4th of July

Independence Day was full of fun. A few weeks ago, I changed out the frames in my hallway. I love the picture of Liam last year, he was so little! These printables all came from Pinterest. Unfortunately, I didn't pin them, just printed them when I found them. 

I am ashamed to admit that I had to take out our Christmas card to put up July 4th decor!

Dan's family is in town. It is non-stop fun. Liam loves playing with his "ta-tins." That's cousins for those of you who don't speak Toddler. On the 4th, we went to the river, rode in the boat and played in the sand.

At night, there wasn't enough room for all of us to fit in the boat and watch the fireworks on the river. I didn't mind, since Liam needed to get to bed earlier than that. Dan and Liam watched the neighborhood fireworks in the backyard. Liam is still saying "boom! pop!" this morning. I took my camera and tripod to the overpass near my house to watch a big fireworks display and get pictures. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but it was totally worth it.

A huge full moon rose around the same time the fireworks were going off. It was on the wrong side for me, but I did manage to get this:

Happy birthday, America!

Vacation

Liam and I were invited to go with my mom and sister on a last minute trip to visit my aunt and uncle in Naples. It was a really nice trip. We had a great time.

My mom and aunt spent hours floating around the pool and talking about everyone they know. Liam loved to be in the pool, too. 

We took an evening trip to Sanibel Island. It was the perfect time of day to go since the day time temperatures are brutal these days. 

Liam and Aunt Morgan aka "Ammo"

Morgan and Liam built sandcastles. 

Liam learned how to say "shells" as we walked the beach and found seashells. Morgan found these two little critters. When she put them close together, they tried to fight. 

Unfortunately one of the shells had a clam in it and it stunk up my car on the way home. Yuck! 

Sunset was so pretty. 

Emma's Visit

We love Emma, almost as much as we love her parents! We were so glad when our friends came down for the weekend. On Saturday, we took the kids out to the river. Since we had a few extra people with us, we got to take turns riding the SeaDoo. We had a blast and I think the kids did too. I didn't get any pictures at the beach, but I got a few the next morning before our friends had to leave.

Liam was definitely not interested in having his picture taken at first.

He warmed up to the idea and I got a few okay pictures of the two kiddos.

When I tried to take a picture of Emma, Liam suddenly became very interested in getting in front of the camera. 

Thanks for visiting. We hope that you guys can come visit us again, soon!

I speak Toddler

Liam has gotten quite chatty over the past month or two. He really impresses me with his vocabulary and the way he puts words together. I made a list of the words that he uses skillfully, about 60 in total. He also does another dozen sounds or so. I have tried to do a little baby sign language with him, but the few signs he uses, he didn't start using until he said the words that go with them.

Lately he has been understanding possessions: dada brush (dad's toothbrush), mama shoes, baby juice. He refers to himself as Baby. If I ask him where Liam is, he points to himself and says "baby." Any other kid under 4 or so is also a baby according to him.

Yesterday, we played outside after a rain storm and he kept repeating "water voom, water voom." This is toddler for "the car is wet."

He also speaks a lot of jibberish that I don't understand yet.

Another funny story with a video to go along, Dan and I were shopping for ceiling fans. Dan called one of the fans sleek and I said "sleek???" Liam thought that was hilarious so he tried to say it too, but it came out "geek." We repeated it for a few days but it's still "sss-geek."

When Momma's Away

The boys will play! I spent last Saturday visiting my family for my little sister's graduation. When I got home, this behemoth was in my living room. Liam loved it.
 

Liam's secret entrance in the cave. 

Forts are a good place to play with cars.

Balls, too.

And wrestling with stuffed animals.

And wrestling with Daddy.

Until the wrestles turn into hugs.

Dan and Liam had so much fun in the fort that they invited the cousins over to play in the fort, too.

I'll admit that Dan and I laid in the fort and watched tv after the Little Dude went to bed.

After a few days, the fort was in disrepair. This was especially true after Liam started jumping from the couch to the inside of the fort.

What Dan didn't consider was that now Liam tries to jump off of the couch without pillows and blankets to land on. Not fun for the Momma who has to catch him!

At the Zoo with Friends

My friend Kaitlyn and her sons joined me and Liam at the zoo this week. It was ridiculously hot, but a lot of fun.

While looking for story time, Landon was invited to feed the stingray. I love their funny mouths.

We were lucky and the giraffes were out the first time we went to see them.

Liam ran his car off of the platform and into the giraffe pen. Voom!

Is Tristan the cutest or what?

Feeding the birds is always one of my favorite activities at the zoo.

Liam is so funny. He get this from Dan. They both stick their tongues out when they concentrate.

I love to sit in the kids area and cool off. Liam usually comes home with a head full of sand.