Oh what fun!

Well, my new activity of coloring has turned into 'grounding' Braeden from it, already. He's not even 2 yet. See what he did and isn't it pretty? I saw him over by the window and thought he was just looking outside....Mommy was wrong!

This past weekend we took Braeden to my sister's property that she manages for her pool party. They had a Fire Truck come and let the kids climb in it. Braeden LOVES trucks right now and he had a good time!






Tonight, I was cleaning the stairs and I had a pair of Rob's toddler shoes in a basket. Braeden found them and put them on. Here they are. He kept them on for a little while, but they are slippery on the bottom and slid on the hardwoods. But, I definitely will put them on him again.

We think we might have an OCD child on our hands. What do you think? Braeden moves his "cars" in line from here to there to there, all over the house. He seems to do this now with more than his "cars". It cracks us up!


The hood is finally finished and boy does it look nice! It stands 6'1". Still have the plumbing and lighting to hook up. We WILL get fish one of these days!


**Alana**

VA Beach

This trip was my 3rd trip to VA Beach since I moved here. It is a nice beach, clean. The first trip, I was pregnant with Braeden, the 2nd; was the night Braeden got baptized and was our first away from our baby. We went for a conference with Rob's work.

This time, we took Linda and Arista. Arista had not been on a vacation in 3 years. We are so glad she was able to come. We left on Thursday. It was raining when we got there. But, we went and had an awesome seafood buffet and shopping, which made the rain okay. Rob had to work on Friday, so us girls took Braeden down to the beach for the day. Here is our hotel and view from the beach.



Braeden kept taking off to run the beach. Arista took a couple of crackers of Braedens and was feeding the birds. Braeden LOVED trying to catch them. Arista was trying to be avoided being attacked. LOL









Here is day 2 at the beach. Daddy and Grammy brought him down with his backpack on, so he couldn't run off. LOL! Rob was giving me a hard time for buying this. However, he learned this weekend, it was the best thing ever!
Rob, Arista, and I attempted body boarding. I had tried it in Hawaii, but it was very limited to what I could do. I wasn't very good at it, but it was fun! The waves were pretty big and rough. Rob always tells me to dive into the waves that are 'curving'. He makes it look so simple. Well, I tried, and didn't do it right and the wave took me under and it had me all over the place. It scared me. Anyhow I chipped my tooth in the process. Needless to say, that was it for me in the water. Arista had a similiar experience.



Isn't this sweet? Braeden fell asleep with Grammy. He ONLY wanted his Grammy the whole weekend. In the hotel room the first day, he said "Grammy" (or something like it) and it was the most exciting thing for all of us...especially her! :)

Here are a couple more pics at dinner the 2nd night in his hoodie Mimi bought him. He had crayons and has a thing about putting them up to his ear. SO CUTE! He's such a ham!



The last night we went to a place called Chicks Oyster Bar. It was a local place a few miles away from the beach. It reminded me of the town I lived with my dad. It sat on the water. And, the boats came in and out. It was beautiful. Braeden missed out on dinner...This is our dream boat...someday. Rob ordered us a 'special shot.' It was a shot of beer, raw oyster, and hot sauce. Interesting but good!



Lastly, are a couple of night shots of the strip and Neptune that is on the beach behind the Hilton Hotel.


I think they had a good time...

(P.S. Braeden said "a TURT LE" on our drive back. We can add this to his vocabulary list. Awww, the little things our kids to that is amazing and cherished)
**Alana**

Labor Day Weekend

Rob and I met a few friends out at my 3rd Jimmy Buffett concert this year. This year was a TON of fun! I am not a beer drinker, but for some reason, it tasted VERY good this day! ha ha! We tailgated for about 3 hours and then went in for the amazing show. He has always put on a good show. Here are a couple of pics.



The next day, we had a BBQ at our house with our group of friends. It was fun. Rob borrowed the xbox band thing (not sure what it's called, ha ha!) from our neighbor and the kids had a blast....So did Sohee in Braeden's Elmo Chair, too funny! We watched "The Hangover" at the end of the night, which had us all laughing. A great way to end the night.








I have been trying to think of some new activities for Braeden and I to do together. So, I bought some paint to make drawings. He loved it, and I loved watching him color! Daddy got involved and made a dog (aka: Pig LOL). We gave a drawing to Linda, it was her birthday. It was her favorite gift ever.






**Alana**