Dog Days of Summer

We're in the midst of the Dog Days of Summer.  While I abhor summer....I do love the freedom of schedule it affords my family.  And while we aren't busy in the way that we are during the school year, we have filled our summer with fun activities and new adventures.  

But really....we are all just waiting for Papa to come in September for the Richmond NASCAR races....waiting for our trip to Arizona for my sister's wedding....and just waiting for fall and cooler temperatures to arrive.  :)

Jeffery has been busy this summer.  He started swim lessons twice a week.  The first two times were not pretty and I had to spend the lesson sitting in the locker room so he wouldn't see me and demand that I come rescue him.  But now he looks forward to each lesson and his coaches.  He has really come a long way both in skill and confidence level in just a month.  I'm really proud of him.  

We celebrated the 4th of July....and Jeffery's birthday weekend....with a trip to Ashland to see their non-motorized parade. The parade was a lot of fun....very random....and poorly/comically organized and we had a great time!  But ask Jeffery and he'll tell you that his favorite part was before the parade when we were treated to 6 trains rolling through the middle of Ashland in the span of an hour.  For train loving people, it was pretty exciting!

We had our priests (all 3 of them) over that night for a pre-birthday celebration for Jeffery.  And then my little boy turned 4.  How did that happen?!  I made Strawberry Dream Cake (Kelli....I miss you) and my Grandpa Sell's homemade ice cream.  It was a great celebration!

He spent a lot of the day on the phone with people calling him.  My parents called, my sister and her fiancé skyped with us, my aunt and uncle (who were in a remote part of CO at the time) called....even his godparents (who were in Mexico at the time) called.....and the best part (and his favorite) was that everyone he talked to, sang to him!  As he went to bed, he kept talking about everyone who had called and that it was funny when they sang.  :)  He is a loved little boy!

Jakob is becoming a little boy.  He adores trains....maybe even more than Jeffery...if that is possible.  He is far more adventurous than Jeffery and LOVES to rough house.  He is perfect for daddy....and then starts to fuss and complain the minute he sees me.   grrrrr!  He is terribly terribly terribly picky when it comes to food....still preferring baby pureed food to actual finger food....and he is starting to exhibit some temper.  But he makes us laugh so much and will nestle his head into your shoulder and just stay there (something Jeffery would never do).  He is saying these words: dog, cat, mommy, daddy, effery :), oma, papa, train, look, what is that, see, milk, please, thank you, let's go, bye, hello, Cass, book,....and shay 6 (the train we rode on in Cass, WV).

The favorite activity for both boys is "reading" Trains Magazine with daddy.  You should hear and see the excitement that comes forth when Dave calls them to the couch and opens up the magazine.  :)

We have been to multiple baseball games this summer for the local team - the Flying Squirrels (a AA farm team for the Giants).  And Jeffery has been joining daddy in attending races at Southside Speedway as Dave thought him old enough now to do so.  It is his favorite thing to talk to Oma and Papa about and he can rattle off all of the series (there are 7 or 8) that they watch in one night and he tells them about the headset he wears to protect his hearing.  He particularly loves it when he and Dave are joined by some friends of ours.  He is quick to tell Jakob that he is too small to come with them but that maybe next summer he'll be bigger.  :)

So, we come to the end of July and so far, it has been a pretty great summer for the whole family. But we're looking forward to fall.
 *Dave has already chosen all of his music for his choirs for the upcoming year and is getting excited about getting back into the swing of things come September.  He is especially excited about the upcoming international trip with one of his choirs next year.
*I'm busy planning a bridal shower for my sister, looking forward to my parents visiting (though they'll be coming at separate times this fall), and doing "Lady of Honor" duties.  :)
*Jeffery is looking forward to doing more Pre-K schooling at home (yes....we're homeschooling him for preschool...at the very least).  He loves it and begs for it every day.  He is also learning how to read and cut and trace....and will be doing art classes at the museum in the fall...and maybe even some karate classes.  And he is really excited about going to AZ and seeing Oma and Papa and playing in their pool and going with Papa to see his trains at the Train Museum.  :)
*Jakob is looking forward to a season where there aren't mosquitos that aggravate his sensitive skin.  And he's looking forward to running around with Jeffery and learning more words and continuing to be a funny little boy.  :)

So here is to the fun dog days of summer.  While we're having lots of fun this summer.....I, for one, am hoping that fall hurries up and gets here soon!  :)