Backyard Shenanigans

The weather was so beautiful while we were in Indiana, and it allowed us to enjoy lots of time in Gramma Sue's colorfully landscaped backyard. The bubble gun was a big hit.

We also had a good time playing with water balloons. Who knew they came in handy for teething??!!

Even Daddy got into the backyard shenanigans. One afternoon, we found him up in this tree.

Ah, nothing says summer like a big piece of juicy watermelon!

Evening the Score

With the news on Tuesday of Baby Boy Hitch's arrival in early November, the grandchild count on Mommy's family's side is now at an even 2-2. Yippee!! Not to worry though; despite the apparent numerical tie, the girls will surely find a way to keep the upper hand!

Swimsuit Season

Even though she doesn't see much sun at this age, Marci still enjoys lounging indoors in her seersucker suit.

Here's Piper showing off her "outie" on the beach!

And here she is again, looking a little sandy and very happy.

Marci, in her matching cherry swimsuit, takes frequent dips in the "drool pool" these days. Surely there's a tooth in there somewhere that's going to break the surface soon!

Family Road Trip

We're back from our family road trip to Indiana for Daddy's twentieth (WOW!) high school reunion. We covered 1,993 miles in one week, and surprisingly, all of that time in the car wasn't too bad. We followed the strong urging of friends and took along a travel DVD player for Osten, and he passed more than a few miles playing with it. He even watched it occasionally, too.

Marci stayed busy watching her brother and playing with her stuffed giraffe.

The best part of the trip, by far, was when we weren't in the car! Here we are at the Steak 'n' Shake in Macon on our first leg of the trip.

By the last leg of the trip, we had gotten a little stir crazy and were more than ready to get home. This hotel near Chattanooga was not too kid-friendly. Luckily, Daddy makes a pretty good jungle gym . . . especially when he's enthralled in the Georgia-Fresno State championship baseball game!

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we took Daddy on a dolphin tour.

The dolphins swam right up to the boat, and we had some great views of Tybee.

Whew! All of that salt water and sun can really wear a little guy out.

It can also work up a little girl's appetite!

Big Brother Boot Camp

Life lessons by Osten began this afternoon. So far, Marci is the only glutton for punishment who has been convinced to enroll in big brother boot camp. The baby gloves are off, at least when Osten is doing the handling, but surprisingly Marci is seeming to enjoy his, um, guidance. And, if he's able to teach her to drink from a sippy cup, we just might be able to find ourselves a few recruits!

Big Brother Benefits

Being a big brother is definitely not without its benefits, especially now that Marci is eating baby snacks!