Big Andy's Wedding Weekend

We spent this past weekend in Annapolis visiting Brian's brother Andy.

There was a nice bbq at Andy's house Friday evening. This is the time that all the families were gathered together to kick off the celebration of Andy and Amy's wedding. We also had them open their wedding presents at this time because we were going to need them for all the celebrating we would be doing over the weekend.

On Saturday evening, we had a very nice dinner at Harry Browne's in downtown Annapolis. For those of you who were around for Brian and My Wedding this is the fabulous place that catered our reception. It was still just as delicious as we remembered it. We had a little bit of delay because the boys had completely zonked out after a day of golfing with the gentlemen.

After we finally made it over to the dinner, fortunately we just missed the cocktail hour, the boys were given stuffed animals from Great Grandmon Blanche. Brandon carried a frog and Logan carried a penguin around with them the entire rest of the weekend. They were very cute and kept the boys entertained during the 'adult moments'.

Here is Amy with the boys.

By the end of the evening, both of the boys were done being good, I must admit they faired very well during the dinner. After wrapping themselves in Nana's and Katy 89's sweaters we have managed to capture the perfect angelic face and the perfect Daredevil face (some even think he might look like he belongs to the Slytherin House).

Fruit Basket from Great Papa

A big Thank you to Great Papa, for sending this beautiful Fruit Basket. It arrived a little earlier than dinner and of course the boys immediately dove into enjoy all the strawberries and grapes.

Along with the basket of fruit for the adults, the boys received Teddy Bears from Great Papa and Ardie and I think they will be going with them all over the place for the next few days.

Of course the boys thought the best part of this fruit basket was the chocolate covered strawberries. I must admit, i started eating strawberries only so I could enjoy chocolate covered ones. I did not get an upclose photo of Logan, but he had chocolate all over his face. Big Andy walked into the kitchen with his white uniform on and we made the boys stand on the other side of the kitchen so they would not get anywhere near him with chocolate all over themselves.

Thank you again, Great Papa. Once again this basket will be enjoyed by all those present in Annapolis.

Quick Sewing Sunday

Last year I made a sweatshirt for Logan with Mater on it. He loves it and wears it quite often. Surprisingly, it took Brandon a very long time to decide that he was missing out on something. In planning our trip to Ohio, the boys were thinking about what they needed for the plane ride and sweatshirt was at the top of the list. And here was the question I had been waiting for: Mom, when are you going to make me one?

Trying to be the best mom I can be, I decided it was a good time to do it today.

Here is a picture of Logan's sweatshirt:

And here is Brandon's sweatshirt:

4th of July Fun Run

After a very late night watching fireworks on Friday, I had to get everyone up early for my race, the Kingston Fourth of July Fun Run (5K). I felt horrible all morning, I was not even sure why I was there. Although I did have to come up with an answer for that one, when Brian asked why we were there when I didn't want to run? Well, I had already paid for it, and just because I feel like crap does not mean I should exercise. If that was the case, I probably would never workout.

Believe it or not, I ended up placing third in my division and I had one of my best times of the season thus far. I was a little disappointed because they only gave out ribbons to the first place in each division. Although, I still know where I stand. haha. There must be something special about the 4th of July, because this was the same weekend last year that I placed in the triathlon. I always knew this was my favorite holiday.

There was a huge hill at the end of the first mile and I thought I would never make it up. I usually force myself to keep running, but I have realized that I can stretch my stride if I walk fast. It was a relief to finally get up it. At about 2.5 miles, I felt that my sock had fallen below my shoe and I was getting a blister. (A very good reason, why I will ONLY wear running sock from now on). But I pushed through it and found myself looking up the last stretch of the course and it was another hill. I could see the Brian and the boys waiting near the finish line and kept my motivation in focus. I pushed myself to the end and could barely get my stupid number off before throwing up. Andy, you would be proud, third race in a row, need to figure out something to do about that. At least, I didn't almost run the guy down, like I did last time. Oops!

After I was finished, I felt good as usual. I am not sure it is because I actually exercised or just because I can eat anything I want throughout the rest of the day. Either way, it feels like a good accomplishment.

3rd of July

Brian was able to find a good deal on some fireworks of our own. Which the boys could not contain their excitement.

We allowed them to do a few before we headed to the Professional fireworks:

Fireworks were held on Friday, the 3rd, in Poulsbo. We picked up a friend of the boys, Jake, and then headed to a field across from the Walmart parking lot. Since it gets light so early in the morning, it of course stays light late into the night. The fireworks were supposed to start around 10:20 pm. So because the boys were getting tired, even after a nap, they were all a little silly.

The fireworks were not as close as we thought they might be, so there was little to hold their interests. That's ok, they found other things to be entertaining. Like, right before the fireworks were about to begin, the grounds around Walmart had their sprinkler system turned on. Now very funny, from our point of view, since we were across the street. Not so funny, for those who got wet. The boys found it absolutely hilarious. We had the glowing bracelets and I think they were trying to put them on my car while they were sitting on the roof.

Hanging at a friend's house

Seems we have been a little lucky lately with our weather, because we seem to have had a few days this week that have been warm enough for the kids to play in the water. A friend of ours has an awesome water slide in their backyard and I could barely get the kids off of it long enough to eat some lunch.

Although they did come running for some popsicles. Now there is a surprise...

Sprinkler/Trampoline Fun

We have been very fortunate to have some sunny days this past week. Since they are so few and far between, we need to take advantage of them while we can. We water the grass and the boys water themselves. Instead of the traditional running through the sprinkler, the boys need to strategically discuss how to make the most of the water. Brandon feels it is necessary to stick his little tushy in the water:

Since it is just plain boring to run through the sprinkler, they need to make it more entertaining by incorporating the trampoline into the fun.

And yes, of course, Brandon had to watch very closely to make sure the water was going in the right direction.