Grapes!

 A few weeks ago Momma was on the prowl for something fun to do- and in my search I stumbled upon a local vineyard which opens it's gates for pickers two weekends in the year, and it happened to be Saturday of weekend #1. So a' pickin' we went!

 At this point I really had no idea what we were going to do with those grapes, but it seemed like a good idea...

 Monkey...

 Showing Jensen how to find the seeds...

 and spit them out.

 So then Duke (who cannot witness eating without throwing his hat in) needed some as well.

 He watched carefully as I de-seeded to make sure I didn't try any funny business...

 Loooove it!

 Next!

 Jence got really good at harvesting!

 :)

(We ended up making grape jam- which was delightful!)

Back By Popular Demand...

Alex realized the other day that I had neglected to post anything about his R&R in June (a choice I made in an attempt to not stress about being behind in blogging, but rather to just move forward- the best laid plans...)

So here is June- back by popular demand...

Slip 'n slide in the front yard of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Jensen's fourth (!) birthday- complete with way too many presents as per the norm with Grandma...

We drove down to Charleston NC to catch a cruise.

Daddy learning the ropes when dealing with Grabby Man...

The fam! I was bound and determined to get a bunch of photos of all of us.

Jensen and the advent of the Pirate Eye...

He was thrilled to have a magic bed that folded out of the wall and required a latter to get up.

Mini golf on the top of the boat- kind of pointless with the wind- but very humorous!

Room service... :)

Love the pea pod...

Towel art. (And three puppies.)

Bermuda!!

(Grabby Man)

The intent of this was to crop out Duke's head, which I have done for prints, but I think it's funny...

Jensen showing you the pink sand...

Beach day 2...




Grabby Man...

Pirate eye...

:)

One of Duke's maaaany fan clubs...

Jensen was upset that we made him come out and sit on the deck- he wanted to stay in the (dark, tiny) room and watch movies. So we brought the movie with us and he chose to sit 5 chairs down and wouldn't look at us the whole afternoon... wow, I thought I had a few more years before that started...

pirate eye....

Super dad...

We figured Jensen would love the Museum of Natural History- and he did. Which, frankly, is a dream come true for me- I think I skipped through the whole outing...

Lizards!

He didn't really understand the bare dino bones, but when we happened upon a "real" stegosaurus he got really excited...

Jensen showed us these "giraffe fossils". He thought they were pretty cool...

Love the pointing.

And daddy's hoisting method.

Eating at Ben's Chili Bowl.

And Georgetown Cupcakes (from TLC's DC Cupcakes).

And after said cupcake...

I dragged everyone to a lavender farm.

There was a bug... :)

A caterpillar- Jence loves play critters, but is oh- so sure that he doesn't much care for real ones...

Me showing him how to cut the lavender.

His turn.

And no trip to Grandma and Grandpa's is complete without taking the marshmallow guns for a spin.

We took a side trip down to King's Dominion with the boys.

And then down to Richmond for some awesome bbq.

(and baby food)