The End of Summer!

I'm a little behind on the blog, so I'm going to try to catch up for July and August!

 

In July I celebrated my birthday with my boys!

We attempted to do a family sleepover in the living room just for fun, but about one hour in it completely backfired. Landon had a hard time just staying in his sleeping bag (too much freedom!), and when we suggested they just sleep in their own beds there were temper tantrums all around. About three hours later they were finally asleep. Maybe we'll attempt another sleepover in a couple of years. :)

And the best part of all.... here they are in the exact same position about 2 1/2 years ago! (Grady was about 2 1/2, and Landon was just a couple months old.) Makes me want to cry!!

Carleen went back to work in July, so I'm watching Elle once or twice per week (depending on her schedule). The boys have of course loved every second of it!

Grady is especially smitten with his cousin. :)

Grady went to art camp with one of his little friends. Here he is at the family sharing on the last day where the kids shared their animal dances with parents.

In August, Kelly, Louis, Hannah and Griffin came up to NC for a visit! As always, everyone had a great time. Grady was again in heaven spending time with his other new cousin. :) He was very proud that he learned how to write Griffin's name.

 

We went blueberry picking at a local organic farm, which was a lot of fun!

We all went to Pinehurst for a weekend and finally got a picture of all the cousins!

Hannah turned 3 in July, and since we weren't in Florida to celebrate with her we had a little birthday party for her in August.

 

A doctor's kit from Carleen, Kevin and Elle!

 

 

Hannah's new baby carrier!

 

And finally, Landon holding Griffin in one of the outfits he wore all the time! Brings back so many memories to see sweet Griffin wearing clothes the boys wore. :)

More Fun in June!

The weekend after celebrating Grady's birthday we went on our annual trip to the beach with our good friends the Pulleys. As always, we had a great time, and all the boys had a blast!

The place we stayed had a waterpark right on the beach, and Grady was in absolute heaven! He went down the waterslide by himself for the first time, and after that there was no stopping him. He did it non-stop the entire time we were there!

We took the boys to play putt-putt, which was a huge hit! Of course we had to let about 10 sets of people pass us during the course of the game, but it was still fun!

The following weekend we took a trip to Boone to see Granny and Gramps! This is the view from their backyard...

Here are some other fun pictures from June! Our little cowboys...

Landon getting ready for bed...

Making funny faces!

Grady started playing t-ball in June and really loved it! We are so proud of him!

This is Grady when he first played t-ball (when he just turned 3). He looks so tiny, and his shirt is gigantic!

When I went looking for that t-ball picture from two years ago I also found this and couldn't resist posting it. Here is sweet Landon two years ago - he's about 9 or 10 months old here.

Grady Turns 5!

I can hardly believe it, but our little Grady turned 5 on June 15th! His birthday was on a Friday, and he really wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. I have to admit that Chuck E Cheese is not my favorite place in the world - mediocre food and lots of germs - but it was worth it to go because it made Grady so happy! The boys had a great time, and Landon especially enjoyed carrying around his little cup of money :)

They were very excited to turn in all their tickets and get prizes! I think both of the prizes broke within 10 minutes of being home, but that's okay! :)

We had a family party for him on Saturday - chocolate cake and all! We are so lucky that Granny, Gramps, Scott, Charlotte, Mimi, Popeye, Ma, Carleen, Kevin and Elle all came to celebrate with Grady!

One thing Grady asked for was an "inside putting green" to practice golf. He also got new golf clubs!

Later that afternoon we had a party at the park for Grady with his friends. Of course he wanted a golf party, which was a bit more challenging than I anticipated, but we made it work! :)

Decorating golf visors!

Blowing out the candles, and eating cake!

Happy 5th sweet Grady!

Welcome to the World Griffin Brown Schacht!

Griffin Brown Schacht arrived on Friday, June 1st, 2012 weighing 8 lbs, 6oz (a major difference from Hannah who was about 2 lbs!)! Everything went smoothly, and it was so nice that Kelly and Louis were able to have the birthing experience the way it should be! We were happy that we were able to travel to Florida the day before to help out with Hannah while Kelly was in the hospital and be there to meet sweet Griffin.

The cutest family picture ever! (Not sure why it looks like I took it in 1970, but oh well. I was having some issues with my camera that day!)

It wasn't long after we got there that Landon decided to let Griffin borrow his "guy" as he affectionately calls him. FYI - Landon has 5-10 "guys" that he likes to carry around in his pockets (oh - and a few smurfs too).

Grady love babies, so he was of course very eager to hold little Griffin.

While Kelly was in the hospital we took care of Hannah, and as always the cousins had a great time playing together! The pool was a big hit!

And the beach....

We took the kids to a little festival at a park right on the beach one morning, and they had a cute little train ride. We thought things were going great until the train came back around after the first loop...

Yeah, Hannah wasn't a fan of the train. Since it wasn't stopping, and they still had another loop to go, I just screamed over and over again, "Don't stand up!!" Luckily, she didn't stand up and recovered quickly from the train trauma. :)  (Landon would have done the same thing if he hadn't been riding with Grady!)

We of course had to squeeze in some bowling too!

 

Coming home!!

While we were there Kelly and Louis had a mini birthday party for Grady since they weren't going to be with him to celebrate on his actual birthday.

His straw glasses were a huge hit! We thought he looked so funny wearing them!

Landon even enjoyed a cupcake and some special coconut milk ice cream!

We stopped in Savannah on the way home, which was a lot of fun!