Build-A-Bear with Papa

My Dad, a.k.a. "Papa" to Ethan, came into town and decided this would be a great activity for us to enjoy.

 I think Ethan whole-heartedly agreed. Of course, we had to gently steer him away from the glittery unicorn and pink confetti bear, but I think someday he will thank me. At least John did immediately.

 Here is the heart to his bear. Just starting to beat in his warm hands.

 Here, we get to stuff away. Ethan wanted no part in this process - it was far too noisy.

 I think he was just a little confused as to what was happening.

 Now the bathing part was a completely different story. He must have come back and given his bear a bath at least 47 times.

 He is a very clean bear now.

 Now to MY favorite part -- accessorizing and dressing!

 Making of the Birth Certificate. This part was actually pretty amazing! Ethan was hmm-ing and haw-ing about a name and I kept thinking that a "B" name would be appropriate for a Bear (I'm a big fan of alliteration). I randomly spewed out, "How about "Bobo?" My dad's eyes total lit up in agreement. He looked at me in awe, and told me that he was amazed that I remembered. Uh, what? Remembered what? Evidently his bear he adored as a child he named "Bobo." 

 Ethan finally settled on a fireman's outfit (after a few more baths).

 Dressing this bear was surprisingly difficult. Maybe to make it harder for those bears to get neked.

 With a few extra hands we were able to get the job done.

 Yep. This feels just about right. Although maybe he wants another bath?

 These boys look pretty happy and are ready to finalize their decisions with the purchasing process.

 Ethan is still in the hiding phase in case you can't tell.

 But we finally got his distracted enough that we could catch all that smiling he was doing throughout the whole process. Thanks Papa for a fun afternoon!

Random Moments from Aug 2010

Jane found this darling hat for Ethan and he is total obsessed with wearing it!

 He wears it around the house, to the store, and especially to SHARK games!

 Just a little mama and "E" time.

 The other day, Ethan told me he was "hooking up daddy's trailer". What a genius.

 Lincoln got to borrow this fabulous BUMBO! I've been wanting one of these but didn't want to fork out the $35 plus buckaroos for something that we would use for a relatively short period of time. Wah-la! A friend offered one to me! Yes, it is purple, but I will have you know that the original owner - i.e. the person who used it, I think, 5 kids before me, was a BOY, so you can forget all those preconceived notions of color, thank you!

 He seems to be liking this new perspective.

 Ethan is definitely in the imitative stage (maybe kids never get out of this stage). He occasionally will have over-nights with grandma and decided that he should wear a "nightdress" just like grandma does. This is Grandma's solution - her tank-top.

 John was horrified. Ethan was delighted. 

 Every morning, Ethan loves to walk daddy out to his car and knock on the window. John will roll the window down.

 Ethan does a pull-up on the edge of the door to give him kisses. I won't show you the picture of what happens if Ethan misses this very important step in the day. I'll just let you know it's fairly traumatic/dramatic.

Collin's Lake with the Rossis and the Dolls

We decided to begin an annual camping trip with few families we know and really, best decision ever! We had so much fun, dividing up meals, camping on the beach (of the lake), no really, can you see the water outside the tent door? It was maybe 10 feet from the door of our tent.

 Thank goodness our boys are little troopers. Lincoln sleeps anywhere, as long as he has a space to himself. He still doesn't like sleeping with John and I at all. I think it's a blessing. Our bed is only so big.

 Ethan loved to wake up in the morning and seeing what was happening on the lake.

 Lincoln just loves the camera.

 So this was our setup. We ended up camping in the open area, and had our tent on one side, the Rossi's trailer on the back and the Dolls' tent on the other side, so we had a little designated area. 

 One morning we went on an early boat run while breakfast was getting ready. We rushed to get onto the boat to take advantage of the glass at maybe 8ish in the morning. We were in such a rush, I forgot to grab a lifejacket for me. Thankfully, the Rossi's are always prepared and had an extra for me!

 I would have inserted a fantastic video of me hoping into the water with this deluxe water floatation device and that had Chris giggling like a school-girl in it, but alas, I can't get it to work. Maybe someday you will get a chance to see it.
UPDATE: Here is the video!

Instead you can smile at the fact that I wasn't even worried about wearing the orange vest -- Even though Chris did his best to drive really close to the people on the party barge and next to the campground. I didn't even care this water was soooo nice! It must have been 80 degrees!

 See? Not even cold!

 Ethan was less than thrilled to have me out in the water though.

 John had some showing off to do as well.

 And kept getting braver and braver.

 Such a daredevil.

 So we had to take him down.

 Ethan was a fan of the life jacket, Lincoln was not.

 We also did our fair share of relaxing.

 And showing off our sweet swim clothes.

 Ethan claimed this kid camp chair as his own, and defended it with all his might.

 Hey, What are you talking about?!

 We got some sweet air on the tube, John learned how to really get some height for the tubers while driving the boat.

 Everyone had a good time hanging out and roasting s'mores.

 Oh, and it case you think we might be near a body of water and John NOT include some fishing time, you can relax. The boys had plenty of time for that too.

 We had a great time on the Rossi's boat! So glad we're friends with them!

 So glad this boy is so cute and so transportable!

 On or off the boat!

 And these two couldn't be cuter.