Temper Temper

It is funny that everyone talks about how sweet Gray is...and he is, MOST of the time. Lately he is showing us his temper in a big way. If I need to pick him up for something, he does the dead man drop where he attempts to throw his heavy self (26 1/2 lbs and counting) onto the floor. When he gets frustrated, he throws things. If he even drops his cup on the floor, that often sends him into a huge, laying-on-the-floor kicking and screaming tantrum. And watch out if you are nearby, he will swat at your legs as you walk by. I am not sure what I am going to do with him. Today at the pediatrician's office, he threw a fit because they weighed him on the scale. I let him throw his fit on the floor while the doctor asked me a few questions. I swear the doctor was having a hard time trying not to laugh at his behavior. I am sure she was thinking what I was thinking, "Man, I am in trouble".

Griffin's 4th Birthday

It seems so hard to believe that just four years ago, this is what Griffin looked like. I think he was right about 3 months old in this picture. Time has flown by. Now we have a very precocious, talkative, funny, wild little boy on our hands. Happy 4th Birthday Baby! We surprised Griffin this morning with a jeep for the backyard. He LOVES it. Here is a picture of Griffin and Gray still in their pjs and checking out the jeep.

He drove it all afternoon.

A quick video of the boys riding around. It is pretty funny...Griffin drives and Gray is the one who changes the radio stations. He is our little DJ, dancing to all the songs he hears (even NPR, who knew?)

shark attack

Griffin wanted some pretty intense shark cupcakes for his birthday party next weekend. Since they are so complicated, I decided to do a trial run for next week. I PLAN on making one for each child and having a cake for everyone else. We will see how well I do. If not, this is proof at least that I did make a few and they turned out pretty well.

VBS

We have VBS at our church this week and the theme is a beach/surf theme. Griffin has been a little difficult to deal with since we got back, but he liked his first day of VBS. They gave the kids a CD with all the music on it. He made he put it on in the car as soon as we left. He really likes this Beach Beattitudes song. Whenever Gray was acting grumpy today, Griffin would say, "Mom, Gray doesn't have a beach beattitude today". Kind of cute.

Vacation

We just got back from our vacation to Isle of Palms outside of Charleston. It was very nice and one of our favorite places we have been so far. The beach was a block away from our house and we could be in Charleston in about 30 minutes. We ate a lot and had a great time. We celebrated Griffin's 4th Birthday while we were there. Aunt Shari made some cool cupcakes.

We took a ferry boat to Fort Sumter.

Gray sitting on the ferry.

We took the kids to play mini-golf at Blackbeards Cove.

We went to the beach a few days. On the first day, Gray was very clingy and seemed scared. By the end of the week, he would crawl out into the surf and let the waves wash up onto his face. He just loved it and wouldn't stand up.

Outside the SC Aquarium.

We went to Magnolia Plantation. Not too much to see but it was nice anyway.

While in downtown Charleston, we stumbled upon a church with an old cemetary. Some cute shots of Gray exploring.

We had some beach pictures taken and they came out pretty good. Griffin didn't want to cooperate but we got a few despite his best attempts. Here is a shot of Shari, Linda, and Rachael relaxing after our strenuous photo shoot. Some extra beach shots.

Beach Bound

We are heading to Isle Of Palms, SC tomorrow for a week at the beach. I love Charleston so this should be fun. We will also be with both sets of grandparents, Brent's sister and family, and my sister. So the kids will get plenty of attention which will be great. Of course that means we will have a hard boot-camp type week when we return when they come back spoiled and are driving me crazy. But for the next 7 days, we are looking forward to relaxing at the beach....

Vote

Just an Obama video that I thought was pretty cool. Check it out if you want.

Thinking about time-out

Yesterday I was trying to finish up a phone conversation with my mom when Griffin started his usual antics (hanging on me, hitting me in the head with a stuffed animal, AKA anything to get my attention). So when I hang up, he asked me to get him some milk. I was less than eager to meet his request because of how he acted, so I told him so. He looks at me and says, "Do I need to go in time-out and think about what I have done?". When I said "yes", he decided against time-out but he walked over to the oven and tried to set the timer. Then I heard him turn around to face the corner and say the following, "um, okay so Mimi called on the phone and I hit Mommy on the head with my hippo and then I went swipe with the giraffe, and Mommy got mad, and now I just need to say sorry. Yeah, that will work". Then he comes over to me and said, "I thought about what I did and I am sorry". So it was a little strange, but I guess he is putting more thought into time-out than I originally gave him credit for.

Mmm good

Kind of an unusual product review but I LOVE this new salad dressing. My friends, Marsha and Karla, turned me on to it. I have been looking for a decent Asian-type salad dressing and this is it. Very good- you should try it.

The Littlest Ghostie

This is Gray's new favorite game to play. He throws his blanket over his head and runs in any direction. You can imagine how it usually ends...with a big THUMP as he runs into something.

July 4th Parade

Yesterday we took the kids up to our pool for the 4th of July parade. This is our first year to do it. We had always assumed that not many people participated but we figured out that we were wrong. It was a lot of fun. Everyone met up at the pool with their tricycles, wagons, tandem bikes, and even a unicycle.

Here is our neighbor, Sarah Margaret, dressed up as Yankee Doodle Dandy. She didn't stay on the horse very long but she was a great sport.

One of the few pictures that Griffin allowed me to take of him. Notice the outfit- it is much different from what I picked out for him to wear (cute little Madras plaid polo shirt with navy shorts). I think my days of dressing him are over.

Gray loved batting the balloons around during the parade.

A view from the back of the parade.

Dress up

This is Griffin's idea of what is "cool" to wear now. Luckily it was after the pool this afternoon so we weren't going anywhere.

Potty Humor

I can't tell you how many times I have heard Griffin say the sentence, "Mama, Gray is playing in the toilet again". He is getting into everything! And I know that if the bathroom door is closed then he won't get in the toilet, but it is hard to rely on Griffin to shut the door everytime he goes to the bathroom.

Bee Movie

This morning I took the boys to see the Bee Movie. One of the movie theaters here shows free kids movies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We met up with my friend, Carrie, and her kids, Sophie and Sam. Carrie's kids did great. Gray ate snacks and was okay for about 30 minutes. Then I started letting him walk and crawl up and down the steps. That was fine until Griffin decided he would rather do that than watch the movie. I was enjoying the movie, but they were done. So we had fun but I am glad it was free:)