Small Fry's Half Birthday.

Someone is two and a half! He was so excited to get in on the half birthday celebration. Buck was out of town for a trial -- and we missed him dearly -- but the festivities went on as scheduled. Sweet Fawn helped me shop for Small Fry when Small Fry was at Apple. He had fun picking out presents for his brother -- and I loved the opportunity to talk about the joy that comes from giving gifts, not just receiving them. The great thing about Small Fry's age (i.e., cluelessness) was that he had no idea he would wake up and it would be his half birthday. So when Fawn and I surprised him with gifts when he woke up it was just so cute. He was so excited!

Don't mind Mr. Serious.

He could barely contain his grin.

He asked Fawn to help open Fawn's present -- a Rescue Bots Bumblebee that transforms into a dinosaur. Super cool!

Then it was time for the Mommy and Daddy present.

Cranky the Crane, which Fawn insisted I purchase for his little brother. Fawn was right, Small Fry loves it!

For his game, Small Fry got Cooties, which the three of us played right away. The boys had fun, and I think it was the first game Small Fry has officially completed! Growing up!

Then we asked Small Fry where he wanted to go for breakfast and he chose Magic Muffins. After our yummy breakfast we had to pause the fun for some family hygiene at the pediatric dentist. Boy do we love Dr. Flynt. He has always been great with the boys -- Fawn adores him. Small Fry has always put up quite the fuss in the past, but maybe he was feeling extra grown up because he was a rock star. No fussing and no tears. What a welcome change (and hoping the cooperation continues at the doctor and hairdresser!). 

Since we were in Vestavia already, I asked the boys if they wanted to go to McCallum Park and play. They jumped at the chance. While there they got the dirtiest I have ever seen them. The ground was very dusty and dry and they proceeded to have a dust fight. Covered. With. Dust. They were disgusting. And, there was no way I was letting them into my car. Thank goodness there is a stream there. I instructed Fawn to take off his shirt and shoes and get clean in the stream. And, Small Fry went in wearing only his diaper. I usually pride myself on being prepared, but found myself without so much as one beach towel in my car. So the boys drip dried before we headed home. 

We spent the rest of the morning swimming and eating a picnic lunch at Mema and Abou's with Mimi. After Fawn's nap, we played at home and Aunt C came to visit. Fawn and I made Small Fry a cookie cake and after dinner we sang to our precious baby. We kept asking him how old he was and his response was always "Two!", quickly followed by Fawn chiming in "and a half!" 

I LOVE Small Fry watching Fawn sing Happy Birthday to him. Just melts my heart how much they adore each other.

Birthday boy!

Small Fry asked Fawn to help him blow out the candles.

Happy, happy, happy guy!

We are so in love with this little one who is growing oh so quickly. He captivates everyone who meets him with his preciousness and full of life personality. We couldn't be more proud to call him ours. Happy Birthday J-Diddy, we love you!

June and July iMemories.

Pepper Place Market with Mimi (big guys at farm).

Dirty, dirty child helping Daddy with lots of yardwork.

Snake up close and personal at Zoo.

New black bear at Zoo.

Happy farmers.

Small Fry's first trip to iJump. He needed lots of help from sweet Fawn.

Ed's Pet World Birthday for John Getty.

He was fearless.

And so happy.

Probably his favorite birthday party ever. 

I was dying.

Mommy-Fawn date to Planes Fire and Rescue.

Suspension bridge at Red Mountain Park.

Snacks at Skyhy Treehouse at Red Mountain Park.

Transformer-loving brothers.

Fawn's Half Birthday.

Fawn turned five and a half on July 26. I cannot believe it will soon take two hands to show his age. Wow! Time does fly. Somebody asked me how long I was going to celebrate half birthdays with my boys. My response: "until I'm dead." Truth be told, if I could celebrate them every single day I would. I want them to never doubt how loved and cherished and special they are.

Fawn wanted donuts for breakfast. Though we planned to take a family trip to Heavenly Donuts, Small Fry was still sleeping so I ran over there to pick up the goodies. Delicious way to start the day for sure!

Then it was present time. Small Fry helped me shop while Fawn was at the farm one Saturday. He spilled the beans immediately that he got Fawn a new Optimus Prime Transformer. Fawn thought it was hilarious, and when he finally got to open the toy he was thrilled. Buck and I surprised him with Transformers walkie talkies and Depsicable Me 2 Monopoly. He LOVES the walkie talkies, and the game is really fun to play. He's already legitimately beaten Buck, Caroline and me.

We spent the rest of the day playing at home and swimming. And, he helped me make his birthday brownies and placed the candles just where he wanted them. Special day for a special and so-loved child.

He opened Small Fry's present first -- and in true, awesome big brother fashion, asked Small Fry if he wanted to help.

So excited -- and Small Fry was proud that he liked it.

Walkie talkie glee.

Fake pout when he realized there weren't presents for him.

Then came the real tears. Don't worry buddy, your turn is soon. 

Come in. Over and out.

Another appearance by my collection of Transformers candles and cake toppers.

Now that's a happy kid.

Getting ready to blow them out.

And once again, he asked his brother to help.

Bubby, we love you more than we ever thought we could love a child. You are a joy and it has been an honor to watch you grow. We are so proud of the big guy you are becoming.

Boy Fun: Kitchen Construction and Exploding Car Wash.

