Glub Glub.. Went the Month of July

Another blink. We just said goodbye today to one of my best friends "AJ" (Aunt Joan)... She and I marveled at the week that passed so quickly with her here (and us teaching with LM coming up with Papa to visit for an overnight)... and then I drove home in pouring rain stunned that a month had gone by. Truly. I get it now. People say that when you have kids, time flies even faster, and it is absolutely true. In July, you name it, we did it --went out of town, had out of town guests, had a big family party, went out of town again, had more out of town guests, went out of town again, and then had more out of town guests... And played by the river a bunch in between it all! Here is some of our fun!
We were excited to start July out with a bang and a few river gatherings!! Our good friends from Jeff growing up have 3 girls and LM couldn't seem to decide which one he wanted to flirt with the most!!

...It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere... Early July 2011...
...and Hanging with The Fillmore Girls After a Fun Day of Fishing!...

I have some really great old roommates from college, and they have fantastic kids who LM also just adores... He loves all the "big kids" so it is really fun to see our old G'Burg pals because big and little kids and Mama's and Papa's alike all have a great time!!

...Stella, Andrew, and Our little Party Fiend...

Seriously -- does the way he draped his arms around his pals and put on the cheesy college party grin not in some way make you giggle (and make me really worried where our college tuition money will really go for him someday! ha ha ha ha)

Jeff works every 3rd weekend and, except for summer, I work 1 weekend/month too... So, in the summer, on Jeff's work weekend, LM and I have been taking road trips... July's was up to the Poconos to play with Aunt Jessica & Aunt Becca and their gaggle of kiddos!

... The Kids set out on their own "Huck Finn" style adventure...

...Fun times is a slumber party, sleeping bags, and "The Bee Movie" on DVD...

... This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Dude, the band"...
...at least in my eyes it does...

We also took the boat out as much as possible in July... On this particularly gorgeous day, we hooked up with our pals and their girls and headed downriver... The kids chose to dine "en route" so that they could spend every second down at the island in the river!!

...Dinner Dogs Cheers...

... Little Mermaids & Their King...

...Of Course, Ashton couldn't stay dry on the boat...

It was also a big family fun month... My mom and Carl had a huge bash, combining their birthdays and 25th anniversary -- it was really wonderful to celebrate with them, and to see all of our out of town family... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GAMMA & GRANDAD CO-CO!!

At the party...LM took it upon himself to take a flower from the Centerpiece at our table...

...And deliver it to Gamma...
(who looked stunning in her really pretty dress!"

...She gave him a hearty thank you...

...and then had some explaining to do to Co-Co...

It cracks me up when he gets so "serious" and uses his hands to explain himself...

...Papa and LM go head to head over the last bite of cake...

July was also a Mama, Papa, LM road trip month! Yahoo! We love those! In our "usual" style, we went out of town for all of about 48 hours, but to us it felt like a week... we are relatively notorious for taking off places for 2 days, no matter how far we have to drive... This time, we went down to DC... a cool gal I've "known" for almost 3 years on the internet was there with her family... they have 2 kiddos adopted from Russia, as well, and she and I have had some really great "distance" chats about motherhood, our amazing kids (and the trials and tribulations associated)... I must admit, I was a bit "first date" nervous -- what if we didn't like each other in real life? LOL... But, the visit was absolutely awesome, and not only did we have a great time with them, but even Jeff, as we drove away from DC said "boy they were nice people -- I wish they didn't live in California"... :) Here are some photos from our DC days..
We stayed at an awesome hotel -- the Hotel L'Enfant for anyone planning a trip. I would stay there again.. Truly. It was right by the mall. we got the last room they had in the place, and it was awesome!! LM looked out the window at midnight (yes, we were the obnoxious people arriving at 11:30pm and our son waking up and running through the lobby with excitement... In the past I've watched families like us, and so I found myself saying to others "yes, we know he should be asleep people, but it is summer and we are on vacation." ha ha ha... ANyway, he looked out the window and said "Mommy, WOA. Quick, come look, you HAVE to see this. There is a ROCKET SHIP outside our window"... So for 48 hours, in our world, the Washington Monument was a rocket ship... Why not? He'll have a life time to learn about history & monuments... It was much more fun to talk about all the places the rocket ship might go then to give a lil lecture on world history, anyway! :)

...Picnic lunch in the hotel...

...Chatting it up and all smiles with his new friends...

...Dinner out... the kids were so cute ordering together and playing together...

We hit the Air and Space Museum before heading out of town... he is sooo ubber into rocket ships and astronauts right now, we couldn't be there and not go.. and he love love loved it!!

...Fly fly away...

...Rocket Men Dream Big Dreams...
You can do ANYTHING you want, LM... dream it and you will do it!

...Hanging cool and silly after playing in the pool...

...It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere... in DC...
July, 2011
We didn't have his cup but I loved this shot!!

Hope you all are having as much fun this summer as we are!! Busy, but definitely lots of fun!!!