Party Fun

Our buddy Cole had his 3rd birthday party last night! Whitney swam her little tooshie off, therefore daddy did too. :) Even though the water was freezing it didn't slow up our big girl. It was the first time she had arm floaties on. Good friends, good food, good fun, good times!

The birthday boy...enjoying his pizza!

The kiddos
Brother and sister are waiting to pounce on those candles

Our little fishy doing it by herself...

A Right of Passage

Well, I guess its official. We've been told that you aren't a true southerner until you've seen the Stone Mountain Laser Show, and Sunday night we did it, we took the plunge! We went with our good friends the Henderson's and couldn't have lucked into a better night weather wise. 70's in July are unheard of down here! We had a great time and after being warned a few times by a few different people, we are pretty sure the south will rise again after seeing this display of downright, absolute devotion to the south and all it has to offer! These people LOVE their southerness and we like the commitment they show, plus the fact that we get to have fun at their expense. I mean who doesn't love seeing a devil being chased by a jacked up pickup truck to the tune of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"? That's just a small taste of what the laser show had to offer...Oh, did I mention that the lasers were shown on this very impressive "stone mountain" with a enormous carving of the pride of the south, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Don't worry my northern friends, though the names were familiar, I have to admit I wasn't quite sure who these men really were. I'm convinced they put a lot more emphasis on civil war teaching in the south, hence the great dedication. On second thought, why wouldn't we learn more about it in the north, since, after all...we won. Somehow I think we'll be know as "The Yankees" for a little while yet.

Family picture, minus the little one (too late for her)

The legends...

All the kids playing in the rocks

Watching the show with daddy...

and mommy

Storytime at the Library

Stories at the library are always a good time, but at bedtime in your pjs is especially awesome! Not too sure about the librarians book choices though. One was about spiders and the other was about a wolf eating pigs. Really? Right before bedtime?

Whitney, rockin' her slippers and headbandThis pretty much explains it...

Henderson kids...calm, Whitney...crazy! Love it though!

Silly and Sweet

Acting Like a Monkey

We went to Monkey Joe's yesterday with our friends Cole and Luke. It was Daddy's first time and I think he may have had more fun than the kids.

Climbing through the obstacle course Lindsey and Grandma taking it all inDown the slide with mommyMandy with her little monkeysDown the slide with daddy

Who said its just for the kids? Climbing up

An Organized, Wet Ballerina

Yep, that would be our Whitney. Some shots from the last few days...

This is just a small glimpse into what Whitney is into now a days. Pretty much all of her toys get separated and organized like so. These are her Mr. Potato Head pieces, by noses, shoes, hats...we were still in process here...not sure where she gets this from...

Grandma Lykowski is here to visit for a few days. Yesterday we had a fun day outside with the water hose...

Filling up the bucket...

Dumping the bucket on me...

then Grandma...then rest...Lindsey steered clear of the action, but thought it was funny

Now for the pretty ballerina...I love it!

Lindsey Kate is 3 Months!

Our little peanut is 3 months old. What a difference 3 months can make! It seems as though she has turned a corner, not that she was bad before, but a newborn is a newborn, right? She is sleeping great at night, 8 to 9 hours and she seems to be a bit happier during the day, not quite as fussy and is able to be put down for some play time. She's smiling and talking a lot more and starting to track as people walk by, or run by in Whitney's case. :)

Happy Birthday America!

We celebrated the 4th with our friends the Pognants and Drakes with a great cookout and then fireworks. It was Whitney's first go at fireworks and she did very well. We were very skeptical because she has recently become very afraid of loud noises after Ben was teaching her about thunder and one cracked right in front of our house...Anyway, we showed her plenty of fireworks on the Internet and reiterated that they would be very loud, but that she could cover her ears. We told her they went "pow, pow, pow" and that she had to say "ooooh" and "ahhhh". So we tried to make it a big deal all week to warm her up. Once we got settled to watch the show, we really lucked out because there was a smaller show in the distance that really warmed her up to the idea so that once the closer show started she was already comfortable. She loved them and can't/won't stop talking about them and asking us if we like fireworks. She just keeps asking to see fireworks and says they are "sooooo pretty". We were going to do sparklers at the fireworks, but as Ben was on his way to the car to get the cigarette lighter, flames broke out 50 yards from us from someone else sparklers, so we thought maybe that wasn't such a good idea. So we broke them out last night...Hope you all had a great 4th to celebrate our freedom!

The whole group...Little Miss herself waiting for the fireworksStomping pops...they wouldn't work by throwing themSitting with daddyPretty sparklers

6 Years Strong!

Ben and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on June 28th. To celebrate we usually take some type of trip away, but with our new little addition, aka Lindsey, we (I) didn't feel like we could/should go away over night. Even though she is sleeping through the night now, I still just don't trust her. Some nights she'll sleep through entirely, other nights she'll wake up for a few seconds and go right back to sleep, then other nights she'll not settle back down and we'll have to go in, re-swaddle and give the pacifier. I just don't feel like someone else should have to deal with that just yet. Anyway, all that to say that instead we rented a Harley for the day and drove around north Georgia. We had ton of fun even though it was HOT HOT HOT! We left around 11am and drove around our county for a little bit, then headed over to Athens/University of Georgia. We had lunch there at a little restaurant called The Last Resort, great food! Then there was a little music festival going on so we walked around it for a few minutes. After a quick tour through campus, we headed northwest towards Helen, GA. This little town was the tourist trap of all tourist traps! First of all, all the buildings were decorated in a Tudor/German village type feel, even the Wendy's and Huddle House! They had all kinds of little gimmicky shops, even a Tarantula shop. What more could you want! We pulled into a "biker" restaurant for a little snack, then made another pass through town and all of the trinket shops. We are definitely heading back there some day soon! After that we headed back down to our neck of the woods for some dinner at Panda Express, then a little Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. Home at 830 pm and exhausted, and very sweaty! But what a fun day we had! Great memories with a great husband! Thanks to Grammy Hartsock for making an unexpected trip through Atlanta to watch our girls. She was on her way back to Ohio from Kansas City where she was visiting Ava and our new nephew Andrew.

Random June Pics

Just some random pictures from June. Whitney is a great big sister. She is just learning all the time. She is speaking better and better everyday and picking up on what mommy and daddy are saying too. We are trying to get words like stupid and butt out of our vocabulary so she doesn't start saying them. I've learned I say stupid and dumb a lot! She is loving trying to entertain Lindsey, drawing, Mr. Potato and building with bristle blocks. Lindsey is 12 weeks old now. She is smiling much more, holding her head up better and talking much more too. The best thing is that she is finally sleeping through the night! Hip hip hurray! We are definitely enjoying this new feature. Both girls are such a joy!

Our little builder

and bike riderand pretty girlNot the greatest picture, but cute none the lessI know, matching outfits again...Lindsey's not happy about it eitherNotice the death grip Whitney has on Lindsey's hand...this is a common occurance

More Father's Day Fun

Pictures from the actual day. We went to church in the morning, family nap in the afternoon and pool in the evening. It was Lindsey's first trip to the pool. She didn't like it too much...but Whitney had a great time!

Daddy and his baby girls

Lindsey tolerating the poolWhitney swimmingand splashingSo much fun!