August

In keeping with recent tradition, here is a month's worth of pictures (minus the first day of kindergarten pics) in one blog post.

In early August, we got a new, bigger bike for Jack.  When we rented bikes in Hilton Head, he got a bigger bike and did great on it.  We realized the bike he got for his third birthday was really too small for him.  He loves his new bike and is a great bike rider.  He has even ridden it to school a few times (with Mom or Dad following).

Sometimes after dinner, the boys like to go into the backyard to eat their dessert (ice cream cones in this case).  The boys were being particularly cute on this particular evening, so I grabbed the camera to get some pictures.

Charlie is such a happy guy!

They crack each other up!

I imagine I will experience lots of brotherly wrestling in my future.

The week before school started, we went to the zoo with our good friends and got to see the new Sea Lion exhibit.  There is a sea lion behind Jack and Andrew in this picture, but they are more interested in taking pictures of each other.

Now they notice the animals!

I told them not to smile.  Afterwards Jack said, "Didn't I do a good job of not smiling, Mom?"  Yes. Yes, you did, goofball.

One day Jack decided to play some tunes for us on the guest bed.  In many years when he has his first album, maybe he'll put one of these pictures on it.

Jim and I went to a couple Cardinals games (without the kiddos) in August.

The weekend before school started, my college roommate Amy came to town with her three kiddos.  We had a lot of fun and it was so good to see them!  My friend Sue came to the zoo with us one day to help us with our six children, ages 7 and under.

 Monkeys:

Amy and her beautiful family:

Our friends Dave and Joslyn also came to town (they recently moved).  We definitely miss them!

Louie came to a birthday party for Jack's preschool friend.  So cool!  Go Blues!

The Rest of July

Settle in for lots of pictures from July.  We spent a Sunday morning with friends at the Magic House.  Charlie checked himself out in the mirror.

Then he found Mommy and her camera in the mirror!

Jack and Patrick wore their matching shirts as they played with their friend Andrew.

Jack's best buds from preschool came over for a playdate.

 I am not sure what is going on here, and I think Josephine and Patrick are equally unsure.

 Our family wore green for National Fragile X Awareness Day and to support our good friend Abe and his amazing family. To learn more about Fragile X, you can read my friend Amy's blog.

Jim took this picture of me with our 3 favorite boys.

Our nephews came down from Wisconsin for a visit.  We had a lot of fun with them!

Everyone wore their Australia shirts to the Magic House one morning, and then back to our house for lunch.

Patrick, Charlie, and I joined them at the Botanical Gardens another morning (Jack was in summer camp).  The favorite thing to do at the Gardens was to play in the fountains.

When you jump on this thing, water sprays around you.

Just a random picture of this cutie:

We got a ping pong table (for free!) and keep it in the garage.  We can pull it out onto the driveway to play.  Patrick wants to play a lot and calls it "king kong."

"Why do they stick me in this stroller while they play table tennis?"

Adults vs. Kids:

This particular Sunday afternoon was awesome!  The weather was great and we didn't have any plans.  We spent a lot of time playing outside together and relaxing.  What wonderful memories!

A couple attempts at a self-portrait:

"They let me out of the stroller!!!"

A much better picture of us (with the help of my tripod).

SO happy!

The next day, I took the boys to the Museum of Transportation.  We rode the train twice and then played in the Creation Station.

On our second trip around the track, Jack and Patrick got to say "All Aboard!"

They sure have some tasty toys at the Creation Station.

All three Kelly boys playing at the same train table!