Oh Dear!

I swore that if I had another boy I'd not let him go through his early days with the "old man fringe". You know, where the hair falls out everywhere but the base of the skull? Will went through much of his first year this way. Finn had it doubly bad, a mohawk and the old man fringe with nothing in between. Notice I said "had". Now, I swear if we have another baby boy I'll never cut his mohawk and old man fringe.

North Carolina

We've has such a fun week so far. We just got back from a mini family vacation to North Carolina's southern outer banks. We knew that was one of the trips we wanted to take this summer but decided last minute to go. We left the dogs at a boarder (it's so nice not traveling with two dogs) and we were on our way. The trip started off with an airplane ride much anticipated by our little Will. "fy away, in sky" he says while making a flying motion, his hand starting from his hip up and over his head. Upon landing there was a short drive till we reached the beach. Will had a BLAST playing with daddy in the waves, piling up sand ( we forgot beach toys so had to improvise with the hotel ice bucket and lid) etc.... while Finn and I hung out on the towel trying to keep the sand and sun out of his face. Finn doesn't like when he's hot so the late afternoon beach day was not his favorite. We toured an old Civil War fort , strolled the streets of a historic water front twon, tried to find a light house (but never did), went to the beach again (earlier in the morning this time so everyone had a good time), and ended the trip with an aquarium visit. Will had the pleasure of attending the Chicago aquarium a number of times but found this one to be much more exciting as they allowed the kids to touch some of the fish. Through all that fun the icing on the cake was when we headed back to turn in our rental car and take the "Big Bus" aka Hertz shuttle back to the air port. The driver sat Will in what she called the captains chair and made a big production out of it. He was having the time of his life! As all little boys he is obsessed with big machinery especially buses. There are lots of pictures of Will and TJ, not so many of Finn and I. I was the camera women and finn was strapped to me so.............. Till next time

notice the ice bucket lid
what Will likes to do in the hotel (so cute)
what Finn likes to do in the hotel
reading Civil War history
Action photo, Will was not wanting to pose

at the fort
Historic ocean front town (Will not wanting to pose again)
Town of Beaufort 1709
I love this picture
standing on the dock of the bay.....................
wastin time
sweet huh?
Ginger

Takes a Lickin and keeps on tickin

If I were a betting women, I'd bet on Will.

Ginger

Grandma Dunham

Grandma Dunham came to visit all the way from Utah, our first visitor since we've been in Nashville! We had a great time touring around and playing. Thank you for all your help Sandra!! It was nice to have an extra pair of hands around to help with the boys. Will wanted no one but grandma the whole time she was here. He totally forgot he had parents. Finn had a great time as well, he did allot of sleeping. We didn't forget about him he just wasn't in very many pictures. oops

A beautiful hike we went on

Will and Grandma Dunham

Daddy and Will on one of the oldest trees in Tennessee



Ginger

It's begun...........

As many know my Husband would be quite happy with a small zoo. He's never met an animal he hasn't liked. Well, today Will got his first Fish and is loving every moment of looking at "Fishy". I wander if this is the start of our zoo. Just the other day TJ came home saying he almost got a GOAT, that they were selling them on the side of the road (only in the south). He preceded to tell me about all the goat milk, goat cheese and butter we could have at our disposal. I reminded him of the time constraints we would be under with having to milk a goat, and that travel would be out of the question (unless we found someone to milk our goat for us). So, as of now we only have two Poodles and a fish, I'm sure it won't be long till we gain another family member. Life is grand!!!!

Proud owner of Mr. Fishy (and a new hair cut)

Pictures of Finn playing
So curious
Ginger

For you mom

Finn and I were playing around tonight, he is always super smiley. These pictures capture Finn's personality to a tee. I've been scolded by my mom twice in the last week for not putting quality pictures of Finn on our blog so....................This one's for you mom!

