Sunday, June 17, 2012

Playdate with 8! and other fun adventures

Well, first full week off for me, and we managed to pack in a TON of fun :)  I think this summer I am starting to realize just how precious this time is with my little guys.  And they are wonderful ages where they can entertain themselves and I'm not pregnant or nursing, so I feel more myself too!  So this week, we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the wonderful (albeit hot) weather.  I had two princes over for lunch on the deck one day...
 Then I got really brave and decided to finally do finger painting.  My boys are all about art projects, coloring and cutting etc, so they were thrilled about this.  
 I stole a tip from some school friends and added corn syrup to washable paint.  We had "shiny" paint that was really sticky and fun to use!
 I love this picture of Sam, totally sums up his impish/goofball/cheesy qualities!
 Evelyn joined us as well as we're trying to cram in as much fun as possible before her baby brother shows up on Wednesday.  
 How's that taste Evie?
 After a quick bath to clean up, the little kids watch some TV.  This pose was spontaneous and if you know them, it was pretty miraculous.  They're usually fighting over space.
 The next day, Noah finally got to try out the new soccer set he got for his birthday.  Pretty cool!
 Then on Friday we had quite the "summer party" as Noah called it.  At one point we had 8 kiddos age 4 and under here.  It was awesome!  The little/middle kids munched on some snack before traipsing outside to enjoy some summer fun.
 I believe it was Fred who started it, but the sprinkler part of the slipe n slide made for a perfect water fountain.
 Michelle's girlfriend Erin's oldest, Ari, had to give it a go too.  
 Evelyn fulfilled the role of an 80 year old neighbor lady out mowing her lawn.  The hat really brings the look all together, no?!
 Erin's little guy, Hugo, sits literally on the baby that's about to show up.  Hugo was so happy, so cute, during all the madness.
 All yard toys were fair game for this crew.  Calvin toted around the golf bag calling it his "vacuum" and was vacuuming the grass.
 The silly sprinkler was probably the most popular option of the day.
 Then Erin S, my high school friend, came with Connor.  Connor is 15 months old, Sam is 22 months old.  Connor weighs about 5 pounds more, can you tell?
 Connor's "old man, grumpy" face.  Don't even THINK about that hat mom, no way!
 Someone pointed out that if you just glimpsed over there, you might think the boys were doing something other than sprinkling the fence with water... HA!
 Seriously, Hugo is just about the cutest thing!
 We tried a group picture, I'm pretty sure we all expected failure.  All the moms were shouting, "you will take a picture and you will smile!" through gritted teeth.  Hilarious!
 Yep, there's 8 in there!
 In sum from left: Fred (4), Noah (4), Calvin (2), Sam (almost 2), Hugo (6 mos), Ari (in the back on the grass, 2.5), Evie (almost 2), and Connor (15 mos).  Whew!
 Yes, Calvin, now would totally be a good time to do some ball exercises!  Erin, doncha love this!
 Connor express the drama of the situation.
 We had 6 stay for lunch, with watermelon and portillo's on the deck.  Life is good.
 Connor love the watermelon, and his momma.  Too precious :)
 Then it was back in the pool for one last dip before naps and the heat got to feeling over 100 degrees. It was an awesome day!
 On Saturday we tried out "Funflatables" in our local mall.  Basically a giant room with 6 or so different inflatable bounce houses.  Noah was in heaven!
 Sam wasn't sold on the inflatables, but he was super happy driving the little bus and running around.
 We continue to be amazed by Sammy's hair.  It's lighter than either Mike's or my hair, and getting lighter with all this outside time.  And he has this double cowlick I was trying to capture...
 Seriously love my new camera!
 Here you can kind of see it, two cowlicks meeting together on the crown of his head.  They twirl in opposite directions, so they meet in the middle to make a mini-mohawk.  Not sure how will handle this, either we have to keep it really short or grow it out...
 Happy Father's Day Dad!  Enjoy the nap you can sneak in now, because you know these kids will be pouncing on you soon enough!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Summer Kickoff!

Summer is here and we are excited!  We went to Cossitt School for my mom's last day with students!
 Mrs. Hewes reads one last book to her students.  It makes me think of the thousands of books she's read to the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of students she's seen.
 Her last class on her last day, excitement, nerves, relief, sadness, happiness, all balled into one!
 Everyone in for one last hug before the bell rings...
 Here's what a mob scene it is outside on that last day, with many students lining up to say goodbye to Mrs. Hewes and take a photo with her.
 Who are her students for next year?  Well the Rodriguez Brothers, of course!
 Cossitt School is losing a great one, but we are gaining more time with Bamma!  
 These pictures are a bit out of order, but blogger isn't cooperating with me so, oh well!  We had a "summer party" with the Worst brothers.  Ice cream was a prerequisite.
 Thank goodness for weather that allows us to eat outside.  Clean up is MUCH easier.  Fred wins the award for fastest eater/cleanest eater.  Mine, not so much...
 There was the annual LaGrange Pet Parade.  The boys are now old enough to sit through it all and enjoy the scenery (oh and the candy too!).
 Sam picked out a great spot on Bamma's lap.  
 Sam didn't quite make it home conscious...
 Lately, Noah has been aging out of naps.  But occasionally I take one with him in our bed, this is my view and I love it!
 This past weekend we started to feel that good ole summer heat.  So we escaped to PaPa's house (mike's dad) to test out the pool he put in last year.
 Nick and Francesca are so good and patient with the boys.  Nick spent a good 20-30 minutes with Sam in the yard trying to teach him how to gently blow bubbles.  Too cute!
 Which Rodriguez is the whitest?  Looks like it's Mike!
 Sam was toted around by Auntie Faithy and loved every second of it!


 And our little fish Noah showed some impressive moves once strapped into a life jacket.  Loving the multi-shot button on my new camera...

 Hope everyone is off to a great summer as well!