Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to two amazing dads!!

 

First up, MY dad.....

 

Usually we are at the beach this week, so I get to say Father's Day in person and give him a big squeeze. But, this year we are not going to the beach until mid-July :( So for now, Dad, this blog post will have to do. (And FaceTime this afternoon with the kiddos!)

 

Thank you for always being there for me, for being my soccer coach & biggest cheerleader, for always supporting me, and for taking care of my car (still!). I am so lucky you are mine!!

Not only are you a great Dad, but an amazing Poppy as well! I love my kids each have a special relationship with you, and love spending time with you. For Nate, that involves taking selfies, trading Pokémon cards, reading the Sunday ads, looking at coin collections, flying kites at the beach, and going to Wake Forest basketball games. I love seeing you & Nate interact because it's almost like he's the son you always wanted (but never got)!

 And then there's Miss Priss.....obviously, she has her Poppy wrapped around her finger. Thanks to you, she too is obsessed with Pokémon cards, and I don't know whether to love you or hate you for that, ha! She adores you and thinks you are the silliest person she's ever met. Just don't walk around in your underwear in front of her! :)

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Now, onto Greg....

 

Greg, I love how you've exposed the kids to such a healthy & active lifestyle. If you ask them their favorite things to do with you, it's always something physical. Wrestling, riding bikes, going to a playground. They just love being around you and spending time with you, even if it's while you're watching "Old Men Talking." :) Thank you for being an amazing Dad, and for being my partner is this crazy life.

 

Cheers to you!

Summer Camps!

I let the kids choose one camp each summer....

 

Not surprisingly, Abby picked Gymnastics Camp & Nate picked Lego Engineering Camp (something he wanted to do last summer but we were out of town)!

 

Abby

Gymnastics Camp was held at her normal gym, where she takes classes from August-May. We invited two of her school buddies, Mia & Olivia, to join her. The camp was Monday-Friday from 8-12.

 

They colored, built forts, did gymnastics, had craft time & snacks, and had lots of playtime & silly time :) In fact, she was NOT thrilled when I would pick her up each day:



She made a new friend, Ellie!

On the last day of camp, the sno-cone truck came. That was the highlight of the week, according to Abby. I might just save my $100 and hunt down a sno-cone truck next summer! :)

 

Nate

Two of Nate's buddies - the Townsend brothers - joined Nate at Lego Engineering Camp, which was held at Shelton State Community College here in town.  His camp lasted Monday-Thursday, and was from 9-12.

Ready for the first day!

 A reporter came to Lego Camp on Wednesday, and almost every kid got their picture in the newspaper! (Or rather, there was a group shot in the newspaper and then an online gallery of more pictures. Click here for the link if you want to check it out. The kids were so excited that they were "famous!")

Anthony & Nate made "RoboGuy" with a moving sword & shield



One of the kids from the middle school camp came to show
them the remote control car he built!

 Nate had a great time, learning about gears and pulleys and levers and motors. All with legos, of course! He is already talking about going next year, and requested to be in the "older" class - the middle school one - where they build Lego creations with sensors, and hook it up so that the computer acts as a remote control. So neat!

Welcome, Gibson!

I have a new nephew!!

 

Gibson Staton was born on Friday, May 29th in Huntersville, NC. I missed the birth - it was a 7.5 hour drive to get there! - but I was able to hold him when he was just a few hours old. Such a blessing!!

 

 The proud Daddy, my brother-in-law Mike

Friday afternoon, my parents & I took Anderson to the hospital to meet his little brother for the first time. It was so special to witness this! I remember when Nate first met Abby; it's a moment I'll never forget actually.

 

Have you ever seen a prouder big brother!?

The Statons, the cutest new family of four!

I mean seriously, how gorgeous does my sister look!? She just gave birth!!!!

Those cheeks!

Proud Aunt :)

Saturday morning, we visited Bec, Mike, and Gibson in the hospital once again. This time, Poppy finally got to hold his new grandson. Nice photobomb, Anderson!

A friend of Bec's brought a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts as her "push present!" So funny. As soon as Anderson saw them, he screamed "SUGAR!!!" This child is clearly deprived.

We took Anderson to the neighborhood pool to burn off some energy & have lunch. Well, I'll be honest....I laid in a lounge chair the whole time while Nanny & Poppy swam with him and answered his 10 million questions :)

I promised Anderson if he took a good nap that afternoon, we'd make brownies when he got up. His first time! He was so excited. He took a suuuuper long nap, and had the *best bedhead ever* when we woke up. We went straight to work....

We dubbed him the "Mad Professor" because of that crazy hair. Seriously, this is the best picture ever. Bec nearly peed herself when she saw it!

And that sweet boy tried to sit there for the whole 28 minutes while the brownies were baking. He was just a wee bit excited!

We loaded up Nanny's yummy lasagna, salad, wine//beer, and yes - the brownies - and headed to the hospital to have a picnic dinner with Bec, Mike, & Gibson.

Selfie with my favorite (almost) 3 year old nephew :)

Sunday, after a long-awaited visit from the urologist to perform Gibson's circumcision, the Statons were finally ready to come home!!! Check out G in his carseat....he is too cool for school :)

Statons, party of 4!

This bassinet was used for me & both of my sisters, as well as Nate & Abby & Anderson when they were newborns. Now it's Gibson's turn!

Those tiny feet! I could die. Baby feet are my most favorite.

Nanny always insists on having a "birthday party" when a new baby comes home. So Gibson's party consisted of a home-cooked dinner and what else - cake & party hats!

We forgot about G for part of the party....he was just so content in his boppy! :)

Monday morning before I left, I was able to put Gibson on the playmat for the first time, and get some exercise in! (Back story: when Anderson was born, I drilled the eat-play-sleep routine into Bec's head, in order to get the baby on a schedule. I was dubbed the "physical therapist" and was in charge of all the "playtime" Anderson's first few days at home.)

 

I loved playing with G and moving those little chicken legs around! I think he lasted about 5 minutes before he fell asleep though. Typical!

 

Hard to believe this handsome little guy is 2 weeks old today.

Sweet Gibson, Aunt Em misses you & your kissable cheeks!

Swim Lessons

The kids completed their 2 week swimming lesson boot camp last week :)

They made such great progress, in just 8 lessons!!

First day excitement

 I wasn't there on Friday, May 29th for their last lesson - I was in Charlotte because my sister had her baby! So Greg was my eyes & ears and took a few videos for me. I'm so proud of Nate for being able to swim a full pool length now. (And breathing properly while doing so!)

 

Click here to watch him swim a lap.

And then there's Abby.....

Her first swim lessons were last summer, and I'll be honest, she didn't learn much. She viewed it as playtime and just constantly dunked herself & was blowing bubbles when it wasn't her turn with the coach. Well, this year, I paid to have semi-private lessons, so she could really get a lot of attention from the coach and be able to focus better.

Yet when we showed up at swim lessons, we found that one of our neighbors Griffin, was
in the class too. So....there was still a bit of playing :)

She did a great job though and almost has the stroke technique down. (Breathing correctly is another issue. That will have to wait till next summer I guess.) I'm really proud of her though; she can jump in and swim a half-length of the pool.

 

Click here to watch a video of Abby swimming.

 

I had promised the kids that once they completed swim lessons - and did a good job - we would go to Edgar's Bakery for a treat. Greg took them there last Friday and they each picked out these XL cookies!