Bathtime. Playing in the little tub. Gnawing on a stacking cup. Shampoo in the hair. And then....
Can you tell that it was a Daddy bath night here tonight?
Today was a hot, clear and beautiful day with virtually no wind. In Andrew's mind, this is the perfect weather to launch a model rocket! So, he and the boys went to one of the local parks after church to launch a few rockets with some friends. Here are the boys with The Blue Ninja, one of the rockets launched today. What fun!
...Well, the rocket launching was so much fun that the boys ate their lunches and got back well into naptime. Too much fun to stick to any sort of schedule, right? And so they walked in much later than anticipated. We had plans to go to our neighbor's house just about one hour after they returned home so we opted to not put Nate for a nap and to just plan on giving him an early bedtime today. As you can see, here is what happens to cute little Natey when he misses a nap and actually sits down for a few minutes instead of going, going, going....
No whining, no crankiness, just....sleepies....zzzzz....on the couch... while watching a movie :)
'Nuff said. Only Daddy would let me share a Drumstick cone with him, so that's why my shirt says what it does :)
The Martins from Buffalo are in Pennsylvania this weekend to see their son Jeff, his fiancee Becky and to meet Becky's parents before the wedding. Fortunately, we live close enough to Jeff and Becky that we were able to plan a get-together with everyone while Aunt Loretta and Uncle Dave were in town. So, the NY Martins visited all of the PA Martins (and one soon-to-be PA Martin) :). Everyone came to our house for a BBQ, so with perfect weather and great company, we had a very fun night catching up and relaxing.
Here are Jeff and Becky and the two boys. Ben warmed up right away and immediately, everyone was his best friend. Of course in this photo, he is exerting his usual "deer in headlights," "No, I don't want to smile for a picture" stance. But once the camera went away, he was back to his usual self!
Nate, had a slightly different approach. After he took his usual time to warm up to everyone, he wouldn't stop talking! He told me the next day, "I had too much fun, Mommy! I had the BIGGEST fun!"
Uncle Dave (aka Uncle Bobo. Don't ask, since I probably couldn't remember to tell you :)), Aunt Loretta, Jeff and Becky with the boys. Unfortunately, Abby had already gone to sleep so she missed out on the photo shoot :(.
Me and Becky, the two crafty coffee-lovin' world travelers :)
Now these photos are for Aunt Loretta since she was sad that we had put Abby to bed before they had a chance to give her the little gift they had brought along. So, here is Miss Abby meeting her Little Mommy busy bee dolly for the first time. It was truly love at first sight and our little bee friend has now become a regular crib friend :) 
I love her sooo much, Aunt Retta!
I think I'll give her a big slimey kiss to show you just how much :)
Thanks to the Martins from Buffalo and PA for coming to visit us. We had such a nice time seeing everyone and spending some time with all of you! See you in November when Becky will be the one in white :)An empty box is always just as exciting as a trip to the toy store. Hours of cheap entertainment in your own home! Laughter elicited by popping out of four simple flaps! Here is our crew with their new toy, starting with an Abby in the Box :)
Silly Natey!
And even sillier Benjamin!
Today was Andrew's employer - Clayton H. Landis Company's - annual summer picnic at the family-owned Hemlock Springs Farm in central PA, about 1.5 hours from our house. We have gone to the picnic most years since he has worked here and always have a good time. The owners of the family-run business have a huge farm on a big lake with lots of room to run around, play games and go swimming. This was actually the first year that we were able to go in the water since the kids have never wanted to before this year. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my suit since I had a feeling Abby wouldn't be too comfortable in a lake so I just spent the time on the blanket with my girl, snapping photos of the three guys.
There are canoes, a paddle boat, a giant trampoline, rafts and tubes, a diving board and a giant water slide so we had our pick of what to use. Here, the guys are headed to a canoe. The boys have never been in one before and were very excited to try it out! Who wouldn't be excited to sit back, take in the view and let Dad do all of the rowing :)
Miss Abby was her usual content self on the blanket all afternoon. She didn't have an afternoon nap and instead of being grumpy because of it, was perfectly happy to explore the diaper bag contents. What a sweet, calm baby she is!
Dad goes for a dive off the dock...
...and heads over to the giant trampoline, where the boys were waiting for him.
