Cell phone Photo Dump

Here is a cell phone photo dump from the past two years. Yes, TWO years. I don't know why I haven't done this before. I decided to blog them so they'll be in our blog books we get printed.

Eli passes out on the way home from Discovery Place Kids. He goes full steam ahead while there and then crashes in the car.

Naturally, we play on the tractor at DPK.
And put eggs in the basket. They get plenty of practice at DPK so they won't break any when they help at Grandpa's.
This may be the cutest picture ever. Our cousins came to visit this summer, and we all went to Carowinds. Minus Eli who wasn't feeling the greatest. Drakey and his cousin Pryce held hands walking through the park.

Proud of his new haircut!

It got too hot for all this sweet hair.
Bambi came to visit our backyard.
Eli's first oreo cookie. He thought it was quite tasty.
Watching fireworks, AKA "boom-booms" July 4th. I loved the peeking from behind the fingers.

Mom cooks dinner, Eli dismantles the pantry. Whatever works. Dinner got cooked, the pantry got cleaned up.

I guess riding the carousel is torture.
Eli, spring 2011, the carousel at Concord Mills Mall.
Sweet Eli wrapped against Grandma in a Babyhawk carrier.
June 2010- Drakey at the beach. Cherry Grove, SC
Super blurry from last Halloween. But it makes me smile. I love holidays with my sweet boys.
He loves to play in the shower. Water or no water, makes no difference to him.
Drake sharing his crayon with the lobster at Red Lobster.
Me and my "Leli" as I often call him in the San Francisco airport.
Fran (our last au pair) and Drakey at Ikea. See his little noggin peaking over? He loves to ride the carts.
Drake (approx 16 months) riding Lucy. Our little princess weighs 119 pounds. She's a boxer. A very large boxer.
Drake, about 15 months, passed out at Freedom Park. Eli was only a couple of weeks old.
Eli at a few days old, in the Moby wrap. I LOVED this wrap during the itty bitty baby stage.
Coming home from the hospital....Heart be still. Such an itty bitty. Love!
My first picture ever with my iphone. Drake at 6 months. So stinkin' cute I can't even stand it!!!!

The Boys go to the Country

As promised, here is a review of the boys weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. These two have no idea how lucky they are. They can go to SC or NY anytime and get ridiculously spoiled. Their Oma, Opa, Grandma, and Grandpa spoil them beyond belief.

So, while the stinkers were living the high life, this is what Daddy was up to. I have to say that 11 hours in the car is lovely when it's a convertible with no children. I now love my husband's mid thirties crisis car.

When I was growing up, I spent summers at my grandparents. I lived in their pool. That did NOT stop me for asking my parents for a pool at their house. I've asked my parents for a pool for 32 years. I've never gotten one. Well ya know what? My parents took the grandkids swimming a few weeks ago at their greatgrandparents. They had so much fun, that this is the end result......
Yep. You guessed it. My parents are getting a pool. ARE YOU SERIOUS? 32 years I asked for one. My boys and their cousin have fun ONE time at a pool, and all of a sudden my parents have a bulldozer in their backyard. Figures.
Eli had to take his turn sitting on the tractor digging the pool.
Drake was so excited about the pool being dug. We talked about it all week, and he kept saying "I dig it. Need BIG shovel. I dig it.". So, here he is digging the pool.
That was a rough day. Naptime!
They went out to dinner to celebrate cousin Will's birthday. What is Eli doing here?
But of course, he's trying to play air hockey like his brother and cousin!
This picture is the one thing that offers hours of entertainment at my parents. The TRACTOR. Drake loves this thing more than words can possibly express. And to make it easier for him, my Dad simply leaves a chair beside it, so Drake can climb up faster.
My Mom brought the boys back on Monday afternoon, which allowed me a few hours to do a ton of errands. Turns out, Drake was having more fun there than he would here at home. The corn was being cut in a nearby field, so Drake and Grandpa headed over to assess the situation. Eli stayed back for some one on one snuggles with Grandma:-)

Drake got to be the first mate/assistant captain. This combine is enclosed, with air conditioning, GPS, and a radio. That's seriously nicer than my car.
My big boy in heaven
It doesn't get any better than this!
Cheese!

Buffalo trip August 2011

Eric and I traveled to Buffalo last weekend for his cousin's wedding. Congrats Chas and Nina!!! Flights are out of control expensive, so we decided to drive. 11 hours. Oh. My.

So, the decision was made to leave the boys in SC with my parents, and drive up for 3 nights. We left Thursday, and spent the night in Pittsburgh. Drove the rest of the way Friday morning, and had the wedding reception Friday night. Saturday was relaxing, exploring parts of Buffalo, and dinner out with Eric's brother Joe, and his wife Dianna. While we missed our sweet boys like crazy, it was so good to get away. We've only left them like that once before, and that was for one night in Asheville.

The boys had more fun than you can imagine! I'm working on another blog post about their trip to Grandma and Grandpa's.

The bride and groom:-)

Eric, his BIL, and Dad. They cleaned up nicely!
Beautiful sunset during the reception.
The whole Kirsch crew
Our immediate Kirsch family, minus the 7 grandchildren!
My sweet niece Gwen. I got some good snuggles on this trip!
Sweetie pie Nora who has the most lovable thighs on earth.
Gavin, my only nephew. We need some more boys! He would've loved to had Drake and Eli to pal around with.
Lacey; who was not so sure about this "Aunt Nikki" character. She'll love me one day, as soon as she realized what a cool aunt I am;-)
My honey! Happy 4 years!

Our summer at Carowinds!

Oh my goodness, the smartest thing I did this summer was buy a season pass to Carowinds. We've tried to go once a week, but at least every other week. There are a few rides for the boys, but we really go for the waterpark. It's 22 acres, and phenomenal! These pictures are from over 3 different trips to the park. We will definitely be buying season tickets again next year!

This was our first trip, with our old au pair Fran, and Marley, and Aidan. M & A are our neighbors that are like big sisters to our boys.

Drake was totally not into the characters this trip.
The horsies as Drake calles them.
Their favorite ride.

Choo-choo....

Waiting for the helicopter ride.
Me and my little stinker on the helicopter ride.
Drake loves to drive these cars:-)
Playing with his "A-A". (Aidan)
Drake loved coming down this slide with his Mar-Mar. (Marley) Now he comes down alone.
One of the spray parks.
Drake loves to high five the characters.
Drake loved watching this boat come down and make a big spray. This is in the beginning of the summer. By then end of the summer, he liked to go up on the deck and let the water spray him. He LOVED that.
A tantruming Eli and a passed out Drake. A sign of a good day.