Garrett 4y 1mo

Garrett is now four years and 1 month old. So to cap his month, he performed in his first dance production, took a swimming class with 6-10 year olds, and became desensitized to putting tokens in video games. So already he is writing parts of his college application...

Kaylee, may I have this dance?


Do you have any more tokens for me?

Wait til I teach my brother how to do this...be sure you're taking your daily aspirin.

What do we remember from the Graffitti Days car show...uhmm, the popcorn.

I still like cars!

Mommy, I'm sorry to inform you that your shoes have been towed away by my crane for violating section 23.41 of the cleanup code.

Daddy, I really think you need to get one of these things for yourself...where did Daddy go...I didn't mean RIGHT now.

Bryce 23mo

Bryce is inching closer to turning 2, but he is not there yet--23months officially. Bryce seems to be without fear when it comes to swimming, he is already trying to do it without floatation devices! He has also begun to make a tradition out of beating Daddy to the newspaper every morning.

Daddy, I think I need the stool, I've got some blueberries to eat.

Do you think we would qualify as Herbie's mechanics?

Hold still Griffin, and you won't get hurt.


Don't worry Mommy, I'm being gentle.

Yup, I got it again, Daddy is losing this battle.



No, that is not a bug on my forehead, I tried to headbutt the wall, and I lost.

Where's the water, I'm ready to get wet.

Do you have a diving board I can jump off?

Griffin 2mo

Griffin has survived his first two months under his older brothers close scrutiny. He is beginning to use his hands to defend himself, some kind of primitive instinct, although there is no fine motor control of this. Griffin is getting to see new people and places and has already been witnessed trying to push himself off of his predesignated blanket area. Fortunately he is learning to sleep at night and in the midst of the chaos his brothers create.

Hmmm, a camera, what is that flash, ooohhh...I gotta get me one of them.

I'll be off this blanket in no time...on second thought it is pretty comfortable.



Daddy and I are practicing sticking our tongues out...pretty interesting what I can get Daddy to do.

I think my head almost always falls to the right when I sleep, but hey, it's comfortable.

Is this hood on right? Man I look pretty old here, don't you think?

My first date with Lauryn: so how you doin', can I have my parents get you anything?

I'm working on my facial expressions and some early words, can you make out what I'm trying to say?

Garrett is Born to Be Wild

Garrett has been taking tap dance lessons this year with the culmination of performing at the recital on the 28th of June. He performed in two numbers one titled "Born to Be Wild" and the finale titled "Do You Love Me."

I wanted to ride on the front of the bike.




You can find me right below the right border of the sign on top of the stage performing in the finale.

Jace and I get our reward for hard work--cupcakes!


Poppy liked the musical selections, and I liked playing helicopter with my bandana later with him.

Our wild crew: Jace, Drew, and me.

My official Harley Davidson jacket! Now where is my bike?

Can I get a ride?

Here is a little sampling of the Born to be Wild performance. (Mom and Dad bought the video so they said they bought the rights to tape this little snippit for family) I'm the one on the right. You might want to pause the music on the playlist so you can hear my music.

Blueberry Picking

On a warm Friday morning, we went blueberry picking as a family. We were blessed by a very family-friendly experience. Don't worry about the kids, they can eat as many as they want while you are picking the berries and the plants had not been sprayed and were quite hardy. Delicious blueberries were eaten by all (except for Griffin, but he even reported a blueberry flavor to Mommy's milk). The only problem from this is now our fruit and vegetable plants aren't safe from curious mouths at home...

Hey, Daddy, the green ones don't taste as good as the blue ones, but I like green because it is my favorite color!

This is a finger picking good experience.


Even Mommy and Griffin tried to pick a few, fortunately Griffin didn't put any in his mouth.

Look, I'm saving you money by eating most of mine now.

Father's Day

Father's Day this year was spread over a couple of days for Brett. The first day was, shall we say, a dream come true: Star Wars night at the ballpark. We met some Star Wars characters and then got to watch most of the Nuts ballgame (single A for the Rockies). The next day we joined Brett's dad and his brother-in-law James for Father's day festivities in Tracy.


Someone didn't want to be in this picture, can you guess who?




Three men I can admire: my uncle James, Poppy, and Daddy.

Always in motion is my brother...unless he is sleeping, which isn't very often.

Daddy, are you doing run, run, run with my legs again?

We went shopping for Daddy for Father's Day and picked him out what we wanted him to have: a Vulture Droid and a Jawa. Good thing we know what he likes.

Daddy found his old Optimus Prime and much to my delight, I get to play with it now.

Wally the Walnut scared my brother away so I got a picture with my date for the night: Hana.

Al the Almond with Hana and I and the two less willing participants: Jet and Bryce.

My brother couldn't wait to run away from the Nuts mascots, but he ran toward this Clone Trooper and wanted a picture.

Are we a little short to be stormtroopers?

The Beach at Carmel

One of the highlights of the trip to Carmel was our visit to the beach. It was a beautiful day with a great beach that included a hill to roll or run down. We ventured into the ocean (some of us more than others). And Griffin had his first Pacific Ocean and beach experience.

Oh, I love the beach. Did you just yawn too?

Hope I get Mommy's pretty smile.



Dad, am I surfing?

Daddy forgot his hat, so I volunteered to serve as his.

Okay, this is how it works...I hold the ball, you run and try to kick it, and then I pull it away just as you try to kick it...okay Daddy!

Daddy, in my rules, you CAN pick up the soccer ball and run with it.

Bryce, how did you just steal that ball from me?

Welcome to the ocean! I decided to take a little too much of it home with me on my clothes...