End of Mimi and Bampa's Visit

Dad and Josh got to play golf one last time this morning.  They got up pretty early to try to beat the heat :)  Mom and I beat the heat with the boys at the mall :)  In the afternoon, we celebrated Graham's birthday one more time when Mimi and Bampa gave Graham his presents!  

He got his own suitcase!  It has all of the things he likes on it--transportation things!!!  I have no idea what this pose is--he was happy!  It cracks me up all the same, though :)

Off he goes...

And, OF COURSE, the box was just as, if not more, entertaining!

Big Boy in a Box

Everyone got just a bit clingy as we headed out for a true grown-up date with Mimi and Bampa!  It was a really relaxing evening to round out a wonderful visit!

Graham also got his very own personalized apron!!!

I just realized both of Graham's gifts are things Jackson already has...  But, if it's useful, then the younger one definitely needs one!  THANKS for yet another wonderfully super fun visit, Mimi and Bampa!!!

Music, Legos and Soccer

Jackson enjoying our first outing to Stonebridge for the kids' music shows they host on Wednesday mornings!  We have never made it before, and it was really fun--we'll be back!  We even saw Lillian and Heidi there!

Happy with a snack and the music :)

After the music show, Bampa met us at the mall, and we walked around, and Jackson got to create three Lego characters to bring home!  I love the carrying case they package them into!  Then we went to Bobby's Burgers for lunch.  Mom and I had been before, and we thought Dad would like it too!  He did :)

After some Quiet Time, we headed over to the end-of-soccer-season party!  We brought brownies, and I was inspired having watched the World Cup to decorate the brownies like a soccer field!  I was really pleased with how it turned out :)

Teddy Soccer!

I am SO bummed this picture of Jackson high-fiving Coach Jon is blurry!  The kids got another really cool trophy to round out this season!  Can't wait to play again in the Fall!

Thanks to Grant and Logan's family for hosting our get together!

Ch'Hors D'Oeuvres and Putt-Putt

Making little snacks out of Cheerios with tiny pieces of American cheese in the middle has been a thing my Mom likes to do for babies/toddlers, so Graham got his first taste of this "famous" snack!

He was a fan! 

This morning, Mimi, Bampa and I took the boys to play a little Putt Putt.  It was pretty fun, although it was starting to get pretty hot, and Graham kept wanting to do a little more exploring than the rest of us felt necessary!  He really liked getting each ball out of the hole after we all had made our putts :)

Not the best shot, but there's something about this picture I really like :)

Oh, the look on Graham's face :(  We saw that a lot as we tried to restrain him and let other people get in a good shot!

There is a Graham tucked in there!

Putt!

Jackson was a pretty good helper too :)

Three of the future foursome...  (Meaning Josh!  I'm not implying ANYTHING ELSE!!!)

Fun morning!  Off to air conditioned Chick-fil-a!

Happy Fathers' Day!!!

Leaving the beach is always so sad, BUT this time we came back to get ready for Mimi and Bampa to arrive!!!  They got in on Saturday afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to visit and catch-up before heading out to dinner just the "grown-up."  It has become an un-official tradition that the first night Mimi and Bampa are in town, Jackson gets to come out to dinner with us, but Graham stays home with a babysitter :)

Yesterday morning we started the day with breakfast followed by a nap for Graham and Fathers' Day presents!  (Also, some belated Mother's Day and Birthday presents for Mimi!)

Bampa reading his cards

Daddy enjoying his cards

Jackson picked out a cool holographic Star Wars puzzle to do with Josh :)

After the first part of the day festivities, we went down to Old Town Fredericksburg to wander around and have lunch.  We found this cute coffee/book store named The Griffin!

Jackson thought this guy was cool

Once we got back from our outing, we relaxed at home, watched some World Cup, some College World Series, and had a photo shoot :)

Grandsons :)

The honorees of the day!

The first reason my dad gets to celebrate this holiday :)

Our little family :)

Such concentration!

We enjoyed our dinner on the deck and had steaks from the grill, grilled corn on the cob, potato salad and orange jello salad.

