Our Evening Walks

Sometimes after dinner and before bath time, E gets a little fussy. So, to keep him in a good mood, we go for a walk outside. This has worked for Ethan pretty much since he was born. He just LOVES to be outside. The other day, I brought my camera along on our walk.

Walking with Daddy

Can't you just tell how happy it makes him.

Playing chase in the front yard.

Sometimes you run so fast you fall down.

And then the grass tickles you.

So you laugh,


and you giggle and giggle

and pretty much just look super cute

Is it too late for a 4th of July post?

I don't really care, I'm doing one anyway.

For the Fourth, we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house as we have for the past few years. You can see fireworks from their front yard, so it's really Ethan-friendly, meaning he isn't scared of the loudness. We couldn't decide if we should keep him up or not, but ended up going for it, and he seemed to really enjoy the show.

However, the big news of the day was this:

A new Cozy Coupe from his wonderful Nana. You know, cause kids are supposed to get gifts on Independence Day. I'm sure Ethan wouldn't mind making it a tradition.

He loves his Coupe. Most of the time he just sits in it.

He also likes to push it around. He really does have a great Nana.

When he wasn't playing with the Coupe, he was playing with a stick. Surprise, surprise.

Or just hanging with the big boys trying to get in on the ball game.

Then as it got dark, he was given a glow necklace, which he loved.

Finally, he cuddled up on everyone and watched the fireworks. He is NEVER this still or cuddly, but he was wiped out. He barely stayed awake to see the show, but I think he was glad he did.

And that's my belated post. Hey, at least I'm posting, right?

Catching up, in pictures

There are no excuses. I am a really bad blogger. I'll spare you all my "reasons" for not posting and go straight to catching you up on what we've been doing in the last month or so by showing you a few pictures.

First up, my mom's birthday was the beginning of June. Ethan had fun swimming with his Great Uncle A.J.:
And then he dug into some chocolate cream pie:
We didn't exactly let him do this. I was putting everything out on the table, and before you know it, that kid had a mouthful of whipped cream. He certainly is his father's son.

We've also been hitting a few birthday parties for some of E's friends. This is one of his favorite attraction at all his buddies' houses, the Cozy Coupe:
He also really likes to climb up slides. Not slide down them, climb up them:

We've been working on his piano skills:
He plays the piano a LOT at home and where I work.

We've been visiting more sprinkler parks around town. He's now more interested in walking around outside of them:

We tried finger painting. He wasn't interested:
He ate a little bit and then decided he'd rather play.

He hung out by the pool at a family friend's house:

He went to watch Daddy play volleyball on Father's Day:
And enjoyed cooling off in the misters while we were there:

So that's a bit of what the little monkey has been up to. I have more to share soon, but for now I'll leave you with one more picture of my favorite little 15 month(!?!) old:



P.S. to a couple of my most loyal readers: We miss you Uncle Gary and Aunt Elecee! Hope you haven't given up on reading the blog, I'll try to do better!