Soccer Brennan

After Brennan broke his finger and was all casted up, he was relieved that the doctor told him he could still play soccer. He told us he could live without baseball since there is a whole lot of standing around and waiting (my sentiments exactly), but he absolutely could not live without his soccer.

Soccer Brennan loves the game. He loves the running, the kicking and being in the goal. He also makes quite a cute, one handed, orange casted goalie.

Baseball Aidan

To our surprise, Aidan has fallen in love with baseball. He wound up on a team that is, honestly, a bunching of all the beginner players who have never touched a bat before in their life. As a fellow beginner, this worked out well for Aidan. When you are on the Bad News Bears, there aren't a whole lot of expectations. Aidan got to play first, second and third bases and even pitch many games. During his first pitching game, he made a great play when he caught a pop fly for the third out. This earned him the ever so coveted game ball. (He slept with the ball next to his pillow that night.)

I don't think they have won a game yet and they might not, but Aidan has discovered a whole new sport and had lots of fun in the process. (In the meantime, Brennan and Griffin have discovered the snack bar and just how many sugared up snacks they can beg off their parents during a nice, long game. Let's just say we are really financially supporting that concession stand.)

Three's Company

One of the nicest parts of having three boys is how well they play together. They interchange alliances, trading one brother for another, all without incident. There will be days of Aidan and Brennan building intricate lego cities happily and quietly together, while Griffin plays Mr. Fix It in the playroom by himself. There are afternoons of Brennan and Griffin playing house or superhero while Aidan reads quietly in his room. And there are moments when all three of them engage in some complicated pretend game outside building a fortress up in their tree house.

Three boys is almost like a constant play date. There is always someone to play with you.

I got home from work last night to Griffin and Aidan battling each other in Spiderman on the Wii. Brennan was outside playing with Chewy. A half an hour later, Brennan and Griffin were on the swing set giggling together as they licked Popsicles, while Aidan rode his bike in the driveway.

With three, there is always company to share, to play, to pretend. And always at least one little boy to snag for a hug before he runs off to join his brothers to soak up the end of a summer day.

Rolling Around

When Brennan and Griffin run out of ways to entertain themselves at Aidan's baseball practices, they spend a nice chunk of time rolling down a hill, preferably on top of each other.

Summer Lovin'

We love summer. Summer in Buffalo is spectacular. It is a season of days spent poolside, swimming and catching up with friends, nights full of dinners of whatever can be thrown on the grill and a whole lot of tennis (for me) and golf (for Chris).

Now that the jet setting to Italy and fun family weddings are over, summer stretches out before us with a promise of many lazy days. We have no plans for summer, beyond soaking up every last minute of it. We have no trips planned, no big outings, just dreams of a simple happy summer.

This thrills our family to no end.

After talking about what we all hope for summer, the boys and I sat down and wrote out our official "Summer Fun List". We have decided we must do all the items on the list at least once (some we will do almost daily) and after the item has been completed the first time, we can cross it off the list. We hung the list by our family calendar and have already started crossing things off in earnest. (The big cross off so far has been Aidan learning to ride his bike without training wheels!) The summer fun has begun!

Our List:

Go to Pool
Have a Picnic
Go to Green Lake
Go to South Davis playground
Pick Blueberries
Go Out for Ice Cream
Buy Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Truck
Daddy take boys to Golf Range
Read Books in the Hammock
Eat Dinner Outside
Have a Playdate for Dogs
Teach to Ride Bikes without Training Wheels
Have a cook out
Camp in backyard
Go on a family hike with the dog
Get a big basketball net for driveway to shoot hoops
Plant a veggie garden
Let Chewy swim in neighborhood lake
Have Nicole, Abby, Alli, Liam, Casey, Patrick, Matt, Bridget over to play
Go to Mississippi Muds for dinner and walk along water
Watch fireworks
Go to East Aurora farmer's market

Wedding Shoes!

Family weddings are pure fun. My boys have never been to a wedding, nor had they ever been part of the wedding party. They were beyond themselves with excitement over the possibilities wrapped up into Uncle Travis and Aunt Lynda's wedding.

It started with the special outfits - dress pants! dress shirts! bow ties! And, for whatever reason, the most exciting item - the dress shoes, or as Griffin likes to call them, his "Wedding Shoes!"

When they realized that not only will they get to attend the wedding, walk down the aisle, and party it up with a huge party with a band, but also stay in a hotel room - the excitement reached fever pitch.

So last weekend, we packed up the car and headed to scenic Watkins Glen, New York to see two people we all love and adore tie the knot.

The wedding weekend was a huge success. It started with a rehearsal dinner at a winery overlooking the lake and vineyards that stretched for a mile. We enjoyed beautiful weather, with rain that held off until we were all safely inside for the wedding party. The wedding was perfect. The ceremony, held outside, was intimate and romantic. (Well, except for the part where I got pooped on by a flock of birds during the vows. I will chose to believe it means good luck for the groom and bride, and well, maybe a bit of luck for me too since I had to live with the poop in my hair for the evening.)

The reception was an absoulute blast. The boys danced the night away to the live band. I don't think Griffin sat out one dance. Their dancing moves were the hit of the night. Chris and I laughed so hard, we cried, watching our sweet boys rockin' across the dance floor. During one of the sets, Griffin danced for, and in front of, the band and was so unbearably cute, the band members started taking pictures of their little groupie. At the end of his dance, one of the band members came up to Chris and me and told us we absolutely had to get G a musical instrument because he was destined to be our musician.

Or a dancer. He rocked his dance moves.

The boys loved the attention, the music, and the love. They loved lemonade and shirley temples served to them in champagne glasses. And they certainly loved a candy table, stocked with sugar filled delights, including gigantic pixie sticks.

The bride and groom were radiant, both so beautiful and in love. It was a joy to share in their day.

After hours of dancing, Griffin buried his head in my shoulder and told me it was time for him to go to bed. We picked up the shed wedding shoes and held our sweet boys' hands as we brought them upstairs and tucked them into bed.

Rehearsal dinner pictures:

Morning of the wedding:

The view from our hotel room:

The stunning bride: