Salt

No, this is not a post about the new Angelina Jolie movie. But it is indeed about salt. Sam was helping me make scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning. It was his job to stir up the egg mixture as I added things to it. After chopping up some fresh herbs, I turned around to see him adding salt to the eggs. I told him that was enough, and we finished preparing the eggs. We sat down to eat, and after one bite we threw all the eggs away. I looked at the salt shaker (see below). Notice it is empty. It was, I believe, about 1/3 full before the egg incident. I guess I need to do a better job of supervising my 3-year old in the kitchen:)

Concert

I walked downstairs to find this - too bad I only caught the tail end of it.

Six Months Old

At six months, Charlie likes to:
- smile, smile, and smile some more
- eat rice cereal and oatmeal
- get up on his knees and scoot around (with the top half of his body still on the floor)
- roll both ways, all over the floor
- sit unsupported for up to 30 seconds
- play with his feet
- laugh at his brother
- chew on books and toys, or anything else he can find to put in his mouth
- stare at his puppy-dog
- make baby sounds (or if you ask Sam, he "says funny words")
- be outside
- cuddle with Mommy and Daddy

At six months, Charlie does NOT like to:
- eat vegetables
- take naps during the day (big brother won't do this either - making one tired mommy)
- play by himself
- be in hot weather

Don't let this picture fool you. Charlie tried his first vegetable - carrots. After a few bites, he made a "this is disgusting" face and spit everything out. Then he refused to open his mouth again. Looks like we have yet another veggie-hater on our hands!

Welcome Josephine Melissa

Congratulations to Amy and Luke on the arrival of Josephine Melissa! She was born at 8:54 am this morning weighing in at 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long. We enjoyed meeting little sweet Josie today, and we are glad everyone is healthy and doing well!

Grandma Kim and JosieGrandpa Roy and his Grand-daughterUncle PeterJosie with her Mommy and AuntiesSam and Charlie with their new cousin. Charlie is upset that his reign as the baby of the family is now over.

Josephine with Auntie Kristin

Auntie Candy and her new nieceThe Happy New Family

Summer

The summer is just flying by so far. Since we got back from our trip, we've been busy going to the water park, the zoo, some playdates, and visits with family and friends. We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Amy and Luke's baby, which will be the first cousin on my side for Sam and Charlie. Sam predicts the baby will be a girl, and he thinks they should name her "Auntie Robin". She must hold a special place in his heart:) Here are a cute pics of our little one, who we affectionately call "Charlie Barley".

He loves sticking out his tongue all the time. Here I actually caught it on camera in the middle of a spoonful of cereal.

Charlie - Future Boy Band Member

He's always full of smiles...

Sam wanted to do a little singing for the blog, so here you go!

4th of July

We attempted a 4th of July parade, but it was MUCH too hot for little Charlie, who just didn't understand why it was fun to endure such heat when there is air conditioning or shade to sit in. So Peter headed back to Amy and Luke's house while I stayed to finish the parade out with Sam, who enjoyed the fire engines, clowns, marching bands, and candy. We then went to my parents' house for a little pool party fun. It was Charlie's first swimming experience. He seemed a little less than impressed. Sam loved the water, of course, and he also enjoyed his first 4th of July sparkler!

July 6th

Happy Birthday Candace!!!

Las Vegas

As a wedding gift, my grandparents gave us a week of their timeshare. Four years and two kids later, we finally found the time to use it! We decided to head to Las Vegas since neither one of us had ever been there before, and everyone always seems to have a good time in the city that never sleeps. The accommodations were top notch! We highly recommend the Grandview Las Vegas. It's about three to four miles south of The Strip, but shuttles are available, and South Point Casino is across the street from Grandview and also has restaurants, bowling, and a movie theatre.

While we there we checked out most of the hotels, saw two shows (Cirque Du Soleil Mystere and Blue Man Group) and two movies. We spent some time by the pool, went out to dinner every night, took a day trip to Hoover Dam, and explored M&M World - a highlight of the trip as we got souvenirs for our little guys who were back home in Minnesota (we missed them a lot!). We aren't much for gamblers, but we had to try a few video machines since after all, we were in Vegas. I believe we spent a total of $25, and we won....well, nothing. We lost it all. But hey, $25 for a couple of hours of entertainment wasn't too bad.

Excalibur - With its castle-like appearance, we are pretty sure this would have been Sam's favorite hotel.

The Bellagio - Definitely our Fave - Fountain light show, great gelato, fancy people, unique decor

Skylight in the Bellagio

Coolest chocolate fountatin ever (at the Bellagio, of course)

At night

The Venetian - It looks like Italy inside - that sky is painted on the ceiling!

Pirate Ship outside of Treasure Island

The Fremont Street Experience (Old Vegas)

Hoover Dam - After a really long road trip with insane traffic, the Hoover Dam didn't quite impress us. It was the hottest day of our trip - 106 degrees + being surrounded by concrete = yuck. Right when we got there, we went into the cafe to grab some lunch, but the electricity had just gone out so they weren't selling anything because their cash registers were down. This also means they weren't selling tour tickets and the visitor center was closed. We roamed around for 20 minutes, then headed back home, but at least we can say we saw the largest dam in the world!

Ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio

Lion Habitat in MGM Grand

Blue Man Group = Awesome
See it. Seriously.

Paris (this Eiffel Tower replica is half the size of the real one)

Hanging out after some gelato at the Bellagio

The Volcano at the Mirage

The Light Show at the Bellagio

Rice Cereal