Garrett is growing up so fast . . .

I can't get over how big and grown up Garrett has gotten--what I said about having a toddler again, I meant . . . Garrett has been in the {preschool} category for a while now. He is doing WONDERFULLY in swimming lessons--yesterday he floated with NO help from his instructor, and then turned on to his stomach and swam to him when asked to. He loves swimming, I told him it was almost over and that we would take a break in the fall, and he said "But I like swimming lessons! Please, can I keep doing them!?" LOL.

He has a thing for puzzles. He's getting pretty good at them, and can usually get the major characters assembled with little help. Here he is finishing off one today--so proud of his work. He always wants to "show it to daddy".

Double D'oh.

It would seem that nice, quite time of NOT having a budding toddler is over. Summer finally discovered she can sit up on her own, and then stand up on her own . . . and apparently climb stairs on her own. Time to break out the baby gate for the stairs!

Sea World Weekend

We kicked off August with a trip to Sea World this past weekend. Garrett had been asking to go and we found a hotel for ridiculously cheap. It was SO HOT. We went with some great friends that I met at boot camp, the Quinones family, and had a wonderful time.

Hiding from the heat in an A/C theater to watch Elmo

Summer was LOVING Elmo, especially since she had a cracker to eat :-)

Last time we went, Garrett was too short to ride the roller coaster.
This time he was tall enough and LOVED it!
(He's in the middle)

Chillin' in the sling

Luau--Quinones on the left, Comptons on the right (G was passed out in the stroller)

Cool octopus

Garrett and Ayanna

Ayanna, Garrett and Rhea checking out the flamingos on their walk

Daddy and Summer

One last ride before we left
Wilene and Ayanna are in the front, Garrett is behind them with Rhea.

Good times!!

Random pics

Fun at the park in late July (HOT!)

Splash park

Watching Garrett's swimming lessons in the Cutest. Dress. EVER!

Sharing grapes with Hazel

Krome Ave Kruise In (7/18/09)

We have been trying ALL MONTH to take Garrett to see some classic cars, but have been botched at our every attempt for a variety of reasons. We finally managed to see some at Homestead's Krome Ave. Kruise In. Garrett had a BLAST . . .

Look, a Camaro!!.

AND IT HAS SEATS :-)

Bounce house = Great fun

It was hot, and past Summie's bed time, but she humored us for G's sake

"Look, A MONSTER TRUCK!!"

Sitting in the awesome fire engine at the historical society.

This was pretty cool, apparently Homestead's 2nd ever fire engine. The 1st was made of wood and was destroyed during a hurricane.

Swimming Lessons

Garrett is half way through his second session of swimming lessons, and I as I mentioned in my last post, he started swimming this past week. He enjoyed showing off his new skills to his instructor . . . it seems a switch has gone off and he isn't even the least bit nervous anymore. :-)

Guess who's swimming!

We spent some time at the pool on Sunday and much to our surprise, Garrett started swimming. No floaties, no nothing, just jumping in the water and swimming around. He's still getting the hang of the whole breathing thing, but he can do it. Its WONDERFUL, I'm so proud of him. It was so nice for Brad to be there when he started doing it too. I'll swear by our Y swimming lessons, that's for sure. He wouldn't even jump in the water WITH his floaties on a few weeks ago. Now he's jumping in, swimming to you, and then swimming back to the side to do it all over again. Summer had a great time too, of course!

4th of July-Fireworks and Fun!

We had an absolutely wonderful 4th of July this year. After Garrett's wonderfully fun morning running (click here to see some pictures the pros took of him), we spent the afternoon and evening at the small stadium here in Homestead where they have games, rides, activities and live music before the big fire works show. Summer had THE most darling dress in teh world to wear. At the stadium, Garrett got to do those fun things where you are attached to giant rubberbands and get to jump on a big trampoline. We didn't make it until the fireworks--at 8:30, Summer decided it was time to get home and go to bed. She did better than we expected, since she is usually in bed by 6, and it was HOT HOT HOT. It worked out really well though, we bought some small fireworks to set off at home and Garrett had a BLAST with his daddy. He stayed up until 11, which for him is REALLY late. It was such an amazing day!!

