a frog named turtle

Bryce caught a frog at my parents house and he begged us to let him keep it. So against my better judgement we told him okay. He has this bug habitat that is actually set up for frogs as well so it seemed like a halfway smart decision. He named him Turtle and he has been playing with him all afternoon. He caught bugs for him to eat, threw him in a bucket of water so he could swim, shoved him inside his tonka truck (when we told him it wasn't a good idea he simply stated "but he's a firefrog and he has to go help his friend"), and took him for a "ride" on his bike. Poor Turtle...

And one more thing....it is soooo hot today. I just got back from a run (yes mom, I know I shouldn't run after dark but I went with a friend) and am dripping sweat. I seriously thought about stopping by the pool and jumping in with my clothes on. Actually not a bad idea. I think I'll bring my key tmrw just in case.

wanted: one pair of large black sunglasses

This is a picture of me and my favorite sunglasses....or at least they were until Callie threw them on the floor and smashed them into 3 pieces. So, if anyone happens to be in NYC anywhere close to the Lower East Side and they just happen to see a nice man selling sunglasses on the Corner of St. Marks and 2nd, could you check to see if there is another pair? If there is maybe you could get them and send them my way? I will reimburse you for any costs. And remember....never go with the first price they tell you. Act insulted and start to walk away. He will come down in price (or at least it worked for me after my favorite city-savvy girl gave me this advise).

Pretty please?

Long Car Ride and Imaginary Friends

We are back from vacation. We drove back yesterday....it was an eleven and a half hour car ride. I have finally completely lost my mind. Not to sure what my mom and I were thinking to drive that far with two kids. They really are great car riders....most kids would have had a complete melt down five hours in. We did have one incident. To make a long story short Bryce put his finger in Callie's mouth and she bit him. He then got back at her by hitting her really hard in the arm. I mean really, really, hard. With a really hard toy. She did that not breathing turning red in the face cry for a really long time. After I finally managed to find an exit and get her out of her seat she calmed down. We finally got everyone calmed down and managed to get back on the road. We made it to my parents at 8:30. Bryan came to pick us up and we got to our house at around 11pm. I have never been so happy to see my bed.

I think the long ride forced Bryce into a new world of imagination. He now has 10 imaginary friends. You read that right....I said 10. Two are motocross riders....Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart. Eight are Wolves...but Bryce pronounces them wolfes (like wolf with an ez at the end of it). One wolf is named Jackson. The others don't have names. He took them swimming tonight. He said they are very good swimmers and they don't even need swimmies.

You have to love a four year old's imagination!!

Beach take two

Last week at New Smyrna was so much fun. It was so great to get to just hang out with everyone. The place was right on the beach... really. You just walk out the back door onto the deck, down the steps, and you are on the sand. We spent the days playing on the beach, fishing, putting (see pic below), swimming in the pool, playing Yahtzee, gin rummy, and even a couple games of clue. Lauren was able to come Monday thru Friday and Jeff was there thru Wed. am. It was so wonderful being together and hanging out. The kids had a blast. Callie did develop a tummy problem which led to a really bad diaper rash (which is still going!). There were also spiders...really, really, really, big ones. And I hate spiders. hate them with a passion. The only other problem was the sand fleas. I swear I have never had so many bug bites in my life. No joke I had 10 just on one foot! But even with the rash and the spiders on steroids, and the bug bites, it was one of the best vacations I can remember. And I hope Bryce is old enough to remember it too.
My mom, the kids, and I are now in Bonita Springs at my aunt and uncles house. We are having such a great time and I am sad that we will be leaving in two days. How quickly time flys when you are having fun!

Here are some pics from the past weeks.

Lauren and the kids. I know she is doing great in NYC but we really miss having her around!!

The family (look for it around xmas time from my mom)

My attempt to get a Christmas card pic wasn't too successful

Not a bad backswing if I do say so myself.

We have putting contests on the beach everyday. We also brought a bunch of old balls and took turns hitting them into the ocean.

Callie and her Aunt RoRo.

She is such a daddy's girl. This is her "I'm tired" position

Jason and his favorite niece....Second children have to stick together


Bryce and Callie at Lover's Key...my all time favorite beach anywhere

The kids and Aunt Rainy. We are having such a good time!!

Beach Days

We are having a great time at the beach. It's late and I don't have much time to fill you in on all of the details so I am just going to show you a slideshow of pictures so far. Here is a brief list of highlights
-Bryce loves the water....wants to learn to surf
-Callie loves the water even more then Bryce...will actually crawl towards it until I grab her
-The house is great....except for the HUGE Spiders and the tarp on the roof

More to come later

countdown

We leave tmrw for New Smyrna Beach! I think I will be even more excited once I get all of the errands done and get everyone packed. Packing for two kids for two weeks is no small feat. I am also not really looking forward to the car ride. 8 hours with two small kids is not really what you would call a fun time. But I'm sure it will be well worth it once we are there. I plan on spending a good chunk of time tonight creating playlists for my ipod for the road (and making sure Bryce has one of his own).

I will try to post while we are on vacation so be on the look out for some beach pics.

I found the below video from last fall and thought I would share it again. Callie has gotten so big in the last six months!!

Happy 4th

We actually went to a park by our house last night to see fireworks. It was a great night. We sat around on a picnic blanket with some friends, ate yummy jersey mike subs and Cheetos, let the kids run around, and watched a great firework display. Now, I know those of you who know where I live are surprised that the city of Sugar Hill would have great fireworks... but they were really good. Much better then last years attempt to see the Lenox display from Jason's balcony (I still hate that Cingular building).

and Bryce actually watched the fireworks. No tears, no screaming, and only a limited amount of time spent covering his ears! It was great. By the end of the display he was actually dancing and running around with Emma (he calls her his girlfriend).

So we are going low key today. My cousin Danny is coming over and we are all just going to hang by the pool, grill out, and relax. My kind of day. especially since the next day or two involve cleaning, laundry, and packing for the beach. Only three days until two weeks of Fun in the Florida sun.


Happy 4th to everyone!!

Knock Knock

Here is Bryce's favorite joke. He tells it to everyone. We heard it 20 times in a row on the way home from the lake yesterday.

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Banana
Banana who?
Banana monkey show coming right up!

What makes this so funny? I have no idea. Please help me figure it out.