St Louis

We took a short trip to see my brother, Josh, and his wife, Caylee, this past weekend. It had been waaaay too long since we'd seen them, but it didn't take the boys long to be super crazy about them both. They gave us a great tour of the city, took us to an amazing farmer's market & Trader Joe's (YAY!), fed us wonderful food, and played non-stop with Ethan & Owen.

One of the fun (and free) things you can do in the city is go to the Science Museum. The boys had a blast checking out the different exhibits. I think their favorite was the life size T-Rex that roared and moved. Because it was SO hot, we didn't make it to the zoo or botanical gardens, so I think that means that we'll have to go back soon...

16...17 Months

Okay, so I really fell off the blogging wagon with Owen's birth months...July has been a busy month!

Owen continues to entertain us. He's still pushing "ding dings" around the house, and he never, ever sits still. He's really gotten into dancing, and I was able to capture his latest "car seat dance" while we drove to St Louis this past weekend.

It amazes me how much he understands. I have to remind myself that he really does understand what I am saying when he's choosing to do the opposite. The dreaded word "NO" has entered his vocabulary unfortunately! It is fun watching him learn how to communicate in ways other than screaming (although that is quite effective!). My favorite is when he says "Peeese" (please). He has taken several nasty falls and hit his head in the exact same spot every time. I am afraid he's going to have a permanent goose-egg on his head. He is STILL putting everything in his mouth. I really thought he was doing well coloring with markers one day, until...

Owen definitely has a sensitive little heart. The past several weeks when his big brother has gotten into trouble (usually for some offense to his little brother), Owen bawls until he sees that Ethan is okay. He generally asks for his "Bubba" (yes, we're officially Arkansans) first thing in the morning too. I hope that they are lifelong friends...

A Pretty Fabulous (and busy) 4th

We started out our 4th of July weekend by going to 1st Fridays on the Square. We had fun listening to music, seeing friends, and looking at all the things the vendors were selling. Ethan, however, had a one track mind and was dying to jump on a trampoline that was there. Chris, being the sweet dad he is, agreed to wait with Ethan in the LONG line to let him get try it out. They waited an hour, and Ethan was completely stoked...until he actually stood on the trampoline. His "super hero demeanor" completely changed, and he last one jump before they unharnessed him screaming. Ah, well. It was worth a try!

The next night we headed to Missouri to join some friends celebrating an early 4th. There was great food, sparklers, games, a huge tree house, and wide open spaces for our boys to run wild. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures...

On Sunday, the actual 4th of July, we threw an impromptu block party with some of our neighbors. We didn't actually start planning it till the day of, but I was pretty impressed with how well it all came together. We had a ton of great food, a jump house, fireworks and a ton of kiddos running around. Owen didn't stay awake long enough to see the fireworks (he wore himself out running all over the driveway stealing food from people). Ethan did manage to stay up and watch them (in spite of a burnt foot from a sparkler...apparently stepping on them is not a good idea). The weather turned out perfect for the evening, and everyone had a blast.

To wrap up the fun weekend, we spent Monday morning with friends at Miss Pattie's house. The boys swam, played in the sandbox, ate pizza and YUMMY ice cream sandwiches, and went down the inflatable slide about a million times. (THANKS Miss Pattie for having us over!!!)

I really am afraid it's going to take several days to detox from our fun, extended weekend! We're so thankful for such good friends, and this was one memorable holiday that I'm sure we'll be talking about for awhile!