When it's 100+ degrees out, you have to get creative!

We went through some nasty heat recently where it was well over 100 degrees, not including the heat index, and the air quality was terrible and it was generally unhealthy to be outside...

Aaron was getting very antsy and bored...

so we splashed around inside for a bit...

Aaron loved it!

What's for dinner?

A Boy and his dog

Sidney and Aaron have some kind of special bond. He loves her and is super gentle with her, and she loves him. She prefers to sleep outside his room when he naps. He loves to watch her eat, he likes sitting in her dog bed, and he plays with her. She's also never bit him but has bitten Charlie twice so far. One more bite and she's a gonner...we hope for Aaron's sake mostly that she doesn't bite anyone else. Mostly we keep her and the kids separated unless we are observing them closely. So here's some pics of the two best friends playing!

Sidney eventually won the tug-o-war game and settled down to maul her prize in peace!

updates...

wow, when the summer comes, time really starts to fly by! I cannot believe that it is almost August! I thought I'd take some time to update you (for anyone who actually reads this) on each of us...no pictures, sorry!

Charlie:
Charlie has us laughing every day. He is the most creative little guy I've ever met. He's smart and clever and alot of fun. He's into trains like no kid I've ever met. He has elaborate set-ups with his toy trains and has whole story lines about what's going on with them. And he spends hours playing by himself with his trains...awesome for Alex and I! His latest funny comment: we were heading to Rita's to get water ice after dinner tonight. I was singing the jingle "be cool eat a Rits'a" a few times and a few minutes later Charlie asked me, "mommy, can we go to diarrhea's to get come ice water"...I was laughing so hard! He knows all of his letters and can write all of his letters. He also knows his numbers although he writes all of his numbers backwards...don't know why! During the summer he's in school three days a week. The other days, we go to spraygrounds, ride bikes and play on playgrounds. It has been really unbelievably hot here so our outside time is limited to early morning and evening. Generally though, he's fantastic!

Aaron:
Aaron is a little pistol. He doesn't listen to us at all, touches everything, and gets into something bad almost every day. He's very cuddly and loving and a total momma's boy. He fun and exasperating all at the same time. He's the hardest kid to feed...seriously makes me crazy trying to feed him. He's in speech therapy and making great progress. He says momma, bye bye, ni-ni (night night), dada...he loves to wave at everyone and finds it hysterical to have people wave back at him. He runs everywhere and climbs on everything! He's also in physical therapy...not because he's behind anymore, but his therapist is working on his coordination and strength...fine with us. We love her and she loves him! He's going to start daycare (same place as Charlie) three days a week in septempber...I'm not ready to let him go, although I am ready for a break from having him all the time! He's a fiesty spunky little guy and he keeps things interesting for us! He always has!

Alex:
Alex is in school getting his masters...it's an online program so he's home doing it, but he's working hard and got fantastic grades last quarter. He'll have his masters in a year and will start working on his PhD at that point. He works out alot in our home gym and has the kids a great deal when I'm working or sleeping after work.

Me:
I am working and running and spending time with the kids. Marathon number one is coming up in less than five months. I am running alot and although I haven't started my "official" training schedule, I am trying to run as frequently as I can. The long run training will start mid-august. My running is great and I've actually trained myself to deal with running in the heat. Prior to this summer, any temperature over 75 degrees was too hot for me to run in. This summer has been so damn hot though, I don't have a choice and have had to get used to the heat. I also signed up for the "goofy Challenge" in January. It's a half marathon on saturday and a full marathon on sunday through the disney world park. After the races, we are spending the week down there park-hopping with the kids and my parents and my sister's family. Can't wait! So the running is great, I'm down to my pre-charlie weight which thrills me to no end. I also got a bike for my birthday so I've been riding it to work and all over the city running errands. I also use it to go on long rides and do a day of cross-training every other week.

That's all. hope all is well with everyone reading this!

Another weekend at the beach...this time LBI with Alex's dad

It was really hot all weekend...90+ degrees every day!
Aarn tried to stay cool in the stroller...we went and rode rides both nights, and did the beach thing both saturday and sunday...

Charlie getting ready to ride his first ride...

it was taking a while to get all the kiddos on board...

daddy and Charlie on the Ferris Wheel...

Mommy and Aaron sitting across from them on the ferris wheel...it was one of the cage kind so we all sat together...fun times!

saturday night was a late night for the kiddos...aaron was feeling rough on sunday!

Elmo helped him through it!

Today (sunday) was almost too hot to be on the beach. Aaron got too hot after only an hour so he had some early morning time on the beach and I spent the rest of the day in the house with him while Charlie and Alex hung out on the beach...

I love that my boys love the beach and the water so much!!!!!!!!!!

Dewey Beach weekend

We spent part of this past week in Dewey...it was just my mom, and alex and the kids and I most of the time, although my dad was there for 24 hours before heading to Japan...above, Charlie fell asleep snuggling with scooby doo on the ride down...
When we got there, he had a water squirter fight with Gampa...I don't know who won because they were both soaked!

Aaron tried to get in on the fun...

Gampa came with Aaron and I to the playground

Aaron had alot of fun on the beach and was alot to keep track of...memorial day weekend, he was barely walking, so he kind of stayed still on the beach...not this time!

We went out to dinner and Alex got the lobster...it was Charlie's first time seeing food that looked like an animal...he was kind of disturbed and asked lots of questions...why it had eyes, how it got killed, why it got killed, etc...poor kid!

Charlie had fun digging holes, Aaron of course climbed into them all and made Charlie upset...they have a love/hate relationship like that!

Mostly Aaron really loved the water but it was rough! I got to go on two great runs (although it was sooo humid down there!) and Charlie and Alex did their usual lunch at Hooters and rides on the boardwalk. Charlie actually went on the gravitron which is a scary very spinny ride where you get stuck to the walls because it's going around so fast...he loved it! Crazy kid!

Some more Charlieisms...

*I took both kids to the aquarium to other day and on our way home Charlie says to me:

"mommy, thank you so much for taking me on so many vacations...the zoo, the aquarium, the beach...I am such a lucky boy, thank you for making me so lucky"!


*Charlie-"mommy, why is the world such a big place?"
me-"well, the earth is big, so that means that everything on it is big"
Charlie-"you can say that again, whew"

I was cracking up!


*Charlie and I were in his playroom and he was having a train adventure while I "helped". I asked him why some trains had passenger cars, and others had freight cars...his response:

"it's all part of the plan mommy...more or less"

I was cracking up at that also!

Sprayground Antics

I took the boys to a "sprayground" near our house the other day...OMG did we ever have fun!
Above is Charlie's reaction when we first got there. He had a BLAST!

Aaron enjoyed it too!

This picture is a favorite of mine!

Gotta love when the ice cream man comes to the spray ground!

my boys

My boys at the park