Ah - Summer Time!

It's finally summer and we're trying to enjoy every minute of it . . . it always goes by so fast. It was, of course, a nice long weekend. We enjoyed celebrating Independence Day (multiple times) and getting away to the mountains.

First we spent a little time with our neighbors at our traditional 4th of July block party (this year held on the 3rd). We had a yummy breakfast and then the zip line was put up. This is my first summer being big enough to ride the zip line. I loved it!

Then we headed up to Uncle Noley's cabin to spend a few days. We like to call it "quality time in the mountains". We drove part-way down the mountain to watch the fireworks across the Park City valley. Thank goodness for sunroofs!Sam spent some quality time . . . stirring!

And cooking . . . . two of his most favorite things.And we both did a lot of dishes . . . mommy says she hopes that we ALWAYS are so excited about helping to clean and do chores!We did some hiking. This doe wanted to play hide-and-seek with us. She sure was a cute little thing! She had a fawn nearby and wasn't too happy with us getting so close.It was an absolutely beautiful weekend . . . . a little nip in the air which made it completely perfect! Check out the clear blue skies.I picked some wildflowers for mommy. Aren't they pretty?Then we drove in to Park City on Sunday night to watch the fireworks up close and personal. They were great!We fed the hummingbirds. We checked out the remnants of the robin's nest from the rafters of the porch.

And we had a super great time playing with our marshmallow shooters - we were getting almost as good as daddy blowing marshmallows across the yard. Here I am shooting marshmallows at the moose crossing sign.And at the raccoon crossing sign. If you look closely in both pictures you can see the tiny marshmallow flying through the sky.
Prior to this last weekend, mommy was away for 9 days in China - you know that huge country clear around on the other side of the earth. She loved it and had a great time. She has promised to take me there when I'm old enough to stand the 13 hour plane ride to get there. I can't wait! Here she is climbing the Great Wall of China.
While mommy was gone, Aunt Ludaun, Uncle Randy, Bart, Aunt Cindy, and Uncle Sandy had a birthday party for me. It was a wet one! We had a big water fight and played in the swimming pool - I loved it! My friend Easton came over and played too.

They're the best neighbors ever! Thanks everyone!Sam Alert: Hey there, Hi there, Ho there! I'm having a bunch of new tests run to see why I'm such a little guy and we should get the first round of results back this week. Gotta get all the serious stuff out of the way first. I'm sure it will be just fine! Enjoy a few pictures of me from this week.

Here I am with my marshmallow shooter - this is the greatest toy!

And here I am hanging around the house snackin'. Have a great week everybody!

It's Always a Party!

There's always something fun going on around our house. Believe it or not, one of those things is school. We are loving it! By the way, this last Friday's letter of the day was "F" - in case you were curious.

Another fun occasion this weekend was, of course, Father's Day. We have the very best daddy of all - - I know many of you think that your daddy is great, but ours is absolutely the best . . . you have no idea how cool he is! We LOVE you daddy! Then I (Mason) got to have my birthday party this weekend. It was fabulous! I woke up from my nap to these - birthday balloons, including a huge Thomas balloon. Very exciting!

I'm very spoiled and I know it. Mommy and daddy gave me some great presents . . . . a train mat - for those times when I don't want to put my tracks together.

Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle Michael gave me a new train station for my set. Love it! Thank you!

I also got a Buzz Lightyear - this has been a surprising hit with me. I've been flying him all over the house and Buzz even sat with me while we watched Toy Story 2 this afternoon (Buzz loved the movie!)

Dad and Mom also gave me another new train station for my set. Sam gave me the train I've been wanting most for the past little while - Percy and the Sweet Cars. I know I usually don't admit it, but Sam is a pretty good little brother.

Then our next door neighbor's grandkids happened to be at their house Saturday afternoon, and they wanted to come over and play with us. After some fun in our backyard, Bob took us all on a golf cart/trailer ride around the neighborhood. We went to the park and played, and then to a huge steep hill for some rolling/sliding-down-the-hill fun. Can you believe the three boys in front (starting on the front left) next to me are triplets? They're about 6 months younger than me - not everybody has triplets to play with. This made for a really great birthday celebration! We couldn't have planned it better. Boys my own age to play with - I was in heaven!

Then it was birthday cake time. We took the cake over to the neighbor's and shared with all my friends.

Daddy said my cake wasn't going to be about Thomas this year. It was a surprise and it turned out to be a fish tank. Why, you ask?

Because my last present from daddy and mommy was my very own fish tank. I got to pick out two goldfish. I haven't named them yet - you know you have to live with pets for a while before you know what their names should be. I'll let you know. Here we are letting them free in their new home.

