My little fishies.

Growing up, my summers were spent at Grandma and Grandpa Hotchkiss' swimming pool. We were in the water all day, every day! So, it bums me out a little that Kylie hasn't had many opportunities to swim. We've gone to a public pool a handful of times, but with all of the people, it doesn't really allow her the freedom she needs to get comfortable in the water.

But, she did just that on vacation! She would wake up and ask to go in the pool (and continued to do that for about a week once we got home... so sad).

With the assistance of an inner tube she even learned to brave the waters all by herself! Such a big girl!

Kicking all over the pool...

Even baby brother got into the fun! Gav loved the water, too. Not surprising since he loooooves bathtime and this pool water was pretty close to bath water temperature!

Our little water babies...

Nothing says summer like sitting poolside in a wet suit with wet, pool hair!

And, another reason to love swimming... they create gloriously long naps!

A Convo.

One of the many hilarious convos I have with my *almost* 3 year old...

Me: "Look, Kylie, it's really windy outside."

Kylie: "Can we fly my kite?!"

Me: "No, we'll have to wait for daddy to come home, I don't know how to fly a kite." (just a little white lie)

Kylie: "You don't know how?"

Me: "Nope."

Kylie: "Oh, maybe when you get older you learn."

4 months old.

So, I'm a little late posting this, but our Gav-man is now 4 months old! It's so hard to believe that he is this old already... the last 4 months have absolutely flown by!

He is such a happy little guy and is a growing like a weed!! At his 4 month appt. last week, he tipped the scales at 16lbs. 11oz. and is 26" long. That's one big boy!

Is it legal to be this cute? I think he needs some sort of license to be carrying around these good looks! :)

ALWAYS smiling...

or making goofy faces...

The kids.

Kylie LOVES her cousins. She had such a great week in Hilton Head, playing and spending time with her cousins.

The 4 oldest kiddos, taking in the ocean...

Playing in the sand...

Pizza Night!

Nintendo DS lessons...

Beauty on the Beach.

(Click to enlarge)

Back to Life, Back to Reality.

(En Vogue, anyone?! I loved me some En Vogue... it was one of the first cassette tapes that I owned. Along with, Lionel Richie and Billy Ray Cyrus... apparently I had a wide range of musical tastes as a child.)

As I was saying, we are back to reality. Unfortunately. Vaca was amazing, despite being the quickest 7 days of my life. We are back in Ohio, trying to unpack the suitcases, put clothes away, get kids back on normal sleep schedules (ugh) and in my free time, I've been pouring over the 800+ photos I took. Slowly I will get to them and will share the highlights of the trip.

Until then, one of Ky on the beach.

The girl LOVES the beach. She is totally and completely in her element out there. It's so sweet to watch her, in her own little world, exploring all there is to see and hear. I just wish we didn't have to wait a year to do it again!

4 months goin' on 65.

My little man looking quite dapper...