August Phone Photos (pt 1)

August started off with a strange ear infection for Cooper. He came downstairs on the 1st and I noticed that there was...goo...on his face. I wiped it off, then used a q-tip to clean his ear and out came some really gross stuff. We went right to the pedi and found out he had a perforated ear drum and swimmers ear.

I've added the photo at the bottom, so if you don't want to see it, you don't have to. It was easily top 5 grossest things I've had to deal with since having kids.

The best part was that on the way to the Astros game that weekend, Cooper informed us that if he blew his nose, his ear farted.

That weekend, we went to the Astros game with Cooper's cousins (and mine). We managed to get seats all in the same section and pretty well had the whole section to ourselves. The kids had a GREAT time. I also decided that taking Caitlin to a game would not happen again for a while.

We learned this month that Caitlin can climb the ladder to the playset without help. I am not a fan of this.

Both kids went to the pedi in August. Caitlin had her 15 month check-up and Cooper had a follow up from his ear issues.

Cooper had been begging to see the new Planes movie for a while. We had him earn the money for his ticket by doing chores. One day, he told me he wanted Eileen to come with him. I checked with Kelly first and she was perfectly fine with us taking her. Cooper called Eileen one evening and asked if she wanted to go to the movies with him. He told me it was not a date, but just friends.

They were pretty silly!

They both really liked the movie, although there were some nerve wracking parts. I actually liked this one better than the first.

Caitlin loves sitting in her Bumbo. She sometimes gets stuck - which I find hilarious.

Cooper's class had a princess & superhero party one Friday. I volunteered to make cupcakes for the boys...only to remember I was supposed to tag clothes for our consignment sale with Kelly. Jason stepped up & said he'd take care of them. He's now the official family cupcake maker.

These pigtails would be cuter if she'd keep them in, instead of pulling them out on the way to school.

We had tubes put in Caitlin's ears in August. It was a pretty easy procedure and I'm very glad we did it.

She spent most of the morning napping on my lap.

Cooper got a new watch from Jason. I mistakenly put it on the wrong arm one morning and he took it off at school so that he could do his work. Instead of putting it back on, it was carried to the car...where he dropped it while getting in. We were leaving the next day for vacation and were in a hurry to get home. As I drove off, I felt a bump. Not knowing what I'd ran over, I jumped out to see...and found this.

Since I felt like it was my fault for putting it on the wrong arm, Jason picked up a new one on his way home from work. I felt terrible, but Cooper is not one to forget. He has brought it up several times since then!

Summer Vacation - The Beach (pt 2)

Cooper was dying to build a sandcastle on the beach. He reminded us several times before we left to pack the beach toys for the trip. Our second morning on the ocean, we made our way to the beach to build a sandcastle. His attention span lasted about 10 minutes before he was in the water - leaving Jason to do most of the work!

Caitlin looked excited to be at the beach, but that was only because Nana was holding her. She discovered how much she really liked her Nana and didn't get too far from her.

She was a diva! I do love those legs...

The bigger boys thought it would be fun to bury each other in the sand.

I'm not sure when it happened, but Cooper ended up in the sand as well.

That evening, we went to The Hangout in Gulf Shores. It is a very casual restaurant with great, eclectic decor. They also have a lot of outdoor activities for the kids...and big kids. Cooper played in the sand until the foam machine started!

The mom in me said no to the foam machine. I didn't want the wet clothes in the car. Thankfully, for Cooper, Nana was there to say it was ok for him to get the wet clothes in her car.

Caitlin tried running away, but eventually embraced the foam.

The next morning, Caitlin threw her first tantrum before 7:30am. That girl has had 2 teeth for months. And she decided to get another one while we were on vacation. My usual 12-hour-sleeper was up every 2 hours. Thank goodness Nana was there, because we would have probably just locked her in the closet and left her there. (not really) I came in a distant second and Aunt Sassy was dead last on her list of favorite people.

Once the fit was over, we made our last trip to the beach. Nana stayed at the pool with Caitlin, where she was much happier.

I think Cooper could have stayed in the water all day. He jumped in the waves and begged us to take him further into the water.

I had to beg Cooper to take photos with us, but I'm glad he did. He thought me almost falling down was hilarious. 

The last morning, I took Cooper down to the beach for one last look. He wanted to see if the ocean had eaten his sandcastle. He wasn't terribly surprised or sad to discover it gone, and we grabbed a few more seashells before leaving.

We tried taking one family photo before we headed out. Caitlin wasn't very supportive of this idea, but I think we managed.

Summer Vacation - The Beach (pt 1)

We made it to the ferry and had a bit of time to wait. Cooper didn't quite understand what we were talking about - he kept thinking we were going to get on a fairy! Everyone got out and stretched their legs - getting a snack & drink while we waited.

When the ferry finally arrived, it really blew Cooper's mind that we were going to drive on the boat! Once we were all settled, we got out of the car so that he could look around.

We finally made it to Gulf Shores where we checked in & got settled into the condo.

The next morning, the guys went fishing while we lounged around a bit. Finally, after lunch Cooper could not be held away from the beach any longer. We packed our stuff up and headed to the beach for the afternoon.

Cooper ran to the water & spent most of his time laughing and running away from the waves. Caitlin was not a fan of the sand or water.

Cooper loved spending his time with Zeth & Clay. They were both really great about including him and keeping an eye on him in the water.

Caitlin did finally warm up to the sand and played for a while. We finally packed up and headed back to the pool to rinse of and rest. Cooper was not thrilled to leave the ocean, but we knew we'd be back the next day.