Three months and 15lbs of snuggles

Ginger

Kombucha

We are borderline addicted to this drink. It's hands down our favorite treat. If you haven't tried it you've got to. TJ ordered a book to learn how to brew it ourselves, I'll let you know how that goes once we start the process. But in the mean time enjoy!!!!

Ginger

The 4th

We had such a fun 4th, we did miss our families in Utah and Texas though. We headed to a festival in Franklin (one of the areas we are looking to buy) and both boys did well for about an hour then it was time to leave. But that hour was packed full of excitement, for Will at least. Finn took a nap and had a huge dirty diaper that got all over TJ's hand which then got wiped on my diaper bag when Will started freaking out in the jumping thing and needed daddy. Will and daddy slid down slides, jumped in a bouncy thing, but the highlight of the day was the pony ride ( I don't agree with pony rides at festivals but let Will do it just this once)!! We weren't sure how Will would do, he loves to point out horses and there's not an animal he hasn't liked, but actually sitting on something so big?? Well, he did great!!! We were so proud of him. That evening we set off some fireworks, just as we got set up a thunderstorm blew in and we all got soaked, that may have been the funnest part. We hope yall all had a great 4th of July and counted your blessings for living in this great country!! We love you America, happy Birthday!!

Can you see Will?
Getting ready for the pony ride



Firework time!
Watching them explode in the air
Ginger

Friday the 3rd

It's 6:30 on Sunday night, TJ just left for an overnight trip, Will is asleep (since 4:30, so if he wakes up it'll be an all nighter), Finn is taking a nap as are both dogs. I was torn between writing this blog or curling up in bed to read my book with some leftover cookies from the 4th and a tall glass of something cold. As you can see being productive got the better of me. TJ was off Friday, after a morning run and trip to the temple we decided to take Will to a Spray Ground. A spray ground is like a playground but with the water that shoots our of the ground, drips from buckets etc for the kids to splash around in. We looked it up online plugged it into our GPS and we were off. We haven't seen any "not nice" parts of Nashville but knew they had to be here. Well, we found one. Those of you who are our Chicago friends this spray ground ended up being somewhere south of 95th street. We pulled up and quickly pulled away. Feeling bad about getting Will excited for an outing we came up with another idea. About a week ago as I was struggling to get some grocery shopping done, one kid sitting where the food goes while the other sits where the kid goes, while the kid in the the spot where the food goes was throwing a fit, I spotted the baskets with a car attached to the front. I quickly found out two things. #1 Will loves to ride in the car and #2 other shoppers hate the baskets with the car attached. Let's just say there should be a sign attached saying "Wide Turns". I almost took out a whole line of senior citizens in one foul swoop! Anyway, back to our "other" idea, we decided to take the boys to Kroger and let Will ride in the truck!! I watched as a frustrated TJ loaded the kids into the basket (took a bit for him to figure out how it was done). I stood back laughing and snapping pictures. We ended up having a great time croozing Kroger as a family.

Will's reaction to riding in the truck at kroger
Poor Finn, good thing he was buckled in

My boys and simple pleasures
Ginger

A word about our little Finn, he loves his blankee!!! Even more than Will if that's possible, I've never seen a baby at such a young age get attached to anything accept a binki. Finn has to have it to sleep, if ever in a freak out give him his blankee and the world it right. I need to give Ericka (a dear friend from Chicago) props on the blanket, it was a beautiful gift from her family to Finn. Below are some pictures of Finn and Mr. Blankee, I know what your first thought will be, SIDS!!!!! But not to worry he likes it that way and he's quite good at moving his head. Oh yes, he also sleeps on a pillow (go figure). As for Will we went to an activity at a local plantation, he got to color, have a horse race and play some other game that I didn't really get the point of. Will had enough of that game and decided to run up and down the hallway (whatever tires him out). We have big plans for the rest of the week (TJ is off Friday) so more to come.

My money's on #2

Run Forest Run!!!!
Ginger