Gigi and Gpop's house

Last week we went on our first trip as a family of five.  With our new sweet swaggerwagon with built in DVD system, it really wasn't a bad trip.  Poor Wes still hates the car seat though and was completely hoarse by the end of the trip. 

We went to Nashville, TN to celebrate Ken's youngest brother Joel and his fiance get married!  Both Skylar and Grey were in the wedding, along with Ken, so I didn't get any pictures of the rehearsal, dinner, wedding or reception. :*( Boo. But the kids were adorable, Maddie was gorgeous, and Joel was handsome.  It was a beautiful wedding. 

On the way up there and back, we stayed a night at Gigi and Gpop's house to break up the drive. The kids loved staying there and had a great time on the two tire swings out back. Grey wanted "more higher" and Skylar wanted "no more pushing".

 Kristen and Bill were our lifesavers of the trip.  They, along with some friends of the family, helped Ken and I keep our sanity with the kids on the trip.  They entertained both Skylar and Grey, who absolutely adore them, and Kristen was the one responsible for getting both kids to walk down the aisle during the ceremony.  Not an easy feat. 

 Both Gigi and Gpop worked extra hard to feed us well while we were at their house, and made sure we had snacks for the journey.  They even packed snacks to keep in their hotel room for anyone who wanted to stop by when they got hungry!

 We learned that Wes is totally not a fan of loud, crowded places.  

But, he was happy boy the rest of the time.  Oh yea, except the 90% of the time we were in the car. :(

His favorite new trick: blowing bubbles. 

 Seriously, look at those arm rolls. 

 If you look closely, you can see Grey's pouty face.  

 And of course Ken had to try out the tire swing.  "To  make sure it's safe" and all. 

 Grey loves to talk about all of his boo-boos now, even days later, and his first words upon getting a bump is usually, "booboo bear!"

 Technology was our friend on this trip, from the DVD player in the car to portable devices that played Netflix and other downloadable apps. Enter: Mama's phone. 

 And there's Gigi!  She took a rare break and sat down to rock baby Wes. He's too heavy to hold standing up! Chunky! 

Swimming!

Skylar dove right in this year, insisting that she is too big for any type of flotation device. 

 Grey was his usual, "eyes are bigger than reality" self and kept saying, "go play in pool" until he actually got there.  Then it was, "me too!" as in, hold me too.

And Wes was really unsure… but looking at this picture, can ya blame him? :)

He actually liked it a lot once he was secure against somebody in deeper waters. 

A new trick

Wes has a new trick. Well, actually two.  Blowing bubbles and sticking his tongue out!

 He loves if you do it with him.

 And he has a lot to say. Very important stuff.

 He cracks himself up.

Let's play catch-up!

All of these pictures are from several weeks ago that I just got around to putting on the computer.

Ever since it got warm outside, Skylar and Grey have been wanting to go outside to ride their bikes.  Since Grey can't reach the ground on his yet, he is still on the trike with the push bar for parents, but Skylar has been cruisin' around on her scooter bike.  I love this bike- it has a low center of gravity and no pedals, so she pushes herself off the ground.  She can get super fast on this thing and has never once fallen!  We have several neighbors with younger kids and they all gather in the cul-de-sac in the evenings to ride all of their various bikes, scooters, cars, etc.

 During all of Skylar's soccer games, Grey imagined himself playing his own little soccer games off on the sidelines.  I didn't really notice until I went through all of the pictures, but I'm seeing a trend here:

 Evidently he needs to stick his tongue out of the side of his mouth to play soccer??

 We met up with Nikki and her kiddos at the new park at Hagen-Stone and I loved it.  It was about 90 that day, so super hot, but the kids had a blast and the playground has all kids of fun stuff!

 Wes was a little angry about the heat, but enjoyed a few snuggles from Nik.

 Skylar and Izzy ran around and played the entire time together. 

 We also went to a few birthday parties, one of which was Ava's.  Her friend from school.  Her other friend Aaron was also there, so Skylar was in hog-heaven. 

 I love watching their expressions when they see their friends opening presents.  Skylar loves to pick out presents for her friends now and gets so excited when she watches them open gifts. 

 Her school year is over now and she keepts telling me that we need to invite Aaron and Ava and all of her other school friends over to her house to play.  I keep telling her we can definitely do that… as soon as she helps me clean first.  

 And here is Wes… from a few weeks ago. He's very intense… 

 And, Skylar has to be in all of the pictures I take of him. :)

 I think he's finally getting used to having someone in his face at all times.  Skylar and Grey both are aggressive showers of their love. 

 And, we had to take some pictures of Sammy as well.  

 And… if anyone is interested in a dog… Sammy is available.  Seriously.  She needs lots of love and a fenced in yard.