervision, of course! I especially like their little feet and hands.



Mommy and Daddy finally got to go on a real date for the first time in ages! They went to see Harry Potter. I was so disappointed because I went with her to buy tickets earlier in the day, but we didn't stop in to get popcorn - or "crocorn" as I call it! So they made sure to get a big bucket so there would be plenty left over for me to have later :) I spent two days eating at it before finally just spilling it all over and making a big mess!



I like to think of myself as a bit of a domestic diva (divo?) And I like to come up with new and unique ways to make housekeeping fun! Like wearing nothing but a strainer as a hat while I do dishes. It's quite the look, isn't it?



As I mentioned, I finally like the water! I went in the pool with just a floatie, which made Mommy very proud of me! I still had to hold on tight to her hand though.



But I floated along very nicely and had a grand old time!



Virtually all the kids in our group have the same train table I do. But I still love playing with everyone else's! They each serve a different purpose...for example, Trent and Anakin's serves as a race car. We each got a drawer and drove the heck out of 'em! I had to check to make sure Trent wasn't cheating or anything. I'm pretty sure I won the race.



One of the best parts of going to the lake is that there are always lots of new toys! Someone always has something that we can all play with, and most of the time, other parents and kids don't mind sharing. Marley and I found these sweet boats and spent some quality time sitting on them.



A little while later, we were both sitting on the rocks (Marley had already gotten in trouble for playing on the rocks once) so when she saw Mommy sneak up behind her, she poked me a few times and got me to move really fast! So we stood at the edge of the rocks and pretended like we hadn't been doing anything wrong. Our mommies totally bought it.



Other fun toys are always rafts! I had fun playing on the surfboard. I tried standing up a few times as well, but didn't quite get the hang of that...



One day, Daddy got home from work at a decent time, so we decided to get out of the house! We went to Build a Bear, where Daddy helped me bring Ice Cream Bear to life! I picked him out, then helped stuff him...



Picked out a heart and warmed it up....



Then put the heart inside his chest! The full adventure can be found here :)



I'm the kind of kid who likes to have all my important stuff close by. Sometimes, all my important stuff means everything off my train table but the tracks. Yes, there are more trains and accessories stuffed behind me.



Since I have this new found love for water, Mommy and Daddy decided it would be wise to find me some floaties! I have yet to venture far enough in to see if they work or not, but I like to wear my "muscles" around the lake nonetheless!



Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen lately is the addition of my brand new big boy bed! We found an awesome deal on Craigslist and decided to go for it. This way, I have plenty of time to get used to the idea that my old bed isn't my bed anymore, since Peanut will be sleeping there when she or he is born. Mommy and Daddy had barely gotten it together before I monkeyed up to the top bunk! I can usually get down by myself too, but to be on the safe side, they make me sleep on the bottom bunk. I feel so grown up sleeping there!





I still LOVE reading. But my tastes have matured and I like grown up books now. Mommy reads her cheesy vampire novels, and I read them too. I flip the pages and point out paragraphs. Then I switch to another book and do the same. I can go through two or three books a night! I'm such a bookworm.



So there are my advenures for July (and a few from August too!) You can see more pictures from the month here, and of course, stay tuned for loads of awesome pictures when we get back from Germany and visiting with Papa, Gigi, and Aunt Chelsea!

xoxo,

Alex

As usual, I have been a VERY busy boy! The weather is getting HOT, so that just means we stay that much busier!

I'm growing up so fast and doing so many big boy things now! I like to clip my own fingernails. Mommy or Daddy still have to go after me to clean them up, but I can get them partially clipped myself! It's very serious work that takes much concentration :)



My artistic skills are constantly improving as well! I painted some great little ceramic choos for Father's Day. I carefully held each paint cut and dipped my paintbrush in it, then painted my choos to look so pretty!



Anakin had his second birthday party at the park. The party favor was bubbles! We all had a lot of fun blowing bubbles.



But of course, nothing says fun like cake! Anakin, Lindley, and I all went to town on his cake. Everyone else ate cupcakes, but Lindley and I helped him eat his. We made quite a mess of ourselves!



After cake, we got to hit the pinata! I took my turn and started out holding the bat upside down, but luckily Daddy showed me the right way to hold it. I just love pinatas!



