This week my good friend Leanna and her two boys came to visit for a few days. Her oldest son, Max, and James are the same age and Zak is almost 2. It was a crazy few days but so much fun. By the end, the boys were really having the best time and it was hard on them to say goodbye. They will be back in a few weeks on their way back to Ohio from Florida - and James is already counting down the days.



This past week John was out of town and so I paid extra careful attention to make sure James did not sneak out to sleep on the stairs - which he didn't, he just slept under his bed. Which is fine - better than the stairs. 

 

We were lucky to be able to FaceTime with John several times while he was in Germany. When he travels internationally it gets a little hard with the bigger time changes to talk to him often, but we were able to "see" him a few times this week - which is always a highlight for the kids.



This was James' last day of camp. He had the best time. I think we might try and do one more week later this summer since it was such a hit. He would come home so dirty and tired but with a huge smile on his face. I am now counting down the days until preschool :)



 

John came home for about 24 hours before he left again - so we spent the day together outside. It was beautiful out so we took advantage of it and had a really nice day.



 

Madeleine did not like the ice cream as much as the rest of us did!



 

James is still sleeping on the floor, but at least it is not under the bed.



The weather has been perfect and since school is out, all the neighborhood kids are home. I know I have mentioned this several times, but our street is just awesome. Seeing all the kids home and playing in the street is just so much fun. We have been constantly outside just enjoying the first weeks of summer.



 

Again, James is sleeping on the stairs. We have started shutting his door for bedtime because we can hear it squeak open when he sneaks out. So far, after this night, we have been able to tuck him back in bed each time he attempts to sleep on the stairs. I am hoping this phase ends soon.



 

This used to be James' old toy piano. Madeleine likes to play it while she stands up - James keeps telling her she is doing it wrong. We just tell him that she likes to rock out while she plays.



 

Building with duplos is one activity that all three of them can do without fighting :)



 

We went to Lake Norman and had a picnic with some friends - throwing sticks and rocks in the water never gets old.



 

Splash park!



 

Twice last week, we went to the neighborhood pool after John got home from work and just ordered a pizza and had it delivered there. It was awesome :)



 

After dinner we have been taking walks or going for bike rides. When we walk, James has been helping walk the dogs. He has gotten very good.



 

What is it with babies and making messes??



 

Yesterday was James' first day of camp. It is all week and he was very excited. He came home and asked when he was going back. This camp is at his preschool next year, so I am taking that as an excellent sign that he will love preschool. One of his teachers at the camp will be his teacher during the year and he already is calling her his new friend. We of course had to take a picture before he left - I should have taken one when he got home though. I ended up stripping him in the garage he was so covered in mud! But at least he had fun.



Last Thursday

Last Thursday, we went to a splash park with James' friend Griffin. We took a lunch picnic and just let the kids run crazy. It was really hot and a great way to let the kids cool off. It will be a frequent activity this summer.

 



 

When we got back home, it was nap time. I took both kids into James' room and read books in there before nap time... and James wanted to shut the door, which was fine. After the book was over and James was tucked into bed, I scooped up Madeleine and walked over to the door - only to find it was locked. Now, I should have started with explaining that about 6 months ago John took James' door handle off and turned it around so that the lock was on the outside so that he could not lock himself in his room. Not in a million years did we think that he would turn the lock from the outside and then close the door so that it locked him in... with Madeleine and I also in the room. Thank goodness I had my phone with me so I could call for help. We ended up waiting for over 45 minutes while John finished what he was doing at work and drove home to let us out. I don't even know what we would have done if he was out of town. We have now made an extra key and given it to a neighbor... just in case.  

 



 

James thought he was hilarious and Madeleine was entertained by all of James's toys scattered around his room. It turned into something funny, but boy did my heart panic when I realized that door knob wasn't turning. 

Weekend in Charleston

Last weekend we headed to Charleston for our first official family of four beach trip. We wanted to see Stephen one more time before he was deployed for 6 months. It was last minute but so much fun. And since it was last minute, we forgot the camera - so these are all pictures from our phones... so sorry they are foggy!  

 

On the way down we had to stop for an emergency pee break for James. Of course this was right after we passed a rest area and we didn't know when there would be another one... and asking a 3 year old to hold it for ten minutes is never an option. So we made do.

Madeleine thought that the floor mirrors in the hotel room were awesome. She spent most of her time talking to herself when we were in the room. I was beyond impressed with how well the kids did in a hotel room, everyone slept and listened and it couldn't have gone better.
 

James was so excited to go to the beach. I am sure he doesn't remember our trip to the beach last year, but he knows there is a lot of sand and a lot of water - which are two of his favorite things!

Madeleine absolutely loved the ocean. I really thought she was going to hate the salt water but she did not want to stop. She crawled in the surf and didn't get upset when the waves would knock her down. She was awesome. Plus she only ate a couple of handfuls of sand - I thought she would have been much worse!

James of course loved it and loved having Stephen to play with.

John had the great idea to buy one of these "sun shelters" earlier this summer for just any outdoor occasion with Madeleine - and it was seriously brilliant. We all got to enjoy the shade and it kept most of our things from getting too much sand in them.

We stayed for the whole day, we let James go without his usual nap but Madeleine needed hers.

And then woke up when Stephen was having a sandwich... which he then had to share with her.

This is her "I want to get back in the water not take pictures" face.

One of our neighbors lived in Charleston for several years and told us we should go to Coconut Joe's for dinner because it is right on the beach and has great live music. It was a fun little place and the bartender was even wearing a Ohio State hat :)

On the way back to the hotel, I was sitting in the back with the kids and James and I were making funny faces.

 

Then I had Madeleine make faces with me...

 



And when I turned back around to James... he was out. It was a long day.

Our last day, we went to the Air Force base with Stephen. We were able to board one of their new planes (only had 11 hours in the air) and take a look around.

It was a very quick trip but so much fun. I wish we could have stayed longer and really gotten into the town of Charleston but we can always go back!