The Kennemore Crew

Our friends Hamp and Kim came to town with their twin munchkins. Aven and Hudson are 18 months old and always on the go. You will see that my photography skills were lacking this day and I did not have the energy to get good shots of this crew. BUT we rarely see them and had to document our play day.Aven was not in the mood for a family picture!

All these babies are BUSY BUSY BUSY!

This was our best attempt at a picture of all 4 kids. How did we do?

We were all happier at the pool, and I even think Hudson has a crush on Miss Bree

With twins at this age you're constantly playing defense. Hamp & Kim have eyes in the back of their heads! And this is the only picture I have of Wade....his back!

Better luck next time! We are due for a fun weekend again soon...and this time we need the Gue family to join us :)

Wade these days...

Mr. Wade is having a great summer. He has really enjoyed a slower schedule, swimming almost daily, getaways, and being spoiled rotten. His behavior has gotten a lot better and we're hoping he's hit a new maturity level to handle his moods :)

This picture speaks a thousand words....naked (his favorite way to be), being silly, still dragging around his giraffe "NeNe" everywhere we go, and trying to wear daddy's shoes (big shoes to fill little man!)
He's big into this new "silly face". Now whenever I bring out the camera, this is the face I get. I think it's actually pretty cute :)
Wade is starting a new chapter in his life moving to Casa Montessori in the fall. I'll do a separate post about that, but here he is with his new friend, Wade Cutter. That's right, another Wade in our life! Wade Benich thinks it's funny there is another Wade and now any Wade must have a last name too. Wade thinks his last name is Myer-Spinach.
I can finally say Wade's train obsession is slowly weakening. He still LOVES trains, but definitely works sports, cars, and trucks into the day. He begs to play soccer on a real team like Caleb so we're working on that for the Fall. He picks a new toy each day that is his favorite and it must stay with him the entire day. Then as soon as a new day dawns, he picks a new one. Weird. He's started to do a lot more creative play that involve characters and scenarios. It's cute to hear him talking to himself in different voices for different toys/characters. I can not begin to tell you what a great swimmer he is. He has absolutely no fear, will jump of diving boards, slide down slides, surf waves, and try "back flips". He's a water maniac. Here he is with Maggie and Charley at the pool. They all have a blast together!The Kennemore's gave Wade his very own camera for his birthday, and he really likes taking his own pictures. If I'm using mine, he has to run and find his. Here are a few of his recent masterpieces....
His NeNe....

His own feet. Actually taken with my camera. Yikes

Pajamas, bedhead, and bathing suits. That's about all you will see of him this summer. I've given up on "real clothes".

Wade has discovered how to make a joke and wants to make everyone laugh. He will say something he knows is incorrect, like when getting dressed "tag goes in the front!", then look at you with the cutest grin and say "i just making a joke!" Sometimes he takes it too far, but it's still pretty harmless. His favorite new word is "doody". He even jokingly called me a "doody head" the other day. So picture me trying to explain in the car that doody wasn't a nice word, while he's laughing every time I say it.

Wade is becoming very outgoing and completely IDOLIZES older children. I know this is common, but I feel like it has really kicked in for him. I even had a sad mommy moment at Chic-Fil-A when he was excited to "make new friends" on the playground, only to have the 8 year old girl he was stalking run and hide behind her mom saying, "that little boy won't leave me alone, so I told him to climb to the top and I'd meet him there". Sweet Wade just wanted a buddy to play with!

I had to include this because it is the ONE and ONLY time my dear son has fallen asleep on the couch for a nap. He just is not the type of kid that will relax when tired and allow himself to sleep. Since naps are a distant memory for him, I do make him "rest on the couch" to watch TV while Bree takes her nap. But this was a rare sight!!!

We've had some potty training regression with LOTS of poop accidents this summer. It started with some legitimate accidents because of an upset stomach, and then somehow he forgot how to get to the bathroom in time! Now he's just going in his pants on purpose. So we're now all taking regular potty breaks just in case. He was insistent Lightning McQueen and Bree participate.
Doesn't it look like Lightning McQueen is actually trying to go??

Wadey Wadey!!! You crack me up everyday and I'm loving our summer together. Keep growing and laughing and swimming and thinking and joking and loving! Love, Mom

Happy Father's Day

We are blessed to have some amazing men in our family. We are surrounded by Fathers and Grandfathers and all the love and support a family should share.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

trains AND planes

Wade and I met some friends in Kennesaw for a day of transportation fun. We started at the train museum (same place where Wade had his 3rd birthday)...
Guess who was too busy to pose with the rest of the kids?
(Izzy & Jack Springthorpe on bench, Retta & Leighton Duckett on the floor and stroller)

How cute is Jack? He is Wade's best guy friend from school

Then we moved the party to McCollum Airport for lunch. The restaurant was empty so the kids were able to roam free and watch plane take off and land.

