wedding mention...

Remember that beautiful wedding we were in last summer at Rosemary Beach?  It

was recently mentioned on a blog and my little beach bum Ethan was featured.  I am fairly certain he looks more California than Nashville!  Whitney planned such a lovely wedding...every detail was thought out and executed perfectly.  You can see the blog HERE.  

If you are wondering why I am making such a crazy face in photo above, this was snapped when I saw Ethan for the first time after the ceremony.  He had been with the groomsmen all day and I was so proud of him and how well he did.  David dressed him and it was the first time I had seen him with his little suspenders.  

"I'll eat you up I love you so!"

rewind to rosemary {beach bonfire & rehersal dinner}

{beach bonfire}

Whitney and Jon welcomed their guests to their wedding weekend by hosting a beach bonfire.  The weather rained and then stopped in time for us to kick off the celebration beach side.  The lightening after the storm was pretty incredible over the ocean.  

we traveled all over town by way of bikes

my Mom and my two boys

the mother and father of the bride...

at the bonfire

David and his Mom...one of my favorite pics of them

{rehearsal & dinner}

the lovely bride

The rehearsal took place on the beach followed by a poolside dinner.  

Keeping Ethan out of the pool was quite a feat.  He ended 

up with half wet short and dripping wet shoes:) 

Bennett was 16 months old

Ethan and David

Practicing his big walk

being a little boy

walking to the dinner

Rehearsal dinner

oh Canada!

We just returned home from Canada where David's family has been camping for four generations now. We had lovely weather... warm enough to swim during the day but cool at night to snuggle down in your sleeping bag.  David drove to Canada towing our boat and I flew up two days later with the boys.  

I had been raining when we arrived at camp.  

The first thing Bennett did was go stomp through a few puddles.  

Ethan all smiles one morning when we woke up to a chilly day and needed our warm clothes.  

I was super excited to see Bennett sport his flannel:)

We found a Canadian ball for Bennett and he couldn't have been a happier camper.  

The boy loves balls!

After a super chilly night, David started a fire for us to warm up. 

One of my favorite things was Ethan picking me "flowers" every day.  Don't worry, he would get the root and all!  I wore my flowers in my hair all week.  

This year the mosquitoes and the deer flies were terrible!!!  I kept myself and the boys covered in deet and I am fairly certain I will smell like deet for the remainder of the summer.  But hey...it worked.

Fishing was pretty good this year!  David caught the largest perch he has ever caught.  We someone 

managed to not get a picture of it:(  Ethan and I got new fishing poles...mine was pretty awesome.  

We picnicked on Big Island.  Bennett read Brown Bear to ward away the bears!

David and I snuck away one night to have a date night on our boat.  The sky and clouds gorgeous in Canada.  I found myself always looking up.

Things weren't too rough...I'm pretty sure David didn't get to watch his favorite show at night when he was a little boy.  One of Ethan's favorite memories this year was waking up to be surprised to see his cousins in his bed.  Cousin sleepovers while camping is kinda a big deal to a 4 year old!

Poor Baby Bennett had to sport his life jacket a lot last week!  He did great though.  We had to make sure to take the key out of the boat so he wouldn't drive it away!

We ate at Wheelers which has pancakes, french toast, and maple sausage on the menu.  My sugar loving baby loved his pancakes and was all smiles.  His momma was all smiles after a treat of hot coffee!!!

Babies first s'more!

One borrowed snorkel from a kind cousin and who knew Ethan could snorkel? 

 Guess we need to buy one...

Someone was so sad to leave and misses his cousins!  We all drove home and I was amazed at how well the boys did during our 20 hour car trip.  We split it up into two days and I came prepared with new toys from a local toystore.  I guess they were also worn out from a week of outdoor life!

summer is here!

Happy Friday!  This week has felt like summer has finally come.  It is hot, we've been spending every minute possible at the pool, baseball is in full swing, we get to celebrate David and how awesome he is to the boys, and we are about to kick off Whitney's wedding week in Rosemary Beach.  We can't wait! Life is Good!  

Ethan's first Tee Ball Game!  

double trouble...yes a tool kit in the back

Bennett's Swim hat and shorts

dug out the red keds...forgot how they are my fav!

art...

Yesterday finger painting on the front porch turned into body painting and a 

little boy running around the front yard in his undies being chased by his 

mom with the hose!  Gotta love summer 

Ethan's summer so far...

People are always commenting on what a "happy boy" Ethan is.  He loves life and glows with joy.  His little light is one of the brightest I've seen.  If he notices me looking worried or stressed, he will say "just be happy mom."  He is my happy boy.  Bennett was having a 'moment' in the car and Ethan said as calm as can be..."babies just cry mom."  So matter of fact that I had to just laugh.  His new saying..."that is just ridiculous."  When I ask him "where do you get your sillies from because mommy isn't that funny."  He looked at me point blank and said "Nana."  The kid cracks me up.  

  He has had such a great summer.  I haven't been the best at posting pictures, but here a few so far from our summer with little captions.  

 3 year photos

he has been wanting to learn to snorkel at the pool...too bad the kid size doesn't work very well

all boy!  

 

This picture was taken when Bennett was only a few weeks old and I was a very tired mommy.  But Ethan can make you have fun and be silly no matter what!  I think we took 30 silly phone pictures that day!

Ethan and David have a little vegetable garden in our back yard.  Their strawberries might be small...but they are the sweetest you've ever eaten!  We now have tomatoes and cucumber!

He wore this necklace of his cousins for a week solid.  David just loved it!  

If I had to sum up his summer favorite times...this would be it!  Catching lightening bugs.  Can you tell he is happy?  David and Ethan have a method to catch them and letting them go.  I could sit and watch them run our backyard for hours.  Both having the best time.  So sweet.  

Ethan attending cooking camp at his school for a week.  This was his chef's hat.  His teacher wrote on his daily notes that she is amazed at how shy he seems, but has the best belly laughs and can really  let loose and have fun and be silly.  I think she nailed it on the head:)

He asks every day to hold "Bennett Stone."  He call his brother by his full name.  Bennett might just go by his full name one day if Ethan has his way!  Grandpa just calls his "Stone."  

Swimming!  He has had the best time meeting up with his buddies at the pool.  He loves to dive for dive rings and swim nonstop.  I have to tell him to "stay above the water for a while."  He would swim until he literally would pass out asleep most days.

He still loves his sandbox

We have to go check out "Daddy's House" almost every day.  David is building a house down the street from ours, and Ethan has to keep a close eye on the progress.  

David has several remote control sail boats and Ethan has loved going with David to the lakes behind our house to sail them.  They did this more in the late spring when we had windy days.  I need to catch a photo of this.

so true...