Sweet sweet summer

Summer 2016, you've been good to us.  I keep coming back to this thought over and over again.  Its been great!  As an adult I have always dreaded the blistering summer in Tucson, but as a kid it was magic.  Swimming, reading, sleeping in, monsoons, and swimming some more.  This was the first summer in a long time that I actually kind of felt like a kid again, well minus the sleeping in part :).

I think mostly in part to being able to watch Griffin learn to swim, dive and ride his bike and watch Graham enjoy the pool.  The boys are growing in leaps and bounds and this was the first summer that we were able to enjoy doing so many activities together as a family of big little ones.

I wasn't expecting the break to be good, mostly because I was stressed at how we were going to cover Griffin's summer vacation.  Griff's school closes for 5 weeks each summer, and when I found out about this before we enrolled, my stomach immediately dropped.  How on earth were we going to swing that?  But, I knew that his preschool was the place he needed to be so I knew I had to figure something out and make it work.  Luckily I was able to switch weeks with a coworker and my mom was available for two weeks to cover the rest of the time.  The result was five whole weeks off to spend with the kids this summer and it was awesome.  I was able to get some great one on one time with Griffin and Graham, its something that both kiddos need and it always seems to boost our relationships.

Helping Dad put together his new pedal bike

We did a small birthday celebration for Griff on his actual birthday

Graham has been all about Dr. Seuss books lately.  Its so much fun to see him enjoy the same books as Griff did but in his own way..he likes different things in the books then his brother does.

Reading with Graham...his favorite book at the moment!

The kids with a neighbor friend

Griff took it upon himself to read to Graham one morning...his is pretty awesome!

 I can't believe how fast this dude is growing...so of course I had to put him in a onesie.  He's too cute.

I put Graham in the last onsie I have that actually fits him...so cute!

Love this boy!

Play Doh master!

We celebrated Ama's birthday too...now Graham thinks every day should involve cake and singing.  I can't say I disagree with him!

Ama!

Watching Griffin on his new bike has been awesome! Thanks to that little balance bike he's been riding for the last two years he was able to ride his bike no problem!  I think Sean and I were kinda in awe of how easy it was for him to transition.  So much fun!  Recently we rode from our house to his preschool, he totally rocked it!  It looks like on the days that Sean will commute, so will Griff!

We took Griff to the UofA to test out his new bike!

He totally rocked it on the first try!  

Graham had fun too

Our sweaty, red faced rider

 Griffin is turning into quiet the helper.  He loves to help me cook dinner, I love it too.

Helping me with some homemade bread

 Raise your hand if you think you know where Graham got his coffee obsession?

Graham loves the smell of coffee...im not sure why...:)

 And of course...every kid needs a good mud puddle every now and than!

I made a huge mud puddle in the backyard for Griff and told him to have fun... he did.

Grrr!!

goof

We also took a short trip to San Diego to visit the Cloutier's and hit the beach a couple times.  It was the first really long car ride for both kids, the way there was pure torture, the way back was a breeze. I guess practice makes perfect :)  All in all it made me realize that what I thought was going to be super stressful turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

San Diego!  Grahams first time at the beach!

He loved the ocean!

Griffin did some sweet boogie boarding!

Soooo tired after the beach!

Cheering on Sarah at one of her basketball games!

Go Sarah!

Birch Aquarium

Touching a sea cucumber!

For the last three or four months Graham has been doing this kiss through his crib rail thing at nap and night time.  Once I put him in his crib he will go to every side of the crib I can reach and put his face through the slats for me to kiss.  Its adorable and I love it!  I tried to get some pictures because usually his face is all squishy and cute but the low light made it impossible.  It's pretty sweet!

Graham's bedtime kiss-through-the crib ritual.

Griff's evolution in his drawings has been so fun to watch.  Check out "these Humans" he drew.  Such a silly kid.

"Check out these humans I drew"-Griffin

As the summer winds down and we head back to school I can't help but be thankful for all the time that we spent together as a family, the birthdays we celebrated and the new things we learned.