June 20

On June 20th, we went to the Strawberry Festival. It was a hot, hot day (again), but it was a lovely affair. A parade, carnival rides, craft booths and the most wonderful thing of all - fresh strawberry baked goods! (we had strawberry shortcake, and brought home cheesecake, jam and bread - yum!)

Me and Declan in line for the "cars"

Declan on the ride...

Isnt' this a delightful shot? (that new lens has the most amazing depth of field)

Brendan was looking for me when I took this picture from quite far away...

June 21st (aka Father's Day)

I have officially abandoned the Photo a Day premise. I am still trying to take a photo a day, but I find I can't seem to winnow them down to one a day for the blog posting. Especially with my fancy shmancy new lens. On Father's Day, we had a nice breakfast together, Brian opened some gifts and then we headed up to my mom and dad's house for a "party". It was just us, plus my parents, my two sisters, one husband and my niece. And while that does sound like a party, we were the only ones there who don't LIVE there. (yup, it's crowded at my mom's house!)

It was a hot day, so the kiddos played in the little pool outside while the grownups got all sweaty. Carlo cooked up a feast and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Here are some of the pics from Sunday:

Brian, opening up his card. And yes, Brendan is looking on from inside the clothes hamper (one of his very favorite spots)

That is me - a pretty nice pic taken by my dearest with the fancy new lens.

And here is Ashley coming out of the pool...

Ashley and Declan playing dress-up (the got married a few moments before the photo was snapped)

Brendan, being Brendan

Declan splashing up a storm in the pool (love, love, love the new lens!)

Isn't she lovely?

Beth (20birds) has the most beautiful daughters. Six daughters, to be exact. I am envious. I have two darling, precious, adorable, adored sons, but no daughters. I always thought that I would have daughters - I am a girlie girl, after all. I love make-up, the color pink, ballet, shopping, chick flicks, etc, etc, etc. Anyway...

Beth's daughter, Hannah, just graduated from the sixth grade. And she is growing up. Slowly, but surely. They do that, you know. Daughters, that is. Well, children in general, I guess. To the point: I love this picture of Beth's daughter, Hannah. She is stunningly beautiful.

Oops - June is more than half over!

Summertime! Popsicles, playing in the backyard, going to the pool, running through the sprinkler, sandboxes, baby pools, water tables...it's officially here in Michigan. I think that sums up what I've been doing for the past ten days or so. Oh, and I watched the Red Wings lose the Stanley Cup, had my 38th birthday and my 8th wedding anniversary. Aside from the hockey trauma, it's been a delightful June so far.

Except for today. Today was another thing altogether. I had a dentist appointment at 7am (which is bad enough - I HATE mornings!). To make matters worse, I had to get TWO crowns AND a filling done on the lower right side of my mouth. I was in the chair for two solid hours. Only about 20 minutes of which did not have me with my mouth WIDE open. I was numbed up but I KNEW there was going to be some repercussions and I was right. What a miserable day. Ouch, ouch and ouchy. The only saving grace is that Declan truly took pity on me and was a complete angel all day. Not demanding, easy going, and sweet as pie to boot. To reward him, Brian took him to an evening nature exhibit all about Bats. It's from 7-9pm and it's over an hour away, so Declan won't be home until WAY past his bedtime, but I think he's going to enjoy himself. And he deserves it!

(On a side note, this is the THIRD nature thing-y that Brian has taken Declan to in as many weeks. The first week was all about turtles. The boys got to hold all ten different kinds of turtles that are native to Michigan and learn about them from an expert. Plus a nature hike. The next week was all about frogs and salamanders - same deal as the turtles. And now, the bats. It's no wonder that Declan wants to be a zookeeper!)

Here are the summer pics:

Sweet Brendan in the backyard (today)

And Declan in the backyard (also today)

My reward for Declan today for being so sweet was to paint his face. Fancy snake, eh?

Isn't he darling? Love him soo much!

Brendan at the water table...how's that fish taste?

Yummy - want some?

Brothers...

In the baby pool. By the time I got him out, his lips were blue and he still shrieked at me and wanted to stay in!

Declan - running through the sprinkler. He had sooo much fun!

Here's Declan helping me make pizza...cutting up the black olives, which he adores. One to eat, one for the pizza....

Sandman:

Brendan is still not walking, but man can he STAND!

When Brendan sees my camera, THIS is his "say, cheese" face!

Two brothers, at play!

You should hear the laugh that goes with this face...

Through June 7, 2009

HOORAY! I knew there was an easier way to post these pictures to blogger and, six months later, I FINALLY figured it out! I can email the darn things directly from the Photoshop Elements Organizer - super easy!!

Ok - so what's been happening around here? The biggest thing was Brendan's 1st Birthday (and subsequent party!). My little guy turned one on June 1st - he is a doll baby if I do say so myself. On to the pics:

Here is the birthday boy himself enjoying his cake. Brian selected the piece for him and it was HUGE and there was a giant red balloon on it. Brendan put on quite a show eating that cake, let me tell you. At one point, at least twenty people were standing around him just cooing over him eating and making a mess - he was in his glory! This pic is from yesterday.

Just a close-up of Brendan in the backyard being cute.

Another day at the zoo! Brendan's been switching from two naps a day to one nap a day and it's been a little bit of a difficult adjustment for Declan. So on this afternoon, I rewarded Declan with a quick trip to the zoo after Brendan woke up at 3pm. We got to the zoo at 3:30 and left at 5pm. It was nice and both boys had fun.

Here's Declan trying to wear his sunglasses from last year. They don't quite fit, eh?

Look at those chompers!

And, his boo boo face...he looks almost pretty here! ;) Usually he is ALL BOY!

Look at that cheeky smile!

And here is Declan - a censored shot. He enjoys taking LOTS of little animals in the tub with him - honestly I don't know how he can be comfortable...one wrong move and OUCH!

Another garden shot...the peonies are stunning. The garden looked perfect for Brendan's party too - peonies, irises and roses all in bloom together. Loved it!