In my imagination, I would be entertaining children with tea parties, playing dolls, putting on "shows", and lots of dress up. I never could really imagine life with little boys. While there is dress up, it's certainly not the princess variety. If we role play, we are Transformers, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, or super heroes. We pretend to shoot, stab, and destroy. It is loud, but not from singing and dancing. While it is not at all what I imagined, it is fun. It is awesome.

But, sometimes we need some activities that are quiet, calm, and still entertaining for boys. These are two of our favorites.

Kitchen construction involves our little construction vehicles and farm tractors.

Then each child is given edibles that can be moved, pushed, constructed.

Marshmallows, Nerds, Lifesaver Gummies, cinnamon chips, M&Ms, yogurt covered raisins, and chocolate goldfish were on tap this day.

Then the boys construct and eat away.

Exploding car wash involves Pyrex dishes filled with small cars and lots of baking soda.

First we play in the baking soda (or "snow") for awhile building roads and mountains and making tracks.

Then we pour in vinegar and make it explode. Our hands end up messy and gritty but it is fun.

We've also tried the duck tape bracelet nature walk, where you make a duck tape bracelet with the sticky side out and walk around the neighborhood looking for nature objects to collect on your bracelet. I was envisioning flower petals and pretty leaves. Reality? Seeing who could collect the most dead worms and snails. Life with little boys may be gross but it's certainly not dull.

Blueberry Picking.

Blueberry picking has been on my summer bucket list for four years now. This is the first year we've made it happen. I was pregnant with Small Fry year one and the only things that got crossed off the bucket list were the things my mom accomplished with Fawn. The second year Small Fry was a baby and it just wasn't going to happen. And, last year Small Fry was a MESS. So we kept punting....

I'm so glad we made it work this year because it was so much fun. Mimi went with us because although Small Fry is not the mess he was last year, he's still only two and can be quite the handful! I thought we needed man-on-man defense. We stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way down because my little people are always hungry. They are going to eat us out of house and home. While the plan was to drive to Morgan Creek Vineyards in Harpersville, I saw a sign for Smith U-Pick in Sterett. Mom commented that she knew the owner from teaching in Shelby County (he's the AP History teacher) so we went ahead and stopped. Great decision! There was only one other family there and the owner's family was so kind and welcoming to the boys.

We all got our buckets and started picking. Fawn was on a mission to pick the biggest blueberries he could find. He does not like small blueberries, says they are sour. Small Fry was eating more than he was putting in his bucket. And, he had a hard time with the concept of "ripe". And, he kept dumping his bucket onto the ground. So I was very thankful for Mimi's help. I was trying to pick a lot of berries for the freezer because they were cheap and delicious!

We ended up with 5.25 pounds of berries! I also bought some beautiful veggies that had been picked that morning. And, I insisted on paying a little more because of all Small Fry had eaten in the field. The boys loved on a big, sweet hound dog and then we headed home. It was a perfect Alabama morning.

Be still my heart. This summer has been a gift in so many ways -- the biggest being the relationship developing between these sweet brothers.

Boys at work.

Stop it. His cuteness kills me.

Can't quite smile with a mouth full of blueberries.

So serious about getting the perfect berries.

His gorgeous loot.

He was so happy -- I think it was one of his favorite days this summer.

4th of July.

While dating, and during the early years of marriage, we always spent the 4th of July at Buck's parents' lake house on beautiful Lake Martin. In fact, we got engaged on the Basstracker somewhere in the middle of Lake Martin on July 4, 2012 after watching the fireworks. Buck's parents' gave up their lake cabin lease in fall 2011, so for the past couple years we've spent the 4th elsewhere.

This year, though, they rented a lake house for the long weekend. Lulu, the boys and I drove down on Wednesday. We had no clue where we were going, the boys were singing/screaming/fighting the entire way. Though we tried to time it for nap time, there was no napping. When we finally located the house (our directions were wrong), it was a wonderful surprise. The house was precious! We unloaded in the heat and the boys were insistent we go swimming. Lulu and I joked that it was very swampy -- we were in the back of a narrow slew and I had myself convinced there were all sorts of swamp creatures. In fact, I had nightmares the first night about it!

Aunt C came down Wednesday night and Doc and Buck followed Thursday night. We had so much fun. It was a long enough vacation that I felt like I truly relaxed (especially after the not-so-relaxing mountain trip). But it wasn't too long! The boys were at such a fun age to enjoy the lake -- Fawn especially, who has become the best swimmer this summer and loved jumping off the dock again and again and again. In addition to swimming, they also loved canoeing, fishing, and boat rides. Somehow during one morning of fishing Fawn and Buck convinced Small Fry to eat a live cricket. Ugh, ugh, ugh. He reported that it tasted "disgusting", but he was so proud. In between outside activities, we watched movies, played dominoes, colored, and Buck introduced the boys to cherry bombs. Lord help us!

We got to see Uncle Pak and Lauren some, much to the boys delight. And, we took a couple boat rides to Lulu and Doc's new lake house. It is on a gorgeous lot and is going to be a great house. This trip made us so excited about summers to come for the boys on the lake. We even let Fawn stay up to watch some fireworks on the 4th -- he was convinced it was Uncle Pak shooting them for him. He later confessed that after we put him to bed he got back up to keep watching fireworks. We've got a sneaky one on our hand.

Though I had my big camera, I didn't take ANY pictures. These are from Buck's and Doc's cell phones. I was too busy enjoying and doing with the boys to occupy myself with picture taking!

Canoeing. So lucky big brother didn't knock him out with that paddle.

Sweet thing napped on the boat two different days. Like a dog. Love him so.