Garrett's first "Race"

Brad and I had a very competitive month in June--we did a 5K and I did the triathlon. Garrett heard and saw us training/talking about these things, and started saying he wanted to do a race too. As a part of the 4th of July 5K here, they have a kids race. Its a logistical nightmare to enter him if we are running, so we decided this one would be just about him. He was very patient waiting around for an hour for the adults to finish running, and had a blast during his "race". He insisted on wearing his "Cool racing shirt", even though the smallest size they had was an adult small. He ended up running 300 yards--not bad at all for a little man! He had a great time, and was asking "Can I do another race??" as soon as we were done.

Meeting the FIU mascot. He was obsessed with the "tiger"

Before the race in his "cool racing shirt" with his "cool racing numbers"

Following the "leader" - they had a runner lead each age group.

Happy finisher :-)

So Incredibly Behind!!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in SO long . . . something is up with Mozilla and it won't let me add new posts. At first I thought it was a problem with Blogger, but then I realized my friends were still updating their blogs, so I tried using IE instead. So consider this the "catch up" post, and I will try to do better!!

We've had a REALLY busy month. Lots of playdates, Summer turned 9 months, I did my first Triathlon, we went to Missouri, and the dogs saw the vet . . .

Garrett being "Froggie Boy"

Updates on the kids: Garrett = such a big boy! He had a blast in Missouri with his granparents and Aunt Stephi. His favorite part was the old cars Grandpa is restoring--the finished Firebird and the work-in-progress '67 Camero. He did great on the trip--much better than I was expecting. He's sleeping a little better since we came home. He talks non-stop, and has something to say about everything. He loves his sister and his doggies a ton. Swimming lessons are going well--he is finally jumping in to the pool with no floaties and loving it (Horray!)

9 months and petite as can be!

Summer is getting more and more mobile. She still isn't crawling full-scale--she is very efficient at commando crawling and manages to get where she is going no-problem. She really likes walking now, but you have to hold her hands. Its a little bit of a pain because she will just lean over while you are holding her so you will put her on the floor and let her walk. She says "Mama", "Dada" and "Nana." She's a very happy girl--did great on the trip to MO. She's still so tiny though, weighing in at 12lbs. I'm not worried about it, because Garrett was a shrimp too until a year.

I did my first triathlon on Father's Day-- 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 5K run. It went really well--I finished in 1:40:58. It could have been better-the run was brutal after a decent swim and bike. I'm hoping to do another one in August.

We took the dogs to the vet last week and the vet heard a pretty distinct heart murmur on Aspen. We're on the hunt for a cardiologist for him, so we can figure out what's going on there. Its worrysome because no one heard anything before, and now its very noticable. Praying its nothing major--not sure what we would do without a big sweet spoiled grey boy. Haylee got a clean bill of health, and is as rotten as ever.

Thats what is going on in our world. More to come!

Zoo

We went to the zoo on Monday with a few playgroup friends . . . it was hot, so the kids mostly just played at the splash park.

Garrett and Everett checking out the tigers

Garrett and Cameron . . . they were walking around the ledge

Climbing the spider web with Everett.

Puppy Love

Every boy should have a doggie. Garrett loves ours . . . when we go out, he'll say "I miss my puppies!" He tells them he loves them, and will give Aspen hugs and kisses. They are good buddies, and Aspen treats him just as you would expect a big brother too--with minor annoyance, yet with a thoughtful kindness and gentleness. They are both such good boys.

Jacob's Aquatic Center

Last Monday we went to Jacob's Aquatic Center in Key Largo with the Butterfly Coop where the kids will be going to preschool next year. We had never been before, and Garrett thoroughly enjoyed himself. The weather was less than nice--it rained off and on--but since there was no lightening we were able to keep playing.

Someone had a good enough time to pass out in the car . . .