Summer Regional

Each year Edward Jones does a "summer regional". All of the Advisor's in a region and their family's go to a fun destination and we have fun activities and awards dinners and Reed goes to some meeting while the rest of us play. For the most part it's a really fun weekend. This is our 4th summer regional. The first year we went down to Atlantic Beach, then to Winter Green (A ski resort up in the 'mountains'), last year was up in Baltimore, and this year we went to a Hyatt resort on the Eastern shore.

They had four different pools, a little beach, a game room and a park that kept us very busy all weekend. We especially loved the pools and spent most of our time in the water. Ella loves being in the water, it relaxes her. One night we had dinner by the pool and went for a little swim after and she fell asleep (first picture) right there in her floaty, chin propped up on her arm, so cute!

We also went out on a big river paddle boat and had crabs  for dinner and enjoyed the scenery.

Here is Harley with his crab cracking hammer. This was a highly anticipated dinner, by both boys. What kid wouldn't want to smack his dinner with a hammer before eating it, right?

They brought us the crabs wholly intact. These were Maryland Blue crabs which are kind of small and take a certain amount of instruction and time to break into properly. The boys lost interest after about the first crab, so luckily they had hot dogs for the kids. We had fun though, definitely an experience.

One of the other advisors brought two big Jet Skis that he was letting people take out. He had been pulling some of the kids out on tubes, but we all decided our were a little too young for that.

This was just as good in Kason's eyes though. He got to "drive" the Jet Ski. Asked later what his favorite part of the trip was he very enthusiastically yelled, "Driving the boat!" Harley was asleep, so he didn't even know what he was missing. Maybe next year buddy.

Reed also got to take it out on his own. He said he got in up to 52mph, which with the rough waters of the Chesapeake Bay, is really moving. Kason really loved the game room where they had Fooze Ball, Air Hokey, table shuffle board, etc. They showed a movie every night on a big screen at the indoor pool. It didn't start until 830 (way past bedtime) so we only caught a glimpse each night, but it was way cool. We even saw a wedding in the court yard right off our balcony, the colors were red and  teal or turquoise, it was really pretty. Another awesome summer regional. Thank Edward Jones (and thanks Reed!!)

Haircuts

So, we finally decided to do some summer hair cuts. Here is a before picture of both of them. They had been getting so blond because of all the sun they've been getting this summer, but also a little too long to be comfortable with all of the heat and humidity. Haircuts are something that Kason really does well at. He can sit still for a very long time and even gets excited about the clippers and the scissors. For Harley, on the other hand, this is a source of a great deal of stress. The clippers make him nervous and the scissors scare him to death. So, we have to beg and bribe and take lots of breaks in order to finish the job on him. Throughout the course of the afternoon he got a sucker, a candy bar, soda pop, etc. When Reed got home we were almost done and, since Harley is a little more comfortable with him, we decided that Reed would be the one to finish the job. Of course at this point Harley had just about had it with hair cuts and no amount of pleading or bribery would convince him that he wanted to sit through it again. So, Reed was trying to wrestle him down and get the job done and amidst the struggle Reed dropped the clippers. As he was picking them up when I entered the bathroom and decided I would cut if Reed would hold him down. I grabbed the clippers and began my assault. To my horror I found that the clippers, previously set at 3/4 inch (we have the kind with the comb that slides up and down depending on the length you want), because Harley has really cute beach blond curls I like to keep it a little long even in the summer, had slipped down to 1/8 inch! 

 So he now had a big chunk of bald head! We had no choice but to shave his whole head. I shed a couple of tears for those beautiful curls, but luckily hair grows. It won't be long before we do the whole thing again. But next time we will check the clippers each time before diving in. 

 

So, Here is the after. He looks like a prison inmate. But a really cute prison inmate! And he will be nice and cool out in the summer heat!

Kason's Haircut turned out really good!

We didn't give Ella a haircut. It will probably be a long the before she get her first one. And hopeful never any mishaps with the clippers!

More summer fun!

We finally got our act together and planted our vegetable garden. We are doing the "Square foot garden" method this  year. In the past our downfall has been weeds and animals. So, this method uses a raised bed and has us add our own soil to cut down on weeds. Then we put a chicken wire fence all around and some netting over the top to protect from the animals. Now we just cross our fingers and hope that things work. 

Ella likes being outside. Just like at the beach though, we have to help her overcome her desire to eat everything in site. And she is starting to get a little feisty lately, so taking grass out of her first or mouth isn't as easy as it used to be. I guess we've been getting sugar and everything nice for the past nine months, now she is working on showing us her spice.

We did the garden while Harley took a nap. We love him, but his listening skills leave something to be desires, so some projects that take a long time and require that he follow directions are best done while he naps. Kason was very excited about the garden. He very carefully helped me dig holes and plant each plant. Hopefully we will get some fresh veggies here is a few months.

We also went to the outdoor pool at the Y for the first time last week.

It is really fun! There are three different areas. One for big kids with a deep pool and two water slides. Then an area with no pool, just lots of things that spray and dump water (shown behind Harley in the above picture). And a kiddie pool with a little turtle slide (being enjoyed be Kason in the above picture) and a big "mushroom" (as the boys call it) that sprays out water. 

Needless to say we will be spending many hot days here this summer!

The day we went was a little cold. While Kason is basically impervious to any discomfort as long as he is having fun, Harley likes being comfortable in whatever he is doing. So, Kason was blue and shivering, but still running around and playing. Harley curled up on the chair with all of the blankets and was very happy to watch until he warmed up. I liked it because he actually wanted to cuddle with me!

