Oma and Opa's

We spend quite a bit of time hanging out at Oma and Opa's (my mom and dad) while in Indiana. I loved that a day never went by when one of the boys' cousins didn't stop by. (I don't think Opa enjoyed the extra volume that went with the extra people, but he survived!) It was so great to see the boys interacting with their cousins.

Andrew loved Oma's endtables. It was hilarious to watch him try to reach objects in the middle of the table. He would walk all around the table trying to figure out why he couldn't get to the middle from any side.

James loved to run around in his walker on the hardwood floors. Bennett was often chasing him with the shopping cart in the lower left part of the picture. By the end of the week they were playing bumper cars.
When James wasn't in his walker, Andrew was often pushing it around. He even stood on the blue part and rode it like a scooter once.

James and Lightning

Everyone learned to defend their toes when James was in his walker!

James opening his birthday present from AJ and family.

Mia wants one too, AJ!

James loved laying on the blanket and looking at the pictures.

Mia loving on James...James is trying to push her out of the way because she's blocking the TV.

Breakfast time after a cousin sleepover at Oma's.

Watching "Cars" while the grown-ups set up for a game night (pics later of that).

Some of the cousins...Bennett did NOT want to be in the picture :)

Andrew only wanted his picture taken once!

Mia was fine once Andrew was removed :)

Miami's Fort

While in Indiana, the weather was gorgeous. I think it only got over 90 once while we were there. There was a summer storm or two but nothing that interrupted our trips to local parks. On one of those nice days mom and I took the boys and Bennett (nephew) to a park in Peru. They all had a good time.

I tried to get a good shot of James "being 2." What I got was typical of James...distracted, howling, and trying to get away. Not surprisiningly, I did not get a smile.

Bennett walking on the tractor tires. In typical 4 year old fashion he says, "These are tractor tires and do not belong in a playground."

James loves all slides!

He especially loves tunnel slides and was not pleased to find out that this was just a tunnel and not a tunnel slide.

Bennett and James seem to have a lot of similar interests (outdoors, wheels, etc.). It will be interesting to see how those interests develop.

"Again, Mommy!"

Andrew is starting to show some interest in playgrounds.

We were trying to get the boys to pose on this cute train at the park, but they were not cooperative.

I think this is the best shot and you can't even tell they're sitting on a train.

The biggest smile of the day!

Bennett approved too after he took his first trip down with James and I.

James' and Lucy's Birthday 'Party'

James' and Lucy's birthdays are only five days apart (she's a year older) so we had a small family birthday dinner for them.

James learned how to pull open doors while we were there. He thought their pantry was a great place to play!

Andrew used to always make this face when you fed him new things.
A yummy cake! Lucy was happy to help James blow out his candles :)

Present time!

No day is complete for James without some time in his walker. Andrew loves to tag along.

Me and Sam. He's only 4 months younger than Andrew. I think we're going to have to keep an eye on them.

Suson Park and the St Louis Zoo

On James' actual birthday (August 11th) Grandma Sharon and I took the boys to Suson Park, a park in south county with a big playground and farm animals. James thought the horse and donkey were neat, but was annoyed with me for getting in his way to take a picture.
The barn wasn't open when we got there, but we were able to see the animals in the yard. The boys liked walking around the ponds too. We even saw a man reeling in a catfish he caught.

Just a photo of James on his birthday :)

The next day we went to the zoo. We had quite the entourage with me and the boys, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jane, and Jennie with Lucy and Sam. We all had enjoyed a nice morning at the zoo, even though it was busy since it was the first day that wasn't super hot in quite awhile.

Lucy (our niece) petting the guinea pig.

Sam (our nephew) enjoying his giraffe.

Andrew was giving the llama the evil eye because it had just licked him on the mouth :)

James wanted to pet the chicken. Of all the animals there he could pet, he chose the one that could peck him. Silly boy!

James liked playing with the puzzles on rollers.

Lucy wasn't sure about the goats.

But she thought the gorillas were pretty neat...maybe it was because they were behind a glass wall!

Midwest Vacation

The boys and I left Louisiana on August 10th. We stayed in St Louis visiting family there until the 14th. Then we spent some time with family in Indiana. Dave joined us on the 21st. The boys definitely missed their daddy and were very excited to see him when he came up. We spent a day in West Lafayette with friends from the small group we were in when we lived there. We also spent two nights in Peoria, IL visiting with friends from various parts of Illinois (Dave's college town made a nice reunion point). We finished our trip with another night in St Louis and finally arrived back in Louisiana on the 29th. It was a long, fun trip. We loved seeing everyone and will miss family until we get to see them again. I am so thankful for modern technology that makes it easier to stay in touch regularly! I have a ton of pictures. I will post pics in subject posts over the next couple of days.

James' 2nd Bday Party

We had James' 2nd birthday party this weekend. He'll be two on Thursday, but we wanted to throw him a party before we head up north for a few weeks. We had a nice get together at our apartment clubhouse and pool. Several friends from church and Dave's work were able to come and celebrate with us. Dave's parents were in town visiting too, so they were able to join in the fun. Enjoy the photos!

James loves just floating around in the baby ring.

Everyone just visiting around the pool.

Yummy cupcakes!

Trying to sneak in a taste.

He wasn't sure he wanted the cupcake once he actually had one in front of him.

James wasn't sure he liked the icing sticking to his hand,

but he really liked the cupcake.

Andrew was very interested in helping his big brother open presents.

James loves "Cars" right now and this "Cars" book was a hit!

Waylon and James watching "Cars" in his new chair.