Callie - 21 months

At 21 months, Callie, you are one independent little girl! You are so big, trying to do things all on your own, just like your brothers. You've hit what most refer to as "the terrible twos" already! The word "NO" is definitely not one of your favorites. ha! You are so silly, baby girl, too! 

You've had your first airplane ride this month. You did pretty well (i.e., no major fits), but you were definitely a wiggle worm :) You loved ALL of the rides at the amusement parks you've visited, and you had a lot of fun playing at the beach, too. At first, you weren't real sure about the sand sinking out from under your feet with the tide, but you acclimated yourself quickly. 

You bring a ray of sunshine to each day. Mommy, Daddy, Hudson, & Cade love you so very much!

Playing in Uncle Ru-Ru's pond with Cacki

 Callie loves to stuff things in her shirt (???). Here she's stuffed her teddy bear in her shirt so she can have her snack :), her favorite, "fruit nacks!"

 Yep, here she is again... a real showstopper... shirt stuffed full of trucks, flower towel on her head, empty shell as a microphone... soooo silly!

Cute Kiddos

Cade & Callie on a Sunday morning at church, waiting on Daddy & Hudson to go home... They were too cute! (Wish I would have had my good camera with me :)

A Date with Cade

Had a date with my little Cade-o today :) I'm a lucky girl!

We had our check-ups at the allergist today, which both went really well, and we decided on lunch at "On the Border"... yum!

A new patio!

The excitement for the week... We're getting a new patio! Hooray! We're ALL excited :)

They've busted up our old patio with the jackhammer, and now the mixer trucks are coming to pour new concrete. We're extending the patio, plus having it stained & stamped to look like stone. 

It's a good thing everyone working outside didn't mind an audience :) They had 3 little fans watching through the window every day.

 The finished product... I'm thrilled! I love it!

Now, to get Daddy started on that pergola he's going to build... :)

Father's Day 2011

Our family has been blessed with wonderful, Christian fathers... examples to their children, love for their families, & a sense of responsibility. Thank you, God, for the men in our lives, as we celebrate all of them on this Father's Day!

We went to Bells on Father's Day for an outdoor meal. I didn't take hardly any pictures, but I do have a few cute ones of the little girls playing in the pond :)

 Cacki, Callie, Jesse, Millie, Papa

"Barnyard Buddies" Camp

When we got back from vacation, the boys enjoyed a few days of BHS FFA "Barnyard Buddies" Camp. They had a great time! This was right up Cade's alley... He loves animals! On the last day of camp, the kids put on a sheep show. They had taken care of, & washed, these animals all week. 

Here's Cade "walking" his little lamb out. These lambs were only about 4-6 weeks old and were experiencing the guide ropes for the first time this week, so a lot of them got carried :)

 Sweet Cade, reassuring his little lamb

 Holding its head up for the "judges"

 And leading it around the "arena"

Super job, Cade! You are great at taking care of animals!
Hudson let me know on the front end that he was not as excited about a barnyard animal camp as Cade was, but, since his friend, Coleman, camped, too, he had a great time!
Coleman & Hudson "showing" their sheep

 Yes, the older kids had the older sheep who were walking during the sheep show... sometimes reluctantly going the direction they were being pulled - I mean "led"

 Way to go, Hudson!

 And they even got ribbons for participating in the sheep show, and T-shirts for their week at camp!

Thanks Brighton High School FFA! You did a fantastic job!

"Busch Gardens"

Our last day in Virginia Beach we spent at Busch Gardens. Howie & I have been to Busch Gardens before, but I didn't remember the park being so big! (I guess we weren't hitting the kids areas then :) Anyway, we literally spent the whole day there. The kids did really well, too. They had a fabulous time! Lots of good, fun, family time :)

THE BEACH!

Prymo's home is biking distance to the beach, so we rode down there often to eat and do fun beach "stuff" :) The bike riding in itself was fun. Hudson, Cade, & Callie loved it! Howie & I enjoyed it, too. It made you really feel like a family. Anyway... 

there's always great food at the beach! Yummy, fresh seafood!

At Virginia Beach, there's a carnival area with rides & games, and a playground area, too. All kids love that kind of stuff :) 

Howie, Hudson, Cade, & I also went parasailing! It was Cade's first time & my first time. (Howie & Hudson are "old pros". ha!) The boat/parasailing crew were great. I got to go up with both the boys, then Howie got to go up with both the boys. They thought it was pretty awesome. Callie even rode on the boat & watched everybody :) Mommy was the only one with boat issues... yes, I got sea sick... yuck! I did ok, it wasn't terrible, but I was certainly glad when we were back at the dock. Mommy will be a beach-side parasail watcher from here on :)

We rode the "Rudee Rocket" and saw lots of dolphins playing in the water. That was really cool. We got soaking wet, too! I mean, looked like we got in the shower with our clothes on wet. Ha! We didn't really count on that, but it was fun, nonetheless :)

And, of course, we took a full day just to hang out at the beach & have fun! Lots of pictures! Had to do a slideshow to show them all (well most)...

Aquarium at Virginia Beach

We did a lot of the "touristy" things on our vacation at Virginia Beach, too, like visiting the local aquarium. Look at what we saw!

Hudson, Mason, Cade, & Miles gazing at the swimming sea lions.

 A beautiful coral reef

 Callie would look, point, & say, "Look!" or "I see!" or "What's that?!"

 Mason, Hudson, & Cade on one of Cade's favorite animals - a dolphin.

 BIG sea turtles

 Hudson, Mason, Miles, Cade

 Mason, Hudson, Cade, Miles

 And a sleeping sea lion :)

Virginia Beach Vacation!

We took a wonderful vacation to Virginia Beach, VA, this year! It was a week of great food & fun, shared with our friends, the Przymuzala family. Thanks for having us, and sharing your home with us, Jason, Amy, Mason, & Miles! 

(We took lots of pictures while we were there, so I may break this up over several posts :)

The Przymuzala's have a beautiful home with a fantastic pool, kitchen, & lounge area out back. We really enjoyed hanging out there...

Hudson, Cade, Mason

Cherri, Callie, Miles

Miles, Callie, Jason