Here is what Belle thought of the whole beach thing. At first she was wondering what all that brown stuff was all around her (sand). Then, she touched it. Then she was done. She hated it. I had to go get the stroller, drag it through sand and have her sit in it. She must already be my girlie, girl. She just couldn't handle the dirt! :)

I took my babies to the beach this afternoon. Brooks didn't get why we didn't need our life jackets for the "beach"! He did, however, understand why once his big toe touched the ice cold water. We had a really fun time bonding and being buds.

During our time at the beach Brooks said many cute things that I forever want to remember. He told me out of the blue, "I'm having a great time, Mama. This is so fun." Those were his exact words.

He also told me he'd like to take a shower when he gets home. His exact words were, "I want to take a big boy shower when we get home. I want to take one without anyone else in the shower. I can do that now because I am a daddy." So, right when we got home, he took a shower by himself. After all, he is a daddy.

Brooks also told me when we got in the car that he'd like to "go to the Co-op for dinner". I asked him what he wanted and he told me he wanted soup and garbanzo beans. So, we went to the Co-op and had a very fun date eating mushroom soup (which he loved) and garbanzo beans. We read books and hung out together.

Today was just a plain old good day. How could it not be with two beautiful children, the afternoon to hang out with them and a beautiful city to enjoy?

Bath time is way more fun when you are with your sister/brother. Check it out...

Greg has been Super Daddy more than ever lately. I have been on crutches for going on 7 weeks now (I tried to go off them last weekend and it ended in disaster), and he has been amazing at not letting my disability slow down the kids. Today he took them outside to play and set up a new swing for Belle. She seemed to enjoy her new swing and as always had lots of smiles for the camera.

"Like Mother like Son?"
We are best buddies and we have so much fun.

Brooks is my best buddy. He is so active and challenging at times, but there are so many times when all he wants is some mommy time because he "loves me" so much. Listening to him tell me he loves me and tell me we are "buds" may be the single most wonderful part of being a mommy. Who knew that a 3 year old boy could change me for the better in so many ways.

Today Brooks told me that his bubbles were "strong because they ate protein". He continued to tell me that the bubbles were "miniature"". Yep, "miniature". The kid is three years old and his vocabulary is that of a first grader.

A couple of days ago Brooks was hitting a tree with a stick. In the middle of hitting the tree he put the stick on the ground, got sad, started to hug the tree and said, "Oh, the tree is sad. It is hurt."

Yesterday Brooks took Scotch tape and taped it all over the refrigerator. It was in some sort of pattern. He explained to us that the pattern was the "pipes" for the refrigerator. When you really examine it, it totally makes sense.

My son makes me so happy. Looking at his freckled nose and seeing joy in his slitty eyes makes me overwhelmed with love for my little guy.

Thanks, Brooks for always cheering me up.

Chloe-Belle is Kennedy and Maggie's favorite toy. They had a dance party with her last week. They were sure that Belle was having a blast, but I really think Kennedy was having far more fun than Belle was.

It's really hard not to think that Chloe has the most beautiful blue eyes ever. Her eyes are exactly her daddy's eyes. Pure beauty.

This is our "Uncle" Rolf. He is our pastor, but to Brooks he is an uncle. He loves his "Uncle Rolf" so much. Uncle Rolf is someone who Brooks runs to, asks for and adores. It is so cool. There is a very special bond between the two and we are so thankful that this wonderful man is such a huge part of our lives. We love you, Uncle Rolf!
(I love how Brooks is looking at Rolf...it just shows how much Brooks adores him.)

We went to the Edge Waterpark this weekend. We rented a room and no one slept there since we live 15 minutes from the place, but it was SO worth the money. Brooks had a ton of fun with Ka-Ka and Jo-Jo. We should have put a pedometer on him to see just how many steps Brooks took in two days of swimming. He ran from slide to slide (even when the Lifeguards and Mama told him to walk) and played hard. We were not surprised when we had to wake him up for church this morning after 8:00 am. Our little guy has been busy.

Since I am broken, I couldn't do much but sit and hang out with Chloe. Steph, however, volunteered to take Chloe in the water. Chloe loves her Ti-Ti more than most people, but she was not happy when Ti-Ti put her in the water. It was just about her least favorite thing and it was so traumatic that she fell asleep, wet swimsuit and all. It's funny she didn't like it because she is a sweetheart in the bathtub and seems to really enjoy water.

Have I mentioned lately how wonderful Greg is?
Greg "Rocks the house down" as Brooks would say!
We love you, Daddy.

We had a packed weekend that started on Thursday! Brooks was pumped to have his cousins Dylan and Isaac over to play. Well, mostly Dylan since Isaac is still a baby. Brooks and Dylan had a blast and Brooks keeps talking about wanting to "go see" Dylan. It's funny how we only live 3 hours from Dylan and yet we don't get to see him often. Brooks had a great time playing and showing Dylan all of his toys. We'd love to know what Dylan must have been thinking. Brooks never stops moving and was more than happy to show Dylan all his toys, his playground and his new tractor. The boys had fun and Greg had a great time getting to spend time with his sister.