starting summer

got the summer season started off well with a dip in the kiddie pool at uncle tom and aunt nicole's house. i don't know if i mentioned this - they live about 6 or 7 houses up on the same street. if the round didn't bend we could shout from our front lawns. definitely a fun set up.

This is the first summer that evan really knows what's up. he was a little hesitant in the pool though.



the scratch is from a tumble off the porch. in the background is their cousin mason. can't wait to see what evan thinks of the ocean.

ryan is more than willing to show his bro how its done....





the only explanation i have for this look is that ryan just realized that he got my skin tone and not lisa's...



and just for fun, a couple more of the little guy...

Go West Part II - Wine and Rocks

After the toiling labor of picking berries, Lisa and I (well, me mostly) needed to unwind so we headed over to one of our favorite wineries where we knew there'd be lots of room for the kids to further tire themselves out. Here, Ryan proceeded to display exactly the type of kid he is turning into.

Chocolate smeared face, two different crocs (his choice) and climbing on the rocks....



Playing frisbee (by himself when necessary) and flirting with the older girls who were there...



Then came the acrobatics. This kid was pretty fearless...these pictures are just a few of the many times he launched himself from the rocks.....

Go West Part I - Strawberries

Saturday was a day out in nature to take advantage of a rare break in the recent rain. So we headed out west on 66 in search of fruit. It started off with some strawberry picking. what this really meant is that i chased evan while ryan went in the moon bounce at the farm and Lisa gathered up 12 pounds of fruit....by the way - evan lost a fight with the treadmill if you were wondering about his face :)

before completely losing interest in picking the berries, both boys made an effort to help out mom a little bit....





That turned into Ryan leading his little brother in a game of follow the leader....





Since the second half of the has more antics from the big guy, here are a few more of E taking it all in....

17 Months - in black and white

He toddles, climbs, grabs and imitates. He loves hugs, his brother's toys, and the pets. He wants your phone, iPod, computer mouse, remote control or tools. He doesn't say too many words but wants to know what everything his. He will sing, dance and drum all day. I can not believe he's almost a year and a half.

Weekends II

The second bit of weekend fun was a visit from the brogan clan. its always great to spend time with them and its amazing how evan and AJ (who are 6 weeks apart) are starting to interract.

What better place to go with three little boys on a sunny day than Gravelly Point. All the boys love airplanes, and they needed to run off some energy so it was perfect fit.



There were lots of planes to watch, bubbles to blow and snacks to eat...

seriously, the planes are LOW and CLOSE...



The view the other way is pretty good too...









Fascinated by nature...for Ryan, cut grass; Evan - a dandelion...







Before it was time to go, AJ got one more shot at the bubbles, and Evan took the express route back to the car...

Weekends

OK, so most of you are posting your Easter pictures right about now. I am just not that on top of things so these are a little bit older. We had a couple of great weekends recently that we can catch up on.

That is Ryan, taking my picture with his camera shirt :)

First, we hit the Mall a couple weeks ago for the kite festival and a visit with some family.

You live around DC for a long time and all of these monuments start to become routine. When you take a step back and think, though, it really is amazing.



We met up with my brother and parents and counsin. Ryan and Anna went for a ride on the carousel and then played a great game of hide and seek.



Hard to find places to hide on the mall, but Ryan did his best...



Next it was off to fly a kite. Lots of running, laughing and wrestling ensued....



Ryan's kite is the tie-dyed one in the foreground...







I probably should have stopped this game a little bit sooner...



but it turns out that Evan really enjoyed it...