Dessert was Mudslide Poke Cake.  YUMMO!!!

Beach Bummin'!

We LOVE the beach as a family trip!  We headed down to Virginia Beach once more for another awesome vacation!  We did try a different hotel this time.  We stayed at Ocean Suites, and it was perfect!  The room rate was very affordable for the fact that it is a suite, so there is true separation between the bedroom area and the "living area."  Everyone was able to sleep peacefully in the setting to their liking--LOL  It is beachfront, so there was a balcony, which is one of Josh's and my favorite parts!  We love sitting out there and chatting or people watching.  

 We drove down late Monday morning, and we arrived just in time for a slightly early check-in, and we headed right to the beach!  It felt so good to be relaxing by the ocean after our crazy week!

 These two definitely made it clear that they MUCH prefer the sand to the waves in the ocean!  While we really wish they enjoyed splashing around more, it is much easier to keep track of them if they are just sticking to the sand!

 Beach Brothers!

 I was teaching Graham how to stretch out in the chair and say, "Ahhh..." in a relaxed way.  He is too funny!

 We ordered pizza from what's become a favorite pizza spot while at the beach.  It was just as yummy as we remembered :)  Then, Josh took off to do some Geocaching, so I enjoyed my book and the view from the balcony!  Once he was back, I ran out to get some breakfast and lunch groceries for the rest of the days.  When we woke up, this was our view--so pretty!  The boys loved watching all of the truck action on the beach in the mornings--the trash truck going down the boardwalk, the trucks cleaning and smoothing the sand, and then various ATVs going back and forth.  The whole time, we also enjoyed all sorts of airplanes and helicopters since we are very close to military bases.

 We tried something different this time, and we spent the early morning Geocaching!  We brought Jackson's scooter along, so he scooted as Graham rode in the stroller.  We all got some exercise, Graham got a little nap, and we added several "FOUNDS" to Josh's profile!  

 At the end of the boardwalk before heading back for beach time!

 Little monster chairs for little monster boys!

 We convinced Graham to touch his toes in the water a few times...

 Sunning

 Josh and Jackson headed to the pool after the beach per Jackson's request.  I got Graham bathed and down for a nap.

 Then, this guy got his first real Lego set to work on!  It was a pretty good Quiet Time activity, and he followed the directions to make a helicopter!

 Once Graham was up, we headed off to rent a family bike like we did last year.  We all had a really good time doing that, and we loved it again--even grabbed some caches right on the boardwalk!

 Cuties :)

We headed over to Beach Bully for dinner--a super yummy BBQ restaurant we discovered a couple of years ago.  

 Same routine yesterday: up and out for some morning geocaching, although the area we went to this time wasn't quite as pleasant, but we still had a good time!  Then we headed to the pool before lunch.  Graham got to try his new Puddle Jumper!  He liked it, but the water was a bit cold for his liking :(  I headed to the beach during naptime, and it actually got quite breezy and chilly!  We skipped family beach time and went to the super awesome playground instead.  We had a great walk down, and Jackson's scooter came in handy yet again :)

Graham going down The Slide...

 This is a picture of Jackson just after he turned 2 going down The Slide for the first time.  I can't believe how similar Graham looks and how old Jackson looks in the next picture!

 Jackson going down The Slide

 Mama-Graham Selfie!

 Mini-JAS and JAS

 This turned out to be quite the hilarious game!

 Love these two photogenic boys!

 Such an amazing dad and such a cool kid

 Jackson and I ventured out after a second night at Beach Bully (it's so good!) for a little date!  He is holding a tiny shark tooth that we went to get, then we visited the hermit crabs, and finally, a little Sweet Frog :)

 Last morning on the beach :(

 This was a well-protected sand castle!!!

 I don't know if Josh envisioned this when he began the castle, but it turned out really cool!  That is Josh stretched out in front of the ocean, by the way!

Passed out mid-bite!  I think it's safe to say we all thoroughly enjoyed yet another set of summer days at the beach :)