What a fun day! Thanks for playing with us :)

WAVERY Slumb-over

Wade had his first non-cousin sleepover with his "best friend" Avery. We call Avery his girlfriend, and he corrects us and says "best friend". I think it does sound better to say he spent the night with his best friend instead of his girlfriend anyway.

Sarah and Clint were brave enough to try the overnight experiment and unless they lied to me....it was a great success! First, we wore them out at the pool,

then Wade got to experience the world of a 3 year old little girl....

playing dress up,

watching a Tinkerbell movie,

reading books about Barbie,

and making pancakes in the morning!

He had a blast and we're excited to return the favor at our house soon! But Avery beware, just be prepared for trains, trucks, dinosaurs and wrestling!

CHEERS!

Bree's MONSOON Birthday Party

To celebrate our baby girl's birthday, we thought we'd keep it small and simple. Yeah right. Some may say it was "memorable", but I will tell you the truth and say it was a complete disaster :) I can say that, I threw it.
Summer birthday = pool party. RIGHT?

I thought that was a given! With a June birthday, Bree better like swimming because she is destined to have a pool party for the rest of her life. Well, the weather gods played a mean trick on us and said, "not so fast". Every hot summer day has a 30% chance of thunderstorms, but this day we got hit - and hit hard.
As our family and close friends were joyfully gathering at the pool, a huge storm started rolling in. Wade and Bree were the only ones to even touch the water before the first thunder prompted the lifeguards to kick everyone out.Playing NEXT to a pool is complete torture for children, especially when the weather still seemed okay. But they handled it well and found other ways to entertain themselves.

Spirits we still high, margaritas were flowin', and we all hoped we could get in the water soon.

THEN the iffy weather turned ugly and dark. We thought the covered pavilion was plenty of shelter and decided to go ahead and eat, still hoping it would clear up in time for kids to swim.

Then just as we were about to give Bree her cake, the full storm hit and all H%*L broke loose. Rain was coming literally sideways, thunder and lightning were crashing all around us, everything blew off the tables, kids started screaming bloody murder, we were standing ankle deep in water, Poppa's telling everyone to stand on chairs and don't touch anything metal, some people hid in the bathrooms, and Bree thought the world was ending and completely lost it.

Luckily Grandpa Greg caught the chaos all on video.As the host, I felt horrible subjecting everyone to the weather abuse and kept checking the radar for a break in the storm. I wanted everyone to get to their cars and drive far far away from the party or any memory of it. As soon as it tapered off to a light rain I asked everyone to leave. Seriously. But they didn't listen to me. So we bribed them with cake pops to not sue us for post traumatic stress. They still wouldn't leave.
These cake pops may look cute and innocent, but don't let them deceive you! Since I wasn't hosting the party at our house or having to cook all the food, I naively thought it would be fun to make Bree's cake and cake pops for the guests. I watched this video and thought, "that looks easy!" Famous last words. I spent 10 hours baking cakes, mixing with frosting, freezing, coating with chocolate, and decorating.....only to have them collapse on droopy sticks. Oh well, they tasted great!!!And they got Bree back in a good mood! She was ready for a second go at her cake...Maybe the sparkler candle was a little much after bolts of lightning had just narrowly missed us?It didn't take long for Bree to rebound and dive right into her cake!

We had to do a practice run earlier in the week because of her allergies. So I knew she liked cake and icing, I just had now idea how much!Caleb thought her cake face was hilarious!We had to take the cake away before she ate the entire thing and made herself sick. So what do you did with a half eaten "smash" cake?Put it to good use!!!

Uncle Shawn is a great sport, but I know he's plotting Beau's payback. It's not going to be pretty :(

"YAY! The storm is over and I love CAKE!"

So after the cake smashing, the kids played in the huge puddle that had accumulated from the rain. The lifeguards tried to kick them out of that, but we let it slide. Lifeguards aren't certified in rain puddles anyway.

Somehow it turned out to be a decent evening, after the storm passed. I hope none of children have to go through shock therapy due to the traumatic experience. I accept full responsibility for any sleepless nights or bed wetting in future storms :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BREE!!! Next year we can have your party at Chuck-E-Cheese.