Fun week

It's back to just me and the kids, Mike has been back in the regular school year for two weeks now. So the kids and I spent the week going out and about finding some fun stuff to do.

One day we went to the beach:


Another day we went to a local playground/park:


Yesterday, while it was raining, we spent some time playing at the mall playarea:

Quincy's computer

Quincy got his own laptop computer for his birthday, and he loves it. Here he is looking very focused on his computer, looking like a little businessman:


His brother also likes the computer, and, being the big brother, is always trying to help Quincy and show him how to do things on the computer. Quincy doesn't really like the help so much, so he found a place to play on the computer, without assistance:

Last swim class

This morning Miles had his last swim class. He had two classes a week for the last four weeks and he loved it. He got much more comfortable swimming and being in the water, and he is now a better swimmer. Here are some pictures and videos from his last two classes.

Here he is on Monday, he is so proud that he is swimming all by himself:


Just for comparison, here are a couple of pictures of him swimming in his first class, a month ago:


This picture is from today, he has a floatie on his back that you can't see in this picture, but that is it for help:


The last thing they do in class is jump from the edge to the teacher, then swim to the stairs. In the beginning Miles feet barely got any air between the edge and the water. Look at him now:


And now for some videos, these were all taken at Monday's class. In the first one, he had to throw the rubber ducky out in the water, then swim to it, pick it up, throw it, swim to it, and so on and so forth.

In this video clip, Miles is swimming with the kickboard, but look, he is doing it all by himself, the teacher isn't holding him at all:


And this final video clip is of Miles jumping off the edge to the teacher, then swimming back to the stairs. The teacher is holding him a little, but he has no floaties at all and is swimming great - such a huge improvement from the first couple of classes!


Miles loved swim class! We were so happy that he loved going every time and always tried so hard to do everything that the teacher asked. He has already asked when his next swim lessons will be.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby.

My baby, Quincy, turned 2 years old today. He's no longer a baby. He is quickly growing up into a wonderful little boy. He says several new words everyday, he tries to help with just about everything I do around the house. He even tries to help his big brother, too. He wants to sleep in a bed, he wants to dress himself, he has an opinion about what clothes he wears. Actually, he seems to have an opinion about most everything these days.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday with some friends. The day started with Mike making and decorating Quincy's birthday cake. It was a guitar cake, and Quincy loves guitars. Quincy watched Mike decorated nearly the whole time, all the while very excitedly pointing at the cake saying "guitar, mine."


Waiting for the cake to be served:


He blew the candle out all by himself:


He loved every present he got, and played with them all. Here is one of the presents, being played with by all of the kids:


A little later I was called by one of the older kids, when I arrived I saw this: (look at the tray where crayons go)

And here is the rest of him:


This morning we have had a marching band parade through the house several times using Quincy's new marching band drum set. And the boys have been trying to clean the floor. Quincy goes around with his new broom and dustpan saying "clean, clean."

Swim lessons

Yesterday was the first day of swim lessons for Miles. We were a bit apprehensive that he would get there and then not want to participate, but he did great. He tried to do everything the teacher asked them to do, and whenever he wasn't concentrating, he had a big giant smile on his face.

Trip to NY

What a whirlwind. We left camping with my parents and headed straight to Mike's parents' house to have a visit with his side of the family. Again, the kids enjoyed seeing their grandparents and other family, and had fun playing with their cousins.

Playing in the backyard:

Quincy put two swings together, and I think he was much happier than with just one swing:


We brought our tent up and all the kids had a backyard camp-out with Mike and his Dad. The kids had fun, Mike and Grandpa were both a bit tired the next day.


Before I met Mike, he played in the horn section of a rock band, and has often shared memories of his good times playing with this band. This band decided to have a 24 year reunion and bring back as many old bandmates as possible to play together again - that reunion was last week and part of the reason for the timing of our visit to his family. Mike had a great time playing with and seeing old friends, and the kids and I had a chance to hear and see a bit of Mike's past:

And the kids had more time to hang out with each other:

A few days later we took a walk to a nearby park:

Miles and Ally watching a teeny tiny spider:


And of course the pool was always in high demand for the kids:

Nearly two weeks of visiting family and playing hard finally caught up to Miles:

Camping in NH

This is turning out to be a summer full of camping. This past week we joined my parents, and camped with them in their camper. Again, the boys loved it.

At the campground is a lake with a small beachfront, swimming area, and boat launch. My parents have some kayaks, which was the favorite activity for Quincy. Here are the boys, working together to bring the kayak paddle down to the beach:

Miles out with Grandma:

Quincy out with Grandma:

Swimming was also a favorite activity, especially for Miles:

Quincy liked swimming too: (if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you will see that Quincy is actually laughing, not crying here)

Miles swam out to the raft (many times):

We went on a few day trips, and the boys spent lots of time visiting with their cousins. Here are Miles and Maddie at a kids activity museum:

Quincy and Maddie making some music together:

And playing a bit rougher with Tyler:

And you just can't go camping without having a campfire and roasting marshmallows: