At play

Everyday Clara and Rex play more together. Nothing makes me happier than hearing them laugh at each other. It has been challenging having them so close in age, but as they grow to become good friends I'm so thankful they are only 18 months apart.

 Rex had fun playing in his wipes one day. He was very thorough.

 This is Rex's favorite hat. It was Clara's favorite at this age too.

Rex played and played in this cabinet. It is the only one that is not childproofed in our kitchen.

Fun in the Sun

We had a lot of fun this summer playing in the water. We visited our neighborhood pool, splash pad & our front yard pool too. Rex is still a little nervous in the water but Clara would have lived in her swimsuit had I let her.

 Our neighbor Owen, who is just a few days younger than Rex, came to join in the fun.

 At our neighborhood splash pad

Tomato lady

Clara eats tomatoes like candy. We planted a grape tomato plant in our garden and whenever I picked any she would eat them all in one sitting. How I love her.

Tomatoes for breakfast

Mama, can I eat a tomato like an apple?

I love you, Daddy

Clara and Rex love to wave to Ben when he leaves every morning for work. Clara always waves and does the 'I love you' sign. On this particular morning Ben drove away before she could get her little hand to make the 'I love you' sign and it nearly crushed her.  To make her feel better, we took a picture of her making the sign and texted it to Daddy. I love how she loves her Daddy.

Happy Birthday, Ben

We decorated the house for Ben's birthday while he was at work. Clara and I wrote things we loved about him and put them in the balloons before hanging them from the ceiling. Happy 29th!

Independence Day

This year we went to the Centerville parade on the 4th of July. It was super hot but it was worth the heat to see Clara's delight. Rex got pretty bored so he and Ben spent quite a bit of time wandering around.

Taking a water break. Rex loves drinking out of this spray bottle.

That afternoon we headed to the Huffs for a family BBQ with the Duckworths and Ben's parents. All of the cousins had fun participating in a backyard waterfight. Grandpa was king of the water balloons and spent his afternoon filling up balloon after balloon. Ben's Mom brought her awesome homemade lemon ice-cream for dessert. Our kids were exhausted from the long day and so we all turned in before fireworks that night. Our neighborhood always has a lot of fireworks and so we got to hear popping into the wee hours of the morning. I love being able to celebrate holidays with family.