Vacation

Last weekend we had a wonderful time with both sets of grandparents and Uncle John at Big Cedar Lodge. We boated, swam in at least five pools, floated in the lazy river, played mini-golf, ate ice cream, went fishing, went on a horse-drawn wagon ride, roasted marshmallows and heard two cowboy singers. The most memorable part was our cabin, decked out in tribute to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. There were pictures and memorabilia everywhere, and Niko called the cabin his "Race Car Cabinet." As we pulled away, Niko said bye-bye to everything, "Bye Bye Big Cedar. Bye Bye Race Car Cabinet...." We know he enjoyed the trip. We told him we didn't want to leave either, and he couldn't comprehend why we would leave if we didn't want to. Two weeks later, he keeps asking, "you don't want to leave vacation?" Needless to say, he can't wait to go back.

The Guys

Niko keeping Julian away from his container of fishing worms.


Thank goodness Niko didn't catch anything, despite using his Spong Bob fishing pole.

Julian had a great time as well, possibly having the most fun at the bar listening to the guitar player. He danced and clapped and yelled to the music, attracting the attention of the singer and half the bar with his enthusiam. Luckily we didn't attract the attention of social services by having a baby at the bar!

More Steps

Happy Birthday Julian and Grandma Humphrey

Happy Birthday to Mom and Julian!  Mom and Julian have the same birthday.  That is two generations in a row where the youngest son was born on the same day as his Grandma.  I was born on the same day as Mom's mom, October 24th, and now Julian was born on May 27th. Lots of love to Grandma Humphrey and have a great time in Alaska.

Dinosaurs!

So at Niko's Birthday some of the boys got on the swing set and said they were Dinosaurs.  This led to an extended screaming session, which led to this vid.

Happy Birthday Nikolai

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
The fire engine that Grandma Allie got Niko was a hit.  There was almost a riot when we opened it.  It actually works too.  We filled it with water and let Niko put out birthday candles with it after the party.  Yup, we let him play with fire on his 3rd Birthday :)
Braden and Niko eating some cake
Lizzie, Gretchen and Otto doing the same
Niko got shy and nervous during his birthday song, he was better once he stuck a plane in his mouth.

First Steps

Steps!

Julian is taking steps! He takes one or two occasionally, but he took almost six in a row in the bicklebee last Thursday. He especially loves balls, so he is most encouraged to walk when he is chasing after one. He is also working on his hoops skills. Last week, Nikolai was shooting baskets on the patio, and Julian carefully picked up a ball and dropped it in the big plastic tub that we use to keep the outside toys in. Then he would look to make sure we were watching him, and he'd clap for himself and then get the ball out to do it over again. He was so proud of himself!

Not a rumpus!

The better Nikolai's language gets, the funnier he gets. Last night he was being a pain in the rear, so I told him to stop being such a pain in the rumpus. Nikolai got very upset and yelled, "I not a rumpus, I Nikolai Humphrey!" He said his name so perfectly and the whole statement with such conviction that I laughed hysterically and had to sit down on the stairs so I wouldn't fall over!

He is also starting to notice details, and sometimes is such a charmer. This morning as we were walking into daycare, he said, "I like you necklace. It shiny." Awww....

Swing Set!

So this picture doesn't have anything to do with the swing set, its just a cute picture of Julian.
Many thanks to Bill who supplied tools and knowledge and back power
And here it is after the first big rain and wind storm, glad we got those stakes in the ground.

Growing Boys

Despite our directions to not let the boys get any older while we were Ireland Bill and Maureen let them grow up.  Julian has begun to crawl on his knees, eat everything in site and push things around the house.  Niko has added two words to every sentence.   It has been a total surprise to get back and hear how articulate he has become in just one week.  
This is from a few weeks ago, Niko poured a bowl of cheerios on the ground and Julian pounced on them.  Being the good parents that we are we let them eat them off the floor.
Niko is getting taller, even without the heels.  Sarah had to go buy him (and Julian) new clothes for summer.

Walking in Howth

"We are walking where John?"
"Just around the bend there...
And past the huge rock in the ocean...
and past the cliffs...
and then we'll rest a little and go back."

St. Paddy's Day in Dublin

We picked this pub as our base of operations for the parade 
The streets got packed, this went on for about 2 and 1/2 miles, there were about 650,000 people there.  A lot of people come from all over the world for the parade, one Irishman told us in Galway that "there won't be a lot of Irish there."
Here is one of the floats.  The parade is very international with entries from all over the world.
John and Sarah 
Me and Sarah taking a break from the Parade,  we lucked out and snared some seats near the front window of the pub.

The Aran Islands

Here is a look directly over the cliff, can't take credit for this, those are Heather's feet.
Sarah by the cliff.

There was an old fort that backed up to this cliff.  There wasn't a fence or railing or anything. You could hang your feet off the side or look straight over the side.  I did neither.
Sarah, Me, Mike and Heather on one of the "beaches" on the Aran Islands
Here is a close up of the rock walls
the Aran Islands and a lot of eastern Ireland are covered in these rock walls, no mortor or nothing, they are just stacked one on top of the other