Memorial Day Weekend

In advance, I am sorry, but I took 485 pictures this past weekend and could not narrow it down any more than this. Family + beautiful babies (IMO) + summer sunshine + the Nikon that never rests = the longest blog post ever.

We spent the weekend with my entire family at the lake house. It was really fun to all be together, and the kids did very well. The last weekend we were there last summer, I thought I was going to lose it. Ellie was an infant, Robbie was all over the place getting into trouble every time I turned around, no one was sleeping or napping well and I was exhausted. This summer finds our little family in a much better place, and I'm so relieved!

So here's what we were up to over Memorial Day Weekend...

These flowers only bloom a few weeks out of the summer, and we were there to take in their loveliness.

Ellie enjoyed her first dip in the kiddie pool!

Robbie had fun playing bags (he calls them 'pillows'!).

Quality time with Aunt Kels on the swing (I heart this picture for a thousand reasons)

We had Tom's Donuts for breakfast both mornings (thanks to mommy and her complete lack of self control when it comes to cake with sprinkles!)

Ellie and Grandpa

I love it. It was around this same age that Robbie started to squint for my camera when the flash would go off, and now Ellie's doing the exact same thing.

Aunt Kels drew a train track on the Magna-Doodle for Robbie, and he played trains on it the entire time we were there. Brilliant!

He has no idea how lucky he is to have such a fun Aunt!

One night we took the kids out for ice cream.

Robbie got Superman and Ellie got Orange Sherbet.

It was a big hit.

This was a perfect alternative for Ellie's milk allergy!

My sweet babies.

He was saying "Big, BIG ice cream!"

We headed out when the kids started to act bored, and 10 times their age. Ha!

Getting ready to go out on the boat...

Demonstrating the importance of sunblock when you're this fair!

He learned to hold still, and even participate, each time we had to apply SPF. I was so proud of him.

The rare family picture. And quite possibly the cutest thing Robbie has ever done. He loves his daddy.

Ellie loved being out on the boat! She definitely has Armbruster in her blood.

Robbie was pumped to drive the boat with Grandpa every chance he got. He remembered exactly where the throttle and horn were, and helped point out boats as we went through the channel.

Ellie preparing for her first swim in the lake!

Sidenote: this nearly mirrors a picture I have of Robbie the first time we took him to the lake house... white hat and everything. Mommy/photographer's dream!

Ignore mommy... this is such a great shot of Ellie chilling in the lake. She loved it for the most part!

We had planned on pulling Robbie and Daddy together on the tube behind the boat this weekend, but he seemed to have a greater awareness of the size of the lake and he lacked trust in his life vest to swim unassisted. So we decided this weekend would be a baby step... play on the tube in the water, and later on in the summer attempt to be pulled behind the boat. We don't want to move too quickly, but we also want him to be very comfortable in this environment and teach him not to be overly fearful.

Those of you who know me well, stop laughing. ;)

I realized this weekend that the bottle-banishment countdown has started. You're supposed to ditch the bottle after 1 year, and Ellie has 3 weeks left to figure out how to drink from a sippy cup without choking! The girl loves her baba. On this particular boat ride, she drank 1/2 the bottle and just wanted to hold it the rest of the time. I can only hope she's as easy as Robbie with the transition.

Not one to eat breakfast without a train all lined up in front of him!

My favorite guys

I love them so much!