Next up: the water slide. This thing is intense. It is super long, goes down this big hill and goes incredibly fast. Nate stepped up to the plate and wanted to give it a first try. Not his favorite activity of the day since his head went under and he got a little water in his mouth, but he didn't fuss much and kept telling everyone he talked to(and there were many!) that he was a big boy and went "super fast" down the slide :)
After the slide experience, Ben decided to take a little break and play with Abby. 
...and Dad decided to do a few solo runs down the slide to see just how fast he could go! 
Here are Prince Benjamin, Prince Nate and Princess Abigail pre-party...
Belle, my favorite Disney princess ever. This Belle is even cuter than the cartoon, if I do say so myself :)
The princes hard at work making royal flags for their castles...
Snow White also made an appearance! My she looks a lot like Brianna :)
...and we also had THREE other Belles and one Sleeping Beauty. Who'd have known that the Beast was such a popular guy?
Nate posing with his damsel in distress...this poor princess will soon have her crown stolen for a Place the Crown on the Princess game :)
Samantha and Abby had on the exact same Belle costume. The other two Belles also had on the same costume, although they were a different dress than these two.
Birthday girl Alyssa, complete in her Belle costume and glittery up-do!
An attempt at a group photo. I feel like this is one of those What's Wrong with this Picture scenes that you find in children's magazines. Uh, let's see...Nate is hysterically crying because he didn't want to stop playing to take a photo. Snow White is, uh, showing a little too much shoulder :). Anthony has escaped from the scene (you can see the very top of his head in the foreground). Abby is crawling away. And one of the princes is disguised as Shaq. :) But, my, the birthday girl looks happy and that's what's important, right? 
Last night we cut open our first home-grown watermelon from our garden and boy, was it yummy! It was so juicy and yummy that we ate almost half a watermelon for dessert :). The boys are always so proud of the fruits and veggies that they have helped to grow in the garden and gobbled up their favorite fruit very quickly.
The three guys eating some, while taking a break from playing outside.
Mr. Watermelon himself. Ben is our fruit lover and watermelon is among his top picks!
You're done taking pictures now, Mom. No, really, I mean it!
Aunt Cinty and David invited us over today for a BBQ and an afternoon of swimming in their pool. What a fun time we had! The food was yummy, the weather was nice, and we are had a great time visiting and swimming. It was the first time we have visited them where we have actually been able to swim in the pool for a long time. In the past when we've visited the weather was either rainy or someone didn't like the pool and wanted to get out the minute they got in. But not this time! It was sunny and warm out and the kids couldn't get enough of the pool. Nate was kicking and screaming when it was time to get out for dinner; he wanted to stay in the deep end all day!
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pool pictures since I was able to enjoy a swim for the entire time we were all in. But, here are some great shots from after our swim. Thanks, Aunt Cinty and David for having us over!
Nate made himself very comfortable in their little grandson Jordan's kiddie chair....and found a table for himself along the way, too.
Mr. Silly who can't sit still for a second!
We brought an assortment of our home-grown garden veggies so we had some of the sweet corn. Yummy! It has become one of Benjamin's favorites this year since we have, oh, 20 or so ears a day to contend with :).
Dinnertime, Abby's favorite time of the day!
Miss Happy with "dada." Yes, I will try to pretend that any murmur that comes out of her mouth is really a variation on "mama," but alas, "dada "is her first word. Honestly, there is no respect at all for the one who takes care of her all day long :)....I will sit there and say "mama" to her and she will smile at me and say "dada." Hmph! Well! I see the beginnings of a very over-protective (and expensive) relationship here between daddy and his girl :)
No shame in the game...of potty-training. Well, actually this was my fault. Nate has been potty training so well these past few days that we let him wear his undies out of the house for our long visit today. Yes, I did bring a change of clothes for after swimming. But, what I didn't bring was an extra change in clothes for potty training. So, once he was all dried up from his hour+ in the pool...he had an accident in his pants and I had no clothes for the poor guy! Luckily, I had two extra undies and he loves to streak and be nude! Plus, it was 80-something degrees today so he was perfectly happy to sport his unders :) 
I love Nate to the moon and back...even when he's in his undies with his big belly hanging out, reclinging his feet and picking his nose :)
Me and Aunt Cinty...Yay! The photographers are actually in a photo!
David being charmed by his new girlfriend, Miss Abby :)
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