Happy Birthday Cole!

Cole is finally 3!!!

The long awaited birthday is finally here.
We're celebrating with a Pirate Party!

He was thrilled with his "Little Pirate" cake made by Mommy.

Make a wish sweet boy!

He dove headfirst into fun with his friends at the party place!

Taking a break from jumping for a pic with Daddy!

Travis had a great time at the party too.

They looked so cute in their pirate outfits!

The party's over...taking home a goody box of treasure for himself!

New Belt

Travis earned a new belt in Karate: a yellow stripe! He's extremely proud of his accomplishment!

Dinosaur Camp

Cole is attending summer day camp at his preschool and the week's theme is Dinosaurs! Today he made a paper mache' dinosaur egg and he could barely wait to get home to crack it open...

Every man loves a hammer!

Ready...aim...

We "hatched" a baby dino!

River Rats

For Uncle Matt's 25th birthday, we all went for a tube float down the river! Our family of floaters spanned the ages of 3 to 83. Unfortunately, our group got separated, and I didn't even get any pictures of the birthday boy. But, happy birthday Matt! And thanks for planning him such a great party, Emily!

Cole floated with Daddy and was so relaxed at one point, I thought he was going to take a nap.

Pop and Gran (with Travis in the middle) and Granny and Pappy in the background in the yellow and orange hats.

We all had a great time, but I think Travis enjoyed it more than anyone!

Travis floating along with Mommy--what a great way to spend an afternoon!

Magic Camp

Travis just completed two weeks of Magic Camp. In his words it was "super awesomeness!" They learned some cool tricks with a bit of juggling and puppetry as well. He puts on a great show...if you see him, you'll have to give him the chance to show off some of his new skills.

Here is Travis the Magnificent posed with his "Magic Briefcase" and wand and top hat that he received at the graduation today.

His official Magic Camp picture!


A side note--Travis has always been a fan of magic. He was a magician for Halloween the year he was three:

Future Farmers of America

This afternoon Shayne rented a tiller and prepared a small patch of land on the far side of our driveway for a pumpkin patch. A while ago, Travis selected some seeds from a gardening catalog and today the boys took great pride in sewing them in our little patch. I hope we get some result for their efforts! Stay tuned...

A Pirate's Life for Me!

Cole is really into pirates these days. Later this month, he's having a pirate themed party for his third birthday. Downtown Fernandina has lots of historic pirate stuff and Cole loved it.

4th of July

Every year GG treats the kids to matching red, white and blue outfits for the 4th of July. This year's were so cute with the little bandana print. Travis was glad that they weren't "too fancy."

My little patriotic guys.

Cole, Morgan, Gray, McKenzie and Travis

All the grandkids with GG and Grandpa.

Mommy with her three guys!

Nightlife at the Beach

All dressed up for a night out...we went to dinner, downtown for ice cream and then on for a late night round of mini golf! Everyone had such a great time.

Fun at the Beach

Here are the best pictures from our annual 4th of July week beach trip to Fernandina Beach, FL. We love staying at GG and Grandpa's condo with easy access to the ocean, pool and tons of yummy seafood restaurants. But best of all is the time for the boys to play with their cousins!

All ready to go!

Walking down to the beach that first morning!

Cole didn't think it was all it was cracked up to be at first...he soon got in the spirit and had a good time though.

Sandcastle villiage with Daddy.

Needing some solitary time on the second day, Travis drew a circle around himself and wrote the word "Pravit" which of course was intended to read "Private" with arrows pointing to it for emphasis.

Cousins on the Beach

Gray, 7 months

Morgan, 4

McKenzie, 5

Little Travelers

Travis and Cole have flown so much that they've become seasoned little flyers and it's made air travel for us significantly easier. They wear their own backpacks and they wheel their own suitcases. They can whiz through security, hand their boarding passes to the gate agent and charm flight attendants. Airports will never be hassle free, but life is a lot easier for Shayne and I since they've gotten a little bigger! Backpacks (or "carry on luggage" as Travis says) full of toys and snacks.

Sleeping (voluntarily) on the plane! Who would've ever thought this day would come??!!??

The first thing Travis does is study the safety pamphlet in the pocket of the seat back. Then he patiently waits for the announcement that he can use "approved electronic devices" which includes his Nintendo DS. This kid is a rule follower and it cracks us up!