Dollywood!

Patrick and I took the boys to Dollywood on Saturday morning and we had a great time. We managed to get there not too long after it opened and were able to get a lot done and leave early to avoid the crowds and horrible heat. We rode a few rides, saw a couple of the KidsFest shows that we missed earlier in the summer and just had fun as a family. Unfortunately, the train was "sick" again and Drew was a little sad about that, but he understood that sometimes it can't come out of the shed. We stopped by Cracker Barrel on the way home for a late lunch and both boys ate with a vengeance. It seems they have their mother's love the the Barrel! It was a really wonderful day!

Allen loved sitting on his own horse on the carousel...

Riding the carousel instead of the train...it's just not the same but I'll smile anyway!

Such a sleepy boy!

Drew remembered the "sand train" from our last visit and was so excited to see it again, along with the new cars that had been sculpted.

We let Drew play this game and he won! He was so excited that he said "I'm the Winner" all day!

Drew's Major Award!

Surgery Scheduled

Today we went to the ENT and we have Allen's ear tubes scheduled for Tuesday, August 5. I'm glad to get it over with, but it's so soon! Nana and Grandaddy are stressed that we are doing it when they are gone, but the ENT wanted to get it done sooner rather than later since we are on a 4-5 week cycle of infections. Luckily, Aunt Celeste has offered to keep Drew for us so we can focus on Allen that day.

Speaking of the grandparents...I heard from mom today and they were on their ship, ready to set sail from Copenhagen! Their first port is Edinburgh on August 2 where they will get to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We are so jealous - that is definitely one thing I want to go back and do in Scotland!

Yep...we're still here...

Sorry for the lack of new posts. Allen has been quite a handful over the past week. He is crawling absolutely everywhere...and nothing is sacred anymore. He is in to much more than Drew EVER was at this stage! And he is pulling up on everything and trying to walk...scary! He can even climb the bottom stair! And, to top it off, Allen has decided to boycott sleep. Well...it may not be entirely his decision (I think he's finally getting more teeth) but it has not been fun at all to deal with sleepless nights and the inconsolable screaming. Oh well...this too shall pass, right?
Here are some photos of the boys from today...

Allen's first biter biscuit experience...he LOVED it!

Drew was feeling left out and wanted me to take a picture of him with HIS cookie!

You have GOT to be kidding...

Allen has another ear infection. Yep...4 weeks after his last one and just one week after a perfectly clear recheck. We're headed to the ENT next Thursday. Mommy is just SO thrilled!!

He's Mobile!

Allen is officially crawling. Once he mastered getting into a sitting position from his belly, I knew it was just a matter of time. He is very different from Drew in that sense...why sit still when I can go over there? Allen was thoughtful and waited until Friday afternoon when Patrick was here to see it. We were actually all playing in the living room together and he just took off! He's unstoppable now...much to Drew's disappointment. And, unfortunately, Drew has become obsessed with building train tracks on the floor of the playroom in the past few weeks. While it's so much fun for him to build new tracks with fun new places for the trains to go...it's not so much fun for Allen to come along like Godzilla and take them apart in an instant! We have already had many tears in the past 48 hours...it's going to be a long couple of years...
I actually caught Allen's first crawl on video. However, I have no idea how to get said video off my camera, onto the computer and onto the blog. Should Patrick have a moment...well...maybe you'll see it some day!

Fun times after dinner

After we finished dinner tonight (and the marathon that is cooking for me and Drew, feeding Allen, convincing Drew to eat, keeping Allen happy for that extended period of time...) I decided we needed some time outside. So we gathered up blankets and toys for Allen and chalk for Drew and headed to the driveway. They boys had a great time and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather. Drew wanted me to draw trains and then a "hop-squash" board for him to jump on. Allen just watched and laughed...and later figured out how to move himself forward enough to get chalk all over him and lick it off his hands. Great...

Drew's "hop-squash" board...he loves to jump and count to 10!

He's finally getting the hang of this jumping with two feet off the ground thing...

Allen's pad and our lovely artwork

Yummy...chalk!

Deep Thoughts by Drew...

Our current favorite thing Drew says is "I don't know that". He says it in relation to people, things, songs, etc. We got him some new CD's (TMBG and BNL)for the car (in an attempt to preserve our sanity) and when a new song comes on he says "what song is that?" and when I tell him the title he says "I don't know that song". Obviously...it's a new song...how would you know it?
We'll be doing something that will spark my memory and I'll say "that reminds me, we need to go to the grocery store" to which he will respond "I don't know the grocery store". Or he'll see something on TV (on the rare ocassion that I am getting to watch the news) and he'll say "Who is that?" that's the president Drew "Oh, I don't know the president". It's constant...and hilarious!
Another great thing he said involved the US Open this year. Patrick was watching the playoff round on Monday and Drew was paying attention more than we thought. He started cheering every time Rocco would make a good shot or a putt. I asked him if he knew who was playing and he said "that's Rocco". Impressed, I asked him who Rocco was playing against and he said "ummm, Lion?" I about peed my pants I was laughing so hard!

Amelia is 3!

On Friday, July 11, Amelia turned 3 years old! It was a fun day complete with a party at Jumpity Jump in the morning and a pizza party for the family that night. Drew loved her parties and was completely content with it being her birthday and not his. The only thing that confused him was why she kept what was in "his gift" - I didn't make it clear that the gift bag we took into the party was from him TO her, not FROM her. But when he saw all the princess stuff inside he was fine with it. She was a wonderful birthday girl and we had a great time with her. It's so hard to believe she is 3!

Even more new tricks...

Allen has a few new tricks he has mastered since last week. The most adorable thing is clapping...he claps for songs, for you when you come in the room, for toys, for diaper changes....he'll even clap on command...it is too cute. He just started doing it on Thursday and hasn't stopped! I'm sure the fact that I get so excited every time he does it makes him feel like he should keep doing it!

Today he was napping and had been asleep a while so I knew he would be waking up soon. I heard him make some noise and then he was quiet again. I walked in his room and found him sitting up in his crib, just smiling! He started clapping as soon as he saw me, as if to say "Look at me! I did something good!" Precious!

He continues to pull up on everything he can find, whether it is strong enough to hold his weight or not! From a sitting position, he has pulled up on his crib slats, on the ottoman cubes in the living room, on his dinosaur (which promptly tips over), on the train table...it's constant. I'm waiting for him to fall and bust his mouth open, but so far he's been lucky!

My Favorite Cartoons...

I have discovered the best cartoon in the paper...hands down... Here is one from a few Sunday's ago that is just my life in ink! (Click on the picture to enlarge it...)