July was full of fun for our family! Lots of barbecues and family gatherings. The boys decorated their bikes for the neighborhood breakfast and parade. We were so proud of Carter finishing the race all the way around the park on his balance bike. It was the longest he has ever wanted to be on his bike- grateful for the power of peer pressure in this case. We had a mini vacay to Pine View with the Hendricks family for a boating adventure. Jefferson had his first tube ride and did awesome and Brad was a pro with wake surfing. We will always remember Carter throwing the fry sauce in a tantrum rage over everyone at the cafe we went to for lunch and all the other patrons looking at us in pity and offering every napkin available. It may go down as one of the biggest tantrums he has had (so far). He definitely is helping us practice patience this year of his life. We have had lots of fun at splash pads and sleepovers with cousins. Mama and Jefferson finished yet another fun puzzle. Jefferson found Brad's old pine wood derby car and was obsessed with the idea of making his own, so Brad and Jefferson worked together to make a pine wood derby car and then of course had some races with the cars. We had our first family Lagoon day and had a blast. We also went to our first movie in the park and the boys loved staying up super late, eating treats, and cuddling in sleeping bags. Brad and I had a back packing adventure- something we haven't done since before kids- and found the perfect camp spot in the mountains. It was the first night in over a year for us with out kids and so we broke out the scrabble board and played all night. We met up with some friends and gave Carter his first experience at the Discovery Museum. Carter decided that this was the perfect spot to try wandering off for the first time in his life and scared his mama half to death until he was found on the opposite side and floor of the museum. But seeing them have so much fun in the make believe zone made it all worth it. In fact we stayed at the museum almost 7 hours- with lunch in between- because they were having so much fun. On the 24th Uncle Ryan let the boys play his drum set and they were in love- Carter especially. And since then Carter finds things to be drums and drum sticks just about anywhere so he can rock out. The boys were able to do 3 weeks of swim lessons this summer and made lots of growth- Carter feeling more comfortable laying on his back and Jefferson learning how to dive. And of course we ended the month with the boys un-birthday party- this year Pirate themed. The cake was an adventure but turned out great and the kids and uncles had a blast with the pirate fight (water fight). It started raining at the end of the party so we huddled under the deck to sing happy birthday and open presents- what a memory. At the beginning of the summer Jefferson said he wanted to have a big water fight so though it feels like summer is coming to an end we have all had a fantastic time and are grateful for spending so much time face to face with family and friends this summer.
