September 2014 Photos

September gave us lots of cousin snuggles...

Family Home Evening moustaches...

Lego creations (or Croatians, as J would say)...

and a trip to Williamsburg!

This game is called Trapball, and we had to buy it even though it probably cost $60, because it was so much fun!

L stomped clay for bricks (eww!)

J LOOOOOVED the old fashioned hot chocolate (not very sweet, with additional spices mixed in). He drank M's and finished L's off.

L loved the reenactments and was super excited to get his very own musket!

J loved the horses - that was probably his favorite part.

J Speaks

I typed this up for my journal tonight and couldn't resist sharing. So here are some snippets of J right now, just turned 2.

J is so cute lately. He's learning so many words and beginning to put them together in adorable ways. Yesterday, he was really upset and he was screaming, "Towel (Tah-well), towel, towel!" I asked what he needed a towel for, and he pointed at his cheek and said, "Towel... water... face!" As if to say, I need a towel for this water that's coming out of my face. You mean you want a tissue to wipe your tears? We can do that!

He has a growly voice he talks in whenever he's really into something. He uses this voice to talk about lawn mowers and Star Wars. "Mower ... green ... gram-paw ... ride it! ... jar-jar ... binks ... D2 ... Vader ... a-kin (anakin) ... battle dwoid ... Woook (luke)" He also has a high pitched, soft sweet voice that he uses occasionally, like when he says, "Hi, baby!" to me. This morning, it was "Hi, little buddy!"

Tonight, Uncle Matt sang "I am a Child of God" to J, pausing at the end of each line to see if he knew the words, and he did! He could complete all the lines... at least till he got distracted.

When he snuggles into a blanket or pillow, he often says it's "cumpy" (comfy). Today, we had smoothies twice, at his request. He calls them snoovies.

A couple of weeks ago, he got the idea that he could remove his own head, as though he were a Lego mini-fig. It has tapered off, but every once in a while, I'm still catching him with his hands on his chin and cheeks, pushing upward, grunting, and saying, "Head ... off!" That cracks us all up!

August 2014 Photos

I'm kind of ashamed of myself for not having more pictures of our trip to Utah. Gone are the days when I carried my good camera around with me everywhere I went! Anyway, we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, and J had to have a ride on the mower! As usual, he was nervous while he was riding, but then begged for more. 

My brother got married in the Salt Lake Temple, so we took a little family shot while the photographer was taking pictures of the newlyweds.

Whenever we go to Utah, we have to spend a day at BYU! 

And then we went to Bridal Veil Falls. 

A visit with my wonderful Grandma Lowe.

M and I went on a date to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point.

It was great to see M's Grandma, who now lives in Utah. She lived in Oklahoma until recently, and we have fond memories of living near her when we were first married.

After our Utah trip, I took the kids to Pennsylvania to visit my parents and also to see the County Fair. They loved seeing all the animals.

And while we were there, we celebrated J's birthday a little early. More Thomas trains! It was a hit!

Cute cousins!

And here we are back home with the birthday boy on his actual birthday. I think he liked the frosting for his cake, don't you? Happy 2nd Birthday, J! We love you!

July 2014 Photos, part 3

On our way home from Tennessee, we stopped at the Virginia Safari Park, which turned out to be highly entertaining. The animals crowded around the car for a snack, sometimes blocking our way, and it was fun to feed them and see what they did. L was a little more adventurous, but J wanted his window up the whole time, understandably! These animals are much bigger than J is! It was tricky to get good pictures, because they were so close. They got a little too close to ME, in particular! A moose sneezed on me, a big hairy camel drooled all over me, and another camel reached his head the whole way into the car, to nibble food down by my feet. That was quite a surprise! Luckily, we got that one on video (see below). 

After the drive around the park, we got out to see some things on foot. They had an enclosure for these budgies, so we got to feed them and see them up close. 

If you look closely, you can see baby kangaroo feet sticking out of this mama's pouch.

It was a hot day, so most of the animals were just relaxing, like these llamas. This baby llama was only a few days old. 

There were also new baby piglets.