Last Half of July – Trav and Erin + 3

*I just uploaded over 200 pictures to the blog, so this is your warning :) I’m splitting up this update into two posts—this one will cover the last couple of weeks of July:

Brooklyn spent the night at Cici’s house on July 15th. This was probably the third or fourth time she’d spent the night, and I think it went pretty well other than she woke up during the night several times. The next morning, Cici took her to pick blueberries before it got too hot outside, so I know she enjoyed that!

They picked lots of blueberries!

Later that morning, Savannah and I went to pick Brooklyn up while Daddy was off playing golf. Before we left though, we did Savannah’s tile handprints. We’d been meaning to make them for a while and just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. She cooperated pretty well for it and didn’t cry. It went better than I thought it would!

Of course, Brooklyn wanted to do one too (even though she’d done some at 10 months old..hehe). I guess we can’t expect her to remember that far back though, right? :)

That night, Brooklyn got to taste her first ever sip of coffee! Much to her daddy’s dismay (and my delight), she hated it. We have a pretty funny video to prove it. Maybe one day she’ll drink coffee with Travis, but I doubt it will be anytime soon ;)

Savannah also had a “first” that evening: First time to attempt to climb the ladder on the swing set. She was successful–scary! Now, I have to watch her like a hawk in the backyard because she goes right to the ladder a lot of times, and I’m afraid she’ll fall!

Nate and Becky were in town that weekend, and Savannah sat with Nate during Sunday morning worship. She even snuggled up and took a nap! Pretty impressive since she isn’t usually a big fan of people she doesn’t know well.

Then, on Monday the 18th, Travis had surgery to repair an inguinal hernia (the result of lifting and moving railroad ties in the backyard by himself…). Everything went well! Cici came over at the crack of dawn (6 AM!) to stay with the girls while we went to the Madison surgery center. We were home just before 10 AM, so it really didn’t take too long. Cici earned extra brownie points for taking Brooklyn to soccer that morning. I hated to miss her session (it was #6), but we just couldn’t make it back home by 9 AM to see her play. Apparently, she did well, and they learned how to play defense that day :) Travis was hilarious coming out of anesthesia. I didn’t expect to get to see him so quickly after the surgery, so he was really loopy when I first got back to recovery. Some of my favorite quotes from the morning:

“I’m just gonna be honest with you…I LOVE surgery!”

“WHOOO WEEE! I feel GOOD!”

“You look GOOD! I’m proud to be married to you!”

“It’s like a special treat to go into orbit!”

So, naturally, I was cracking up at him the whole time before we left the surgery center. It was hilarious ;) As for his recovery after that, he did well overall. I think he was in more pain than he thought he’d be, but he managed :) He ended up taking a whole week off of work, which was a good thing. (He thought he’d go back by Wednesday…ha). By the end of the week, he was feeling much better than he did for those first 3 days!

Good thing I had two little helpers that week while Daddy was in recovery mode :)

This is a sight we love to see—Brooklyn looking at her Bible!

Cici gave Travis a big jar of jelly beans to help with his recovery (hehe), and you better believe they were gone by the end of the week! I wonder why…

Savannah had her hearing tested at Dr. Castillo’s office that week too. I took this picture before we went to the appointment because she was just looking so cute! This was one of my favorite Kid Market outfits from when Brooklyn was her size :)

Brooklyn loves Play-doh! On this particular day, she wanted to make a blanket for Buzz. This basically involved covering Buzz in all the different colors of Play-doh that she has…haha. Poor Buzz though…when she “uncovered” him, one of his legs popped off! Her last Buzz lost his leg when she threw him off the landing at Paw and Rae Rae’s house, so now this Buzz is one-legged too. She’s not exactly gentle with her toys! ;)

One of the benefits of being the second child is getting “treats” at a much younger age. I’m pretty sure 15-month-old Brooklyn was never allowed to eat chocolate pudding! Shhhh…. :)

Cool kid ready for soccer!

Soccer Shots Session #7: July 25th

She’s gotten much faster at dribbling the ball over the last several weeks.

There she goes!

This week, they learned how to be goalies! This was fun to watch. Brooklyn wasn’t scared of the ball coming at her. (Most of the time it wasn’t coming that fast though). She had fun picking it up and throwing it out.

What a save!

Throwing the ball back out!

She also got to practice shooting the ball when the other kids played goalie!

There she goes again!

She shoots! She *doesn’t* score! :)

Protecting that goal :)

She’s ready!

A few of the balls bounced off her legs, but she never cried or made a big deal about it. I was proud! She can be a drama queen sometimes, but she acted tough that day!

High fives from Coach Eric at the end. It was a fun morning!

It was a hot morning (as most have been this summer), but the girls had fun playing with the water table later that morning after lunch :)

The next day, Tuesday the 26th, we had a play date at our house with Alisha and Katie and their kids (Carter, Graham, and Vivie). It was a lot of fun! The kids played inside for a while and then went out in the backyard to play in the pool and on the swing set.

Vivie even enjoyed the water that morning!

All the kids except Vivie ate lunch at the picnic table. It was Savannah’s first time to sit at that table to eat. I shouldn’t be suprised, but she sat there longer than any of the other kids. She was still eating long after everyone else was finished. That girl loves her food! :)

Katie, Graham, and Vivie had to leave shortly after lunch, but the rest of us enjoyed eating popsicles later. Nothing better than a cold popsicle on a hot day!