Gotta Love Toddlerhood

Some funny stories about little "Carsyrina." So this morning, Tanner was having an apple (whole, on the core) before heading to school, and of course, whatever Tanner has, Carsyn wants. So, Amber figured, what's the harm. Here's how that went:

She started slow, making some funny faces...


...so Tanner showed her how it's done...


A bit overwhelming?


Tanner had no problems with his...



Still slow goings...


...but making progress...


So Amber heads upstairs to finish getting ready to head out for the day thinking that Carsyn wouldn't finish that much more. Well, she came down to find the entire bottom half of the apple missing, core and all, and Carsyn with this smile on her face...



Another funny story. First off, note to parents, don't send your kid to day care on Tomato soup day with a white shirt. That's what Amber did this morning, and the result was what you see below. The cutoff jean shorts looked cute with the white shirt, but the first thing that came to Amber's head when she picked up Carsyn was "I'm a redneck woman..."


Yep, that's a boys faded, cutoff "Spidey Power" shirt...


Is that a bird by her mouth?



And of course, Tanner's response to all of this: "Mommy, what time can I get a Spiderman muscle shirt?"

Daddy Day Care

Amber had a training thing to go to today for school, so I spent the day at home with the kiddos. Not that this is such an abnormal thing for me to do, but I wanted to make the day fun for the kids before they start back up full time in day care. Well, the rainy weather was a challenge to make many outdoor plans, but we made due, and here's a run-down of our day:

After breakfast and during a break between rain showers, we went for a good neighborhood walk. We even visited the home lot that our friends Dan and Erinn (and Ellie and Jack) will be building on in the near future.


After Carsyn's nap, we headed to Chris's work to say a quick hello (and let another quick rain shower pass by). Then, we headed on a bus trip across campus. Here we are at our first bus stop...


And here we are on the bus. Tanner was totally excited...


We stopped at the Creamery and shared a bowl of delicious Keeny Beany Chocolate ice cream...


Carsyn may have had more on her shirt than in her mouth...


...but she LOVED it!!!


And of course, this is an easy way to please Tanner, whose favorite color is still brown because "it's like chocolate!"


Back to bus stop for a ride into town...




We finished our trip with a stop to the Growing Tree downtown toy store. I would have loved to get a picture there, but I got distracted by an urgent bathroom request and our necessary run to Panera Bread to handle that. Anyhow, the kids were great, we had lots of fun, and again I'm reminded how much I love them. Take care!

Vacation Time!!!

Hi everyone. Just wanted to share some pictures from our family vacation earlier in July to Nags Head, NC. We were joined by both Chris's and Amber's parents and Chris's sister's family (Kamryn, Rob, Landon, Dane, and Brooks). We had a AWESOME time and created so many great memories. Hope all is well and that you are enjoying your summers!

Day 1 - Tanner and Carsyn off to the beach (let the exhaustion begin)...


Carsyn getting a feel for the Ocean water...


Tanner wasted no time hitting waves...


No worries here, Chris and Uncle Rob took their burying later in the week...


Mia Ligetti (Geri) and Carsyn playing in the sand...


Carsyn and her cousin Brooks enjoying a dinner out...


Later that night, we took the older boys to ride Go-Karts. It was a ton of fun, and according to each one of them, they all won the race.


One of our favorite places in Nags Head is the Kitty Hawk Kite Shop. They have a Kid's Day each week where the kids can make kites, get faces painted, and other fun things. Tanner loved his tiger...


Tanner and Carsyn with Grandma Lloyd (Nancy) at the Oregon Inlet looking at the fishing boats...


Amber and her Dad, Duane...


Duane and Chris's dad, Bill, enjoying a beer on the shoreline (2 beers of the 5 cases disposed of during the week. Good job team!)...


Pap Pap, Tanner, Grandma, Carsyn and Amber hanging at the pool, which was a great way to end each day at the beach...


Pop Pop sneaking up on Carsyn in the pool. Oh the giggles...


The other great thing about having the house pool was Tanner learning how to swim without any flotation device before the end of the week...


Our favorite pictures of Tanner are the ones where you can tell he is proud (if you've read this blog in the past, you know what we mean). Well, it goes without saying that his refined swimming skills brought out one of the best smiles of the week...


Another afternoon at the pool (left to right: Landon, Rob, Carsyn, Chris, Amber, Geri, Brooks, Kamryn, Bill, Tanner, Nancy, Dane, and Duane)...


Rob, Landon, and Kamryn doing the one, two, three - JUMP!


And now all three older boys, just a tad out of sync...


And finally, the men (or bigger boys)...


We'd like to extend a special thank you to our Moms and Dads for their tremendous help throughout the week with the kids. While we know they were enjoying their weeks also creating special memories of their own, we appreciate the extra relaxation time and especially our evening out, just the two of us...


While it took some coaxing, Tanner joined Chris in the deeper parts of the ocean a few times. He especially enjoyed getting out far enough "bobbing" over the waves before they crashed on us...


Carsyn had less of a choice going into the ocean. You have to get that sand off your body somehow!


Amber and her "best boy", strolling down the beach...


Tanner and Carsyn with Grandma and Pap Pap Lloyd...


... and with Mia and Pop Pop Ligetti...


Dinner out on the last night...


...our beautiful children...


... and the whole gang...


Finally, we stopped for ice cream after dinner to celebrate Pop Pop's birthday. This is about the best one person could do to keep all five of these kiddos in camera view!


Here are a few pictures from 4th of July in State College. The pictures remind us how great our children are, how amazing a role model Tanner is for his little sister, and how much Carsyn ADORES her big brother...



Carsyn on her first carnival ride, protected by Tanner, of course...