PSU Roomie Reunion

Today, Adam's roommates from college, along with their wives and children met up at our house for a little get together.  We were excited to welcome the newest member of the group, baby Ricky!

 

The bigger kids had a blast hanging out together playing baseball and getting wet in the water table.  

 They enjoyed the most perfect summer treat....watermelon! There is something about kids eating watermelon that is just so cute to me.

Quinn (Wes and Hayley's son)

 Evan (Kyle and Dani's second son)...umm, seriously look at this face! He is too cute!

 Ricky (Rick and Christine's son)...enjoying some frozen bananas instead.

 Avery and her best bud, Sean, enjoying the hammock

 Auntie Dani getting big cuddles

 Christine having no problem handling a baby and two preschoolers!

 Big thanks to whoever brought the blue frosted cookies.

As you can see, Avery is yet again the only girl in this group.  I am certain that the baby Jamie is cooking up must be a girl!  This group needs another one.

It's always a good time catching up with the group.  We missed The Ross's but are excited for them as they await baby #3, who I also am certain must be a girl! Love you guys!

British souvenirs

Daddy just got back from a week in the UK for work.  He bought each of the kids a fun treat from the airport. Avery got a Paddington Bear book and Grayson got a car.  The excitement of those lasted about tow minutes. However, the excitement they got from the free kits that he got from his flight lasted at least an hour....this included socks, eye masks, combs, pens, toothbrushes and earplugs.  It was amazing how they could take such simple items and get so much entertainment out of them.  

Avery used the socks to "ice skate"

 Then used the eye masks as "boots." 

Welcome Summer!

Those of you who have been to our house recently may have seen this hanging on our fridge...it's our "Summer of 2013 Bucket List!"

You might be able to tell which activities Mommy came up with vs. which ones Avery came up with.  Nonetheless, we are excited to celebrate our favorite time of the year and as you can see, we have lots of things planned! We also keep adding to this list, but I'm determined to do it ALL!

Homemade popsicles....

 Check!

Jammin'

One of things I wanted to do with the berries we picked was to make strawberry jam, something I have never done before.  The kids, as usual, loved "helping."

 Of course it involved a lot of taste testing along the way.  Seriously, these berries are so red, they look fake!

Showing off their berry faces....

 and the finished product!

Strawberry Pickin'

Wednesday morning was the perfect morning to be outside. So we headed over to Seiple Farms and did some strawberry picking!  This is one of my absolute favorite memories I have from childhood with my mom.

 Avery LOVED the tractor ride to the strawberry field....

 Grayson was gripping onto me for dear life!

 Grayson was a pro!  He just instantly went to town picking the berries. I think he picked more than Avery and would have stayed another hour longer if she hadn't gotten bored.

The tractor ride on the way back was a bit more enjoyable for him..

I think I was the only Mom not letting my kids eat the berries right there in the field (I wanted to go home and wash them first).  But they were so excited to, I let them try a few when we got back to the car.  

 

6.5 pounds of pure deliciousness!

 Then they really went to town with them at home after I washed them...

 I literally think they ate at least a pound in one sitting!

I think this will be definitely be a summertime tradition for us every June.

Happy Father's Day!

We were lucky enough to have Adam's brother, Brett, and his wife Jenny, drive up from North Carolina to visit for Father's Day weekend.  They brought VERY exciting news with them....they are expecting their first baby in January 2014!!!  We are thrilled to have another niece or nephew...this time on the Levine side!  The kids are excited for a new cousin too!

 Since Brett is going to be a new dad, we made him get some practice by changing Grayson's diaper.  He did great!  It helped that Grayson was very compliant and had only done #1 and not #2.  

 Avery and Uncle Brett!

 Grayson warming up to his Great Uncle Bobby with his favorite book. 

In all this excitement, I didn't get any pictures of Adam and the kids on Father's Day! But we enjoyed a relaxing morning at home (after the kids woke up before 6 am - not a Happy Father's Day treat!) including a yummy breakfast and some special treats for Daddy.  Hope all the daddies and daddies-to-be had a great Father's Day! 

Rainy Day Sweetness

We've had a few very rainy days here in the past week. In between the raindrops, came some super sweet moments that made me smile....

First, with Guster....

Then, with the kids....

Grayson's New Do

Adam has been threatening this for months....this past Sunday, I gave in and let him do it.  

Grayson got a buzz cut!  He did it last summer and we got a lot of flack from our family for it (they said it made him look too old).  But the truth is, he has a lot of hair and (like his daddy) sweats a lot.  So, it seemed to be a necessary thing to do now that it is getting warmer.  

Here is the BEFORE: 

 Here is the DURING: 

(Hairy back...a glimpse into the future?!?)

Avery was happy to be involved in any activity that involved sweets.  I didn't have any lollipops, so they split a left over candy cane from Christmas (gross!)

 Here is the AFTER (a little wet from playing in the water table): 

I don't know...we think he looks pretty darn cute!

Oink Oink!

It was an awfully cloudy Saturday morning, but it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny afternoon!  So it was the perfect night to take the kids to an Iron Pigs Game (our local minor league baseball team) at Coca-Cola Stadium! 

We got there early and chose a spot on the lawn to spread out on, rather than confining our kids to seats. 

 They kept us busy between getting up for bathroom breaks/diaper changes, getting food, and going to playground (plus Adam and I had to get up a few times for beer!), so I can't say that we actually watched a lot of the game.  But it was fun nonetheless!

 This is the first time I willingly gave Avery a hot dog.  Much to my dismay, she ate the entire thing and LOVED it! (I've learned that she has had them in the past when I wasn't around).  I feel like this picture needs the caption, "Can you believe what Mommy is letting me eat?!?!"  

 Meanwhile, Grayson chowed down on a chicken finger. 

This was followed by some dessert...the infamous ice cream in a baseball helmet that Adam so fondly remembers from his childhood.

(She shared with all of us!)

And also some cinnamon sugar pretzels....which turned out to be a terrible idea.  There were grains of sugar EVERYWHERE on this child!

 I just love this face, ketchup and all!

Avery was determined to stay for the fireworks after the game, but by the 7th inning, they were getting antsy....

 But they did it!! Two hours past their bedtime...here are their reactions to their first fireworks show.....

 Once she got used to the sound of it, she was in complete AWE!!! Grayson cried just a bit, but then seemed to be ok with them.  

 Such a fun, but exhausting night.  In case you were wondering, they did NOT sleep in the next day! : (