Bowling and other summer fun

We tried to get a few summertime activities as well. The whole family went bowling together to enjoy some friendly competition and some nice cool air conditioning. Well, we had a pleasant surprise as Bryce bowled the first 100+ game of his career, losing only to Brett who had 138 and really picked it up at the end. While he may have had the benefit of bumpers, it still takes quite a bit of skill to pick up spares and he was on top of his game and loving it. Bryce also had his very first gymnastics class and enjoyed the company of his big brother during a private lesson to try things out ahead of time. Then there was bike riding and hockey playing in the court along with some good water time in the backyard to round things out.






Mommy showed us how she was feelin' about her bowling that day.






Team Griffin united to get the ball and the ramp out for him to push it onto the lane. We were trying to look like a pit crew in NASCAR.

I (Bryce) am showing off some of my masterful form.

Let the ball go and look for the camera to say cheese, right?

Is this polo, hockey, or bike crash derby mania?

Roaaarrr, we are lions.

One of our projects grew some hair, while the other could use some some propecia?

We're still working on our postcard state collection so that we can color in every state in the US.

Gotta love the Candlestick Crazy Crab shootin' water up in your face.

Griffin, I don't think you're listening very well, it's left hand blue not left foot...

A two day project to build...the Star Wars lego drop ship and AT-OT. All three of us contributed to making this happen.

Teacher Sam tells me to listen up and do it.

Special movie night with Mommy...can we sleep out here together too?

Swimming Lessons

Garrett and Bryce had swimming lessons at the same time this year, which made it much more manageable for us and Griffin. This also meant for the first time they were both able to lineup together on opposing diving boards and compete for the biggest splash, fastest run into the pool, or anything else two brothers might compete in. This also played out when on the last day, Garrett said that he would not be going off the high dive. Well that didn't stop Bryce from getting in line for the high dive. Seeing his YOUNGER brother in line for the high dive, Garrett wasn't going to let Bryce steal the spotlight, so he got in line also. Both of them successfully jumped off the high dive and came up with smiles.






My brother may have beat me into the water, but I got the points for the height on my jump.






Here goes the ultimate belly flop!





When I'm out of the water, I'm just a little cold.

Theo

On a warm afternoon, Brett was outside cooking on the BBQ when he heard a meow coming from the back corner of our yard. This was a different kind of meow, so Brett responded with a meow of his own. Slowly, a black and white cat emerged from among our rose bushes and began to slowly circle toward Brett. Steadily the circles became tighter and eventually this mystery cat was brushing up next to Brett's leg. After the BBQ was done, Brett left a small piece of fat and meat for the cat who looked pretty skinny. Well, the cat has never really left our backyard since and waited on our back porch for six days until we fed him again. Then we named him, Theo. He passed the test to stay by allowing all of our boys to pet him, pick him up, and play with him. So now we have a backyard cat to go with our front yard cat, Max. Realizing that Theo was about 8 months old and would probably have problems getting along with Max, marking his territory, and fighting with other cats if we didn't do something, we made an appointment to get Theo neutered. He made it through the surgery successfully and apparently hasn't held it against us as he still resides in our backyard.










This is where Theo spends most of his time, on our back step.










I think Theo likes me.










See he can look all prim and proper too.

Griffin 2y 3mo

Griffin's favorite thing this month was being outside and digging in the dirt. This was his version of heaven and if you mixed in a little water, then it was even better. He began hand-crafting his own facial mud-hair and subsequently ended with lots of baths this month...sometimes three or four in one day!

Here is my proudest facial hair moment...stylin'!

This is my five o'clock shadow.

Right now I'm a clean-shaven foreman at this construction site.

I love fourth of July parades, they make me smile.

Kickin' back and eatin' my favorite snack: cottage cheese.

Shootin' hoops, I can.

Is this a watermelon eating competition? I'm in!

Bryce 4y

Bryce has been all about setups this month. If it isn't army men, then it is Star Wars, or Transformers, or legos. But the biggest thing is just to get stuff out and organize it into a cool set up. Then go get someone and show it off before another brother of his shows up and secretly destroys. it. Absolutley no fighting ever place in regard to any of this stuff...and if you believe that, then... He is also getting used to trying to write his name, although getting him to write it left to right is the biggest challenge as most of them end up backwards...kind of like his shoes and shorts...but that is another topic. Bryce also got to attend our church's vacation bible school for the first time since he was age eligible this year. He had a great time and is looking forward to next year.

Here is my army man set up, thanks Aunt Alecia.

Did I mention that I love playing with water, and I've figured out how to turn it on...and I showed my little brother how to do it too--he likes to make mud.

I'm opening up my shopping spree picks from Aunt Alecia.

I found a new favorite toy--the attack Rancor from Dustin.

My Star Wars base setup--this one is set for battle.

I've got my red, white, and blue on.

Roarrrrrr! I got my bike back from the repair shop, and I'm ready to chase Garrett down.

I got to go to Adventure Day Camp this year for the first time. It was cool to go and enjoy what Garrett has got to do the last two years before me.

Call me Safari Bryce and I'm ready for adventure.

I think Theo is a good baseball fan, he liked looking at my baseball cards.

Do you think I've bit off more than I can chew...I'll take that challenge.

Garrett 6y 2mo

For Garrett this month has been about reading, reading, and more reading. He is now onto chapter books and has loved making trips to the library to get new ones. He participated in the summer reading program and has enjoyed reading some of his brothers' books to them. He also finished up his Junior Giants season and loved collecting all of the Giants World Champions memorabilia that were prizes for completing the tasks that were a part of the season.

Cody and I enjoyed some baseball cupcakes at the end of our season together.

My favorite position to play this season was first base, because everybody throws the ball to me.

I'm about to unload on this ball and line it to right field.

Sometimes you just have to wait for everybody to be ready.

This would be a construction mudbath, anybody else want to join in.

I might be getting a little big for this bike, but I sure have mastered riding it around.

My first tree fort, I was able to store lots of things up here that my brothers couldn't reach.

We love our kitty Max, so I had to draw a picture of her.

You just gotta love a decorated sidewalk, right?

Summertime means watermelon. Yummy.