And finally, here we are playing horsey with mom. Love you too mommy!

Sam Alert: Hey there, Hi there, Ho there! Sam here. Here are some pictures of me being goofy from this week for your viewing pleasure.

Here I am in the bathroom sink. This is my usual position while mommy gets ready in the mornings. It's surprisingly comfy - one day I'll grow out of it though - maybe!

And this is how daddy found me one day - sitting in my rocking chair, reading. Gotta love - "Goodnight Gorilla"! It's a classic and one of our favorites.

And these last two pictures are of me eating - which really isn't something I do enough of. We went out for ice cream cones one night - yum! Daddy got his dipped in chocolate - the best!And this is me after helping mommy make Mason's birthday cake. Nope - I didn't get in to the cake batter. What would make you think that? Have a great week everyone!

School Days and Wrestling

We know you're asking . . . what do these two things have in common? We'll we can enlighten you!

First of all - since it is now officially summer, the parents have decided that Sam and I must enroll in preschool. Of course since our parents are both teachers, they think they know best . . . and so we are "home-preschooling" this summer. Actually we are quite enjoying it and already learning a lot. Daddy and mommy take turns teaching us. In fact, I said to mommy the other day . . . "Mommy let's pretend you are a teacher - no a really good teacher". She tried to tell me something about a whole bunch of plaques hanging up in the office downstairs that has something to do with her and daddy both actually being a really good teachers, but I didn't buy it! We're pretending that they are both good teachers. Here I am practicing holding my writing utensil the correct way.

On Fridays our lessons revolve around a letter of the day - of course our first letter was "M". Our last lesson of each day is some sort of art project. We made letters out of mini marshmallows. Sam wanted to do an "S" and buck the letter of the day. But these proud works of art are now hanging in our bedrooms! A boy and his blocks!We decided that Sam hasn't spent as much time wrestling with daddy as I have through the years. We've been trying to catch him up and he's loving it! He really is laughing like crazy in this picture.

Of course I have to get in on the action too!And the wrestling continues . . . . Enjoy your week everybody!Sam Alert: Howdy y'all - two quick pictures of me and a couple of my favorite things.

Balls . . . . I just can't get enough of playing with balls. A little boy's delight!
And music . . . I really do love music - playing it, singing it, and dancing it. Here I am playing the piano and dancing at the same time. You try it!

Play is the Work of Childhood

We've had a busy but fun-filled week. Buckle up and we'll take you through our week in pictures.

First - a very important event that should not be overlooked . . . the naughty gnomes have come back to our yard for the summer. We we're very excited to find them hiding in our garden. They've been taking turns riding mommy's garden turtle this week and we found them guarding the tomato plants this morning. It's great to have our friends back!

We got to spend Memorial Day at Uncle Noley's cabin. It was a beautiful day. Aunt Jill, and cousins Rian and Hayden were in town so we had some extra friends to play with/entertain us.
We ate lots of yummy food!

And enjoyed spending time with family. A big red robin has nested up in the rafters of the porch. Daddy helped us see inside the nest - a brand new baby robin and a pretty blue egg. We went for a hike and of course found some water that just had to have handfuls of rocks tossed in to it.
We played and helped with the dishes and ate more food. It was a great day!Here I am squishing the stuffing out of Uncle Noley. I'm not sure what hurt worse - me squishing him or his kidney stones. He's a trooper!

Summer has definitely arrived and with it comes lots of outdoor playtime. "Play is the work of childhood" after all! This week we concentrated on our ball-catching skills . . . . .

And there's nothing better than our bucket full of balls!A little sand and a little water . . . . And we had a great afternoon chasing bubbles. Grandpa and Grandma G. sent us a super great bubble maker for Easter and it was finally warm enough to pull it out - it is definitely the best bubble maker ever!Sam was begging to take the bubble maker outside tonight even when it was raining. We do love our bubbles!And you can definitely tell that it is getting warm outside when our swimming pool makes an appearance. We could hardly wait for the sun to warm the water up! This afternoon we got to go to our friend Madison's graduation party. She's off to college in the fall. It was so much fun getting to see everyone. Why is it that we live within a 30 minute drive of all of these people and we get to see them once or twice a year? There was a great playground at the park and we took advantage of that as well.
We didn't take too many pictures but here's picture of the family and also one of the boys with Uncle Jeff. Sam Alert: Howdy everyone - Sam here. Want to know my new favorite food - - - vanilla yogurt. I just can't get enough. Too bad that it's not pack with calories and major vitamins and nutrients - calcium yes, but at least I'll eat it (by the gallon!).

Here are some great pictures of me from this week. I'm all about playing and being outside! Have a great week everybody!