Reasons to celebrate

Now that it's finally official, we can share the happy news that Calvin and Noah are getting a new Aunt in a few months! Uncle Kevy proposed to Nicole in Florida while we were there, and we are so excited for them.

We just love Nicole, especially Calvin and Noah. I knew she was going to fit right in when we asked for a picture of her and this is the first one we saw...

Seeing this, Calvin had two observations:
1) "she's watching monster trucks"
2) "her eyes are red!"
(both very good things in Calvin's mind)

Unfortunately for Calvin, Nicole doesn't really have red eyes. She is from England though and has a really cool accent. It didn't take long for our outspoken little boy to respond: "You talk weird." At one point I walked into the room as Nicole was humoring the boys, playing their favorite game of "shoot the monsters." The elk hanging on the wall was to be the new invader and Nicole told Calvin to "shoot him in the antlers." Calvin stopped and stared and said, "what are ant-laahhs?"

Other memorable moments included Calvin requesting her to say "water" over and over again as he tried to mimic her pronunciation. Calvin loved all the swimming, playing, and bike riding they did together. We're all very excited to have her join the family.

Another cause for celebration was Calvin's 4th birthday. Grammy told Calvin she would make him whatever kind of cupcake he wanted and he chose sharks- I think they turned out really well. Way to go Grammy! (He also had a cool ninja turtle cake in Missouri from Aunt Julia, so he was loving this birthday thing.)

more random shots from the trip:




checking out the science center's hurricane machine

and orange grove harvesting...

with all this talk of marriage, after Calvin found out that mommy was already taken, he proposed to our good friend Marcea:

Calvin: Are you married?
Marcea: No, I'm not.
Calvin: Ok then, I choose you.
Marcea: Ok.

Day at the beach

On our latest jaunt to Florida, we managed to spend a few sunny hours, in between rain storms, at the beach. It was lovely.

Of course, Noah managed to fall asleep right before we arrived. RB and Grandpa's boogie board idea would've been perfect if it wasn't high tide. Luckily, someone spotted the gently floating Noah before he could go very far. He soon woke up and was very confused at this strange, wet place.

It only took him a few minutes to get used to it.

Calvin, on the other hand, wasted no time and got straight to work. I smiled to see Grandpa towing him around on the boogie board. When I was little, that was always my favorite thing to do at the beach.

(Grammy doctored up this cool little photo of the boys)

Along with Grandpa and Grammy were Uncle Kevy, Aunt Nellie, and the boys' newest best friend, Blake. (Uncle Trevor decided to ditch the family and go to some lame lacrosse camp.)

The only setbacks we encountered were a large shark spotted too close to shore and, worse than that, sandy diapers.


(Since RB is always the one taking pictures, he rarely gets in any. So here is my one token shot of him- never mind that it's out of focus and off centered.)

A New Cousin!!

Meet Calvin and Noah's new cousin...

Since both of the boys are as yet deprived of having any real cousins, Oma pointed out that Elmer, the new baby horse, could be considered one. They both had no problem with this.

As always, the latest trip to West Plains didn't disappoint. There were animals to chase, 4wheelers to ride, weapons to shoot, and water to splash. It is every little boys' dream.

After a few driving lessons from Aunt Mary,I found Noah perched on the littlest 4wheeler. He was pressing the big red start button and making the "vroom, vroom" sounds that he knew he should be hearing. Thank goodness he couldn't quite manage the throttle.

The biggest slide of Calvin's life:


Noah got to have his first ride on The Banana. (He only fell off once and was quickly rescued by Uncle Louie.)

Uncle Sidney inspired the boys to start practicing their baseball skills. Noah just couldn't figure out how to get to the other side of the fence.

wishful thinking...