Summer Days!

We have been busy enjoying summer around here!  The last week has been wonderful since being unpacked and feeling more settled :)

 We finally got sand for our sandbox!!  (The sandbox I found at a garage sale last summer RIGHT before finding out we'd be moving to DC)  The kids are loving it! 

 Gary put in a patio for our table in the backyard!  I'll have to post a "finished product" picture soon, but it looks great and makes an awesome temporary solution for us since we obvioulsy can't put in any fixed structures in the rental house.  The yard is pretty much dirt/sticks/rocks other than the patio... which the boys LOVE but we will hopefully be able to grow some grass (despite the shade) and cut down on the mud :)

 We can also have our own kiddie pool now that we are out of the apartment and have our own little yard!  It has been a HUGE hit! 

 Nathan's FAVORITE outside toy is the squirt bottles!  After lots of practice, he's found his own little way of working them and goes around squirting everyone and everything!  He's hilarious too becuase he'll hand me the squirt bottle and say "peeaaase", wanting me to squirt him all over!  He thinks it's so silly!  I love that boy :)

 In the middle of our "pool time" we always take a break for pospscicles or fudgescicles!  Nathan plops right down on his towel like one of the big boys and knows what's coming!  He finishes off every last bite, it's pretty cute :)

It sure has been HOT!  But we've still been spending a lot of time outside!!  The kids LOVE it!  The rest of our time the kids are enjoying the space here!  It is so nice to be able to have toys in their room, a few in the living room, and the majority downstairs in the basement (aka playroom!) 

July

July has been a crazy busy month around here! Hence the lack of posting ;) We are now all moved into our new place though and things are relatively unpacked and settled!! I LOVE that feeling! The whole packing/moving process is a handful with four little ones around during the week!

But look at those four sweet faces :)

Alex was quite the helper "labeling" boxes for me! He LOVED this when we moved last year and I think he loved it even more this year! Amazing what changes he's gone through... this year he wasn't just scribbling on boxes, but writing his name and other "words"!! What a smartie!

This box is labeled "mom"!

The boys helping mommy clean!

And of course this one wanted in on the labeling fun too!

We left Friday evening on July 1st to head to my parents house in DuBois, PA (about a 5 hour drive) to pick up all the stuff that has been in storage there for the last year. Even though they are stationed in GA right now, they made the trip up to help us and visit with us for the night!

We had a campfire, the boys loved roasting marshmellows and playing in the yard!

Grandpa bought some fireworks that Alex and Gary LOVED!!!! Anyone that knows Gary knows that fireworks are a huge love of his ;) Particularily setting them off himself...

Saturday we got up early to start loading the truck up! We got a 22ft truck this year (last year we moved our stuff with a 26ft truck and it was a VERY tight fit... but we had two trips this year and figured this would be plenty big enough!)

Alex was a HUGE helper!!

He absolutely loved the truck! ( In fact, every time he prays the first thing he STILL says is "thank you for the yellow moving truck!" LOL)

We just kept loading and loading though (not super tightly like last year...), and we pretty much packed the entire truck! Can't believe how much stuff we had there... mostly furniture and boxes of school stuff from teaching.

After loading everything up we went on a quick boat ride on the lake before we hit the road!

The kids both thought it went a bit fast, but all in all enjoyed grandpa's boat!

We left Saturday after lunch to head back to DC. Gary's family met up with us at the new townhouse (twice the size of our apartment - 3 bedrooms, with a large basement for a playroom!) We unloaded the truck Saturday night, then went back to our apartment to relax before another big day! Sunday we got up early and loaded up the apartment!

Here are our helpers in the truck! We loaded everything up by lunchtime, then headed to lunch, then the townhouse to unload! We are so appreciative of all the help we had! We couldn't have done it without our families and are so grateful for all of their help!!! Monday my parents came through on their way back to GA to help move things around, clean, etc. And I've been unpacking little by little ever since. Two weeks after the move, it's all pretty much unpacked and things are looking pretty good! We are absolutely loving the space, and although Nathan has been a little clingy, the kids are transitioning well! :)

We had a weekend of celebration our first weekend in the new house! Our anniversary and Gary's birthday happen to fall just 2 days apart (July 8th and 10th). Friday the 8th Gary made an AMAZING 5 year anniversary dinner for us to celebrate as a family. Can't believe all that has happened in the last five years, it's been crazy but absolutely wonderful! Saturday some friends of ours watched the boys and we spent the evening going on dinner and movie date! (Transformers 3 in IMAX 3-D... yes, we went for the romantic evening - ha!) We really did have a great time though - I really treasure those kid-free dates with my hubby! :) Then Sunday was Gary's birthday... although it was a busy day being in the new home, we managed to spend time going to dinner and shopping for house stuff together as a family! Then we came back for cheesecake before bed! It was a great weekend!

And I can't end the post without mentioning that this little man started walking just before all of that excitement! After standing for a few moments on his own for about a month and just being afraid to take that first step, he finally started taking 3-4 steps at a time at 13 months and 1 week... then after about a week of a few steps at a time, he began fully walking at 13 1/2 months :) I love the wobbly little toddler walk!!