Decades Party

My mom, sisters, and I threw my dad a 50th birthday party. The theme was "The Past Five Decades", and we asked everyone to come dressed from one of those decades. It turned out to be a lot of fun...
My groovy parents:

Us dressed as a family of the 50's. Unfortunately the photo does show my husband's rolled up jeans, white socks, and black shoes:

The group photos of the 50's folks including my sister Hannah and my little brother Opie:

The 60's group including my mom and sister Christine:

The 70's featuring my nutty brothers and of course, the Disco King:

The 80's group where you'll find my brother-in-law, future sister-in-law, and my little sister Katie:

Summer = Swimsuits

If you drive by our home on a summer night, you will probably see our swimsuits hanging out to dry on our balcony. Whether it's pools, beaches, or fountains, we love the water! Yesterday we spent time with some friends at a little park that had some water fountains.

Looking at the bucket feature of the fountain:

"If you want to get really wet, stand right here brother."

Doused:

Hanging with some buddies (Elijah refused to get in the shot):

Summer tootsies:

My friend Emma had the idea to give them all on Oreo so they would sit for the picture.
Here's Adriana sporting her post-Oreo face with little Kaia in the background vying for her attention:

Yittle Boo-Boos

You know that awkward moment right after you meet someone, where you rack your brain, thinking of something intelligent to say? Well at the ripe age of two, Adriana has already figured out how to break the ice with strangers. It goes something like this, "Hi, hi! I have a boo-boo!" She'll then proceed to pull up her shorts and show them her so-slight-you-can-hardly-see-it-anymore knee scab. She does this constantly. If a stranger is walking by our place, she'll shout from the balcony, "HI! YOOK AT MY BOO-BOO!" (All "L" are pronounced with the sound of "Y" in her vocabulary.) If some teenage boy at church happens to politely give a quick "hi" as he passes, she'll chase him down to show off her knees (bad habits we can hopefully break before the teenage years).
She often sees her brothers receive gum, but knows she's not old enough to have some yet. So she reminds me at random moments, "I'm too yittle for gum." Today, in an attempt to get a shower for myself, I asked her if she wanted to take her stuffed doggie to the couch to watch a television show. She's not too interested in TV and would much rather follow me around; so her smooth response was, "Um, no, doggie's too yittle."

Softball

Steven recently finished up his spring softball season. The boys think going to Daddy's games is very exciting, but somehow they always end up running off to play with the other kids. Adriana is content to hang out and "watch" as long as I have snacks in tow.

Birthdays, Birthdays!

We spent a long, fun weekend at my parents house celebrating the birthdays of Adriana, my mom, and Uncle Sam. We visited a couple of pools, ate a lot of cake, played our share of games, and even went to see the movie "Wall-E". All three of the kids were especially thrilled by the store-bought fireworks their Papa got, and Adriana had her first go at sparklers.
The highlight for me from the weekend, was my little sweetie turning two. After experiencing so many birthdays, she was thrilled that her own had arrived. I made her a butterfly cake...pink of course. She was the queen of the day and she knew it!






Trying to get those candles out:


Getting some help from Daddy:


Brothers reading her their handmade cards:




Opening the you-know-what:

To my delight, she LOVED her new, little kitchen and has been cooking up imaginary goodies for the past few days. As I write this, she is in her room baking a cake and singing "Happy Burt-day To You!

"Washing her hands" before going to town in the kitchen:

Adriana can now tell you that she is "two"; and, while at the pool, she informed my sister that she didn't need help, "Because I'm a big boy!"

Carousels and Trains

Steven's parent came for a visit this past weekend. We had a couple adventure packed days that included Steven's softball games, a little party for Adriana's birthday, a trip to the Shenandoah National Park, and a train and carousel ride at Burke Lake Park.