They all had fun watching the buckets fill up with water and then dump out. It's exciting every time!

Ella has fun watching her brothers, but is very close to crawling and sometimes gets pretty mad when she tries to go after them and ends up flat on her tummy. She gives it an honest effort though, every time she has a chance, so she will be moving around with the best of them before we know it.

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Memorial Weekend

Reed Left on Thursday for UT where his brother got married (Congratulations Ben and Amanda, Reed said everything was beautiful and FUN!) so, the kids and I enjoyed the first part of the holiday weekend on our own. Luckily the weather was beautiful, so we get to do lots of fun things!

We started out at the zoo on Friday. Here the boys are watching the Siamang monkeys swing across on their ropes.

Here is Ella watching the birds. To be honest she is mostly watching her brothers. To her they are much more interesting than any animal in a cage.

Harley and the Tapier. A lot of times these guys are running  back and forth in their little area, but it was hot on Friday, so they were just resting in the shade.

Black bears

This one is of the Tigers. You can kind of sees one of them up at the top of the grass in the middle of the picture, but the other one is covered up by the glare. The boys wore their swimsuits so they could play in the fountains after we looked at the animal, but apparently even though the zoo closes at 5, they turn the fountains off at 4, so by the time we made it back around to the fountains they were off. Sorry boys!

We did follow a peacock around for a while. There are a bunch of them that just wonder around the zoo. Then in the goat pin there was a girl peacock, so this one jumped in and started showing off for her. 

Kason loved it. It was really pretty and big. But the whole thing terrified Harley. First it jumped up on the fence and at that point we were very close to it, so the sudden quick movement made Harley a little nervous and then it started squawking and all of the sudden opened its feathers. Harley started screaming and wouldn't' let go of me. Then Kason jumped on the fence to get a closer look and Harley was really worried for Kason. He kept yelling, "No brother, det down!" Poor Harley and his anxiety.

Saturday morning we had Tball. This is Kason and his little friend AJ.  I think the two of them do more messing around than playing TBall, but they are having fun, so that's what counts.

Ella and Harley enjoyed cheering on their brother

Kason thinks it's funny to get a "foul ball" which is when it just kind of falls off the tee instead of getting a real solid hit, so he will count, "1-2-3" then wind up and hit the ball really soft so it just barely falls off the tee. Then he looks at me and smiles like he is so hilarious. And he is! Go Nemos!

Then we headed out to the beach with some friends. The first thing we had to do was build a sand snowman. Kason saw this on Monkey George (I think) and was dying to give it a try.

We played in the sun, sand, and waves all day

with lots to do and lots of friends to play with, the kids lasted all afternoon! It was awesome! 

We even avoided any major sunburns. Well the kids did anyway, I got my back pretty good.

Kason and Gauge. Gauge is a year older than Kason, but they get along great. Kason LOVES Gauge.

Harley was more cautious about the big waves than Kason, so he spent most of his time playing in the sand.

He had somewhat of a hard time because he wanted to play with Kason, but is too little and mostly ended up getting yelled at for messing something up. Once again, poor Harley.

The waves were reportedly extra big due to a tropical storm moving up through Georgia (which we are enjoying thunderstorms from today). At first it made me really nervous to watch Kason get knocked down and under the water every time there was a wave, but he held his own and was really enjoying himself, so I eventually relaxed a little.

The boys thought it was fun to let the wave come in while they sat down and then try to stand up really fast before it crashed over their heads. Most of the time they got buried by the wave, but they still loved it.

Gotta love beach pictures! Great lighting, great scenery.

With Ella, we had to once again overcome the desire to eat the sand, but she eventually decided it was more fun to pick it up and drop it. And kick her feet in it. She did really well being at the beach all day, once again she is such a happy girl!

Reed joined us again late Sunday night/Early Monday morning. Memorial day we went to the annual Pig Pickin' at Sleepy Hole Park. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, but this was a highly anticipated event at our house. Kason especially was very interested in what a Pig Pickin' would be like. He even said at one point that he was really excited to, "see the big pig all dead!" So, Reed took him over to the pig first thing. It's a whole pig, so you can see its head and feet and everything. I'm not so sure it was quite as cool in person. Harley called it, "That gross thing." But man was it delicious!

After the Pig Pickin' we invited some friends over to Reed's Parent's house to go swimming. We had a great time enjoying the sun and good company. This is the only picture I got monday. Ella is hanging out in the kiddy pool. She really likes the water!

Today is rainy and dark and kind of boring with only laundry to do and Reed back at work all day. That's why one of my favorite quotes is, "God gave us memories that we might have roses in December" and might I add, "...Sunshine on cloudy days."

Happy Birthday to Me!

On May 19th I had another birthday! I have found that I sometimes have to do the math (you know, 2012-1984=?) to figure out my age. I always thought it was so weird when people would have to do that and now here I am, at only 28...um yeah...28 and I'm already doing it! Oh well, the joys of getting old :).

I had a great birthday celebration! We had a pool party and grilled and a chocolate cake!

Ella had fun hanging out in the pool. She really liked the floaty, I think she's going to be a little fish like Kason. And we found a cool little tree frog in the pool. The boys kept busy chasing it all over the yard.

We enjoyed dinner outside and then went inside for cake and presents. The boys really enjoyed helping out with the candles. Of course fire is fascinating to little (and big for that matter) boys in all it's forms. 

Chocolate cake is pretty interesting too

On Saturday I went and say the Avengers while Reed and the kids did some work on our yard. I really liked the movie and the break, even if I had to go all by myself, it was nice and calm and quiet, I hardly know the meaning of those words anymore. Thank you everyone for a wonderful Birthday!