Funny Phrases

I could list a million from Grayson, but Luke is my man of few words. So few, in fact, that I really can't think of any two word phrases he uses. UNTIL - yesterday morning when Steve (joking, of course) gave me a "Geez, Woman" in response to something. So what does Luke decide to make his first phrase? Clear as a bell, Luke pipes up with a, "Geez, Woman." Lovely.

Our mini-"staycation"

After returning from Snowshoe, we decided to just spend the rest of the week off around Blacksburg.

We've spending quite a bit of time out on the patio. I especially like relaxing here now that I have new patio furniture!

After blowing through two inflatable pools, the boys were super happy to get their big green plastic pool!

Steve's Dad wanted to do some tree trimming one day so he rented a highranger and the big boys had fun with chainsaws!

Of course the boys wanted a ride up to the trees, too!

Poppaw was more than happy to oblige.

While the big boys had fun with chainsaws, Jolene and I took the boys bowling. Grayson had been asking to go for a while, so we figured this was the perfect time!

Grayson was soooo excited!

He did huge cheers anytime anyone knocked down any number of pins!

The ball guide was certainly a huge help for the boys. With the help of the ball guide and automatic bumpers, Grayson actually won the game fair and square.

The Horticulture Gardens at Virginia Tech are a favorite spot in good weather. We ventured there Saturday afternoon and happened upon a wedding party taking pictures for a wedding later that evening. It couldn't have been more beautiful - seriously, one of the most beautiful wedding gowns I have seen. I should have snapped a picture of it but didn't want to seem tacky.

These next two pictures really capture the photo-style of each of my kids. Luke will never stand where I want him to stand and never likes to look at the camera.

Grayson, on the other hand - is a camera ham.

Yey - a decent shot of the two of us!

Looking for orange fish.

A few pretty flower pictures.
And a flower with a bee!And Steve getting a bee stinger out of Grayson's foot. Fortunately the lime popsicle helped to numb the pain!

Yes, Snowshoe in the summer!

Our mini-vacation destination was actually Snowshoe for a few days. We had originally planned to go to Baltimore, but with a few changes in friends schedules and the predicted heat wave, we thought Snowshoe might be a better place to land this past week. We were right. Weather was perfect, distance just about right, and 2 night length of stay about what the boys could handle.

We stayed right in the village. Here was the view from our balcony:

Normally it's freezing and we're on the slopes, but a summer trip to Snowshoe allowed us to enjoy Split Rock Pools for a change. The boys loved the waterslide!

And the indoor area, though kind of hot, allowed Grayson to really play by himself with little fear of getting into any trouble.

We tried to snap a few family pictures: Steve with the boys.

Mom with her boys:

And Mom and Dad courtesy of a 3 year old photographer :-)

The beach area at the lake was fun, but the boys were most thrilled with getting fruit snacks as a treat!

Our own little beached whale.

Both boys were old enough to enjoy the lift ride down the mountain this year!

Grayson begged to do the Eurobungy and we finally gave in.

The boys favored mode of transportation was the Skuut.

We even let them ride them into the buildings and rooms.

Our little daredevil taking his Skuut down the skate ramp. I'll try to post video later.

Luke trying his best to keep up with Grayson. All will, no skills.

My boys having a little chat before using the skate ramp as a slide.

Cass Scenic Railroad

We first went to Cass, WV with our friends Tim Ed, Joe, and Angela a few years ago - okay, more than a few since it was before I had Grayson. But we really enjoyed the train ride up the mountain and the beautiful scenery. We've since been once with the boys last year for Memorial Day and then went again this past week as part of our little mini-vacation. Grayson absolutely LOVED it this time. He's really that perfect age for enjoying something like this...just enough of an adventure. He wanted to know everything about the trains and how they worked and where the smoke came from and why they need coal and, and, and, and. You get the idea. It was fun to watch how excited he was. Luke - not so much. And since trains are really one of the few things Luke has expressed interest in, I was a little surprised. But, like a year and a half ago, Luke was just content to sit on my lap.

Luke's favorite seat:Steve let Grayson stand on the cooler to look out the window. He stood there the entire ride except when the whistle would blow at which point he would come cling to be for about 5 seconds then return to his lookout on the cooler.

He liked seeing where the train workers used to stay.

Wow - he almost couldn't control himself. A crane ON a train!

One super happy kid! A week later he's still saying, "Mom, I really liked riding that train."

More Pandapas

With the discovery of Grayson's newfound love of fishing, we get more and more requests to go to Pandapas. With another of our lazy vacation days this week (in fact I think this was July 4th) we took the boys to "fish" for a while.

Blueberries at Crow's Nest

The daycare closes every year during the first week in July. This year we planned a mini-vacation to Snowshoe but also wanted to take advantage of having time to do a few things in the area that we never seem to find time to enjoy. First on the list - blueberry picking at Crow's Nest Farm.

Luke ate every single blueberry I would put in his container. It got so bad that I had to stop putting any in there and we also felt obligated to contribute to the community "sin bucket" hanging on the way out if you "tasted too many."

Grayson turned out to be a pretty skilled picker!

Steve definitely pulled his weight as well.