I managed to knock one piece of candy out of the pinata and scrounged around to find it! I managed to find the single pieces that would get knocked out from time to time :)



Then the pinata burst and there was a waterfall of candy! Of course, I managed to get caught under it, but I didn't mind!



We went straight from the party to North Augusta to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I was a very sleepy little mouse!



As always, I enjoyed hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa!



And had to visit Uncle Craig's room for a turn on the drums!





Then at dinner, I arranged all my strawberries so nicely. I was so proud of myself!



My friends Emma and Jackson welcomed a new baby sister, Alivia, on June 16th. We went to go visit her once she was home from the hospital. Alivia arrived 5 weeks early, but both she and her mommy, Cyndi, are doing well! Alivia isn't pudgy like most babies - she has the most amazingly long little fingers and toes...they look like miniature grown up hands as opposed to baby hands!



Luckily, Alivia is a very good baby so far, which makes her mommy VERY happy!



Since it's been so warm, we've been spending a lot of time in the water! The lake has been awful crowded now that school is out, so we've been hanging out at Lindley's house instead. I'm not so fond of the pool, but will go in if Mommy's holding me.



However, I really just prefer to hang out with my friends outside the pool! Gabe and I had a lot of fun watering each other with this elephant watering can.



Then I spent some time acting like a pool monster :) I'm very scary!



I love hanging out with Daddy and being silly. We had a lovely pillow fight a few nights ago! Daddy would hit me with the pillow and I'd collapse on the bed, then I'd grab a pillow and hit him back and he'd fall down! He didn't fall every time, but in my defense, the pillows are heavy and I'm just a small boy!







There are few things I like as much as nice, fresh berries! The blueberry patches opened the last weekend in June, so we took advantage of that by picking some! I was all ready to go but everyone else was taking their sweet time.



I stopped to pick at the very first bush I saw that had berries on it!



I'd pick about 8-10 berries, store them in my bucket, then eat them, then start over! It was a good system, but didn't leave any over to take home! Luckily, Mommy got almost 4 pounds - enough for two pies and to make topping for some angel food cake, and for me to have some to snack on!



After a while, Lindley and I both got bored, so we found a branch that had been cut off. I chased her with it for a while until we realized that it had berries on it, so we immediately sat down to eat them.



It worked out nicely. We were able to pick and eat without the effort of finding berries!



When we were all done and heading back to the car, I stopped to play in the water fountain. Mommy had to pick me up and drag me to the car to get me out of the water!



We went swimming in Lindley's pool when we were done - after all, what better way to cool off than with a dip in the pool? We had to stop off at Wal Mart on our way home (it's the closest store to her house, and Mommy knew I'd fall asleep in the car if we went much further, and we wouldn't be able to get the stuff we needed for dinner in that case!) I was so tired by that point that I just laid down in the cart, using Stinky Dog as a pillow. But as soon as we got in line, I perked up! My favorite part is checking out. I help to unload the cart and make sure all the like objects are together. I even managed to match up the one coupon we had with the right item to make it easier for the cashier!



We had a 2nd of July barbecue for a playdate (since playdates are on Thursdays and we still wanted to celebrate as a group we had to do it then!) We went to my friend Ethan's house and grilled hot dogs. He has a really cool little microphone and keyboard set that we all had fun playing with! I think that each and every kid there had their mouth on the microphone at some point in the day...the mommies were all pretty disgusted!



For the 4th of July, we went over to a friend's house to grill and set off fireworks. We started the afternoon with some fun times on the slip 'n' slide! It was my first time on one, so I didn't quite get the hang of it. I went down the wrong way a few times, and mostly just ran/scooted along. Daddy helped me have a few good runs though!



But mostly I played in the water and got a few good drinks!



After some quality time on the slip 'n' slide, Marley, Lindley, and I climbed up on the glider and had fun swinging!



I've developed quite the little attitude. I like to stand with one hand on my hip, showing off my sass!



Mommy baked a delicious red, white, and blueberry pie with the berries that we'd picked. It was quite a hit!



We set off sparklers early in the evening. Daddy told me they were hot so I wanted nothing to do with them!



We set off lots of fireworks! It was my first time seeing fireworks. I jumped at the big ones, but enjoyed them for the most part!



Daddy and I laid on the blanket and watched the fireworks go off :)



And of course, we had to take a family photo!



I hope all of you had a wonderful and happy holiday as well!

Until next time,
xoxox,
Alex