Kayaking

It was a beautiful day and we had some time to kill before swim practice, so I took Liam over to Aunt Jac's house and we went out in her kayak. . .

We paddled around for about a half hour and Aunt Jac was nice enough to take photos. Liam started getting adventureous and wanted to sit on the front of the kayak.

Beautiful scenery . . .
If you listen carefully about 20 seconds in he's singing "Row Row Row Your Boat"

Ortley Tournament

After playing with Jackson and a late nap, we headed over to the beach to see the Ortley Tournament. Grandma, Nana, Aunt Jac, and Pop Pop were all there. Don't let these smiles fool you, these two were up to no good. They went for a "walk" and Liam came back soaking wet and sandy - he wanted to go in the water and Pop Pop thought that was a fun idea . . .

Daddy in the boat relay . . .
Mommy and Liam watching Daddy row from the guard stand . . . Daddy and his Big Guy
Ortley got 2nd and everyone had a fun time - especially Liam

Liam and Jackson's Pool Party

Yesterday Liam, Nana, and I headed over to the Vislocky's house so Liam and Jackson could have a play date. Jackson is only 9 months old, so they weren't exactly "playing" together but they both had a lot of fun. . .

Jackson never took his eyes off of Liam - he's learning all kinds of new ways to get into trouble

Then Liam read Jackson a book and was showing how great he would be with a little sibling. . . Can't wait to get together again soon

Beach Baby

Another beautiful day at Ortley Beach. Liam took a two hour nap and woke up ready to play. We ending up spending 7 hours on the beach. Our neighbor friends came and Aunt Jac was able to come for a few hours too. It was wonderful! Liam loved looking for rocks and shells and running all over the sandbar . . .

Me and my beach baby . . .
What other 2 year old has his pick of beautiful female lifeguards?!?

Mommy's lucky that there are always plenty of eyes watching this crazy kid who thinks he can swim by himself . . .at least I know he'll never get lost on the beach since all the guards know him

Ortley Tournament tomorrow night at 6pm - Come cheer on Liam's Daddy and his team!

Chillin' in the 'hood

The other afternoon we got the neighborhood kids together for a pool play date. . . I think my camera is in the bottom of my beach bag in my car so all I had was my phone to take pictures.

Here are Landon, Liam and Ava relaxing in the shade

Jenna and Brielle were over too, but I didn't get a photo of everyone :(

I feel like such a slacker - anyway the kids had a great time and played amazingly together.
Liam's lucky to have such great friends a few houses away

Watch out John Deere

Liam's favorite thing to do when I go to Lowe's is to go on the ride on lawn mowers. He thinks they're great and we'll keep using it as a bribe to be good in the store for as long as it works. Yesterday I was in a bit of a hurry and he was not ready to get off the mower.

He decided he could get himself home on the lawn mower.

When he's talking about someone being mad, he's referring to a cartoon (Ni Hao Ki Lan) that he likes and then he reminds me that Casey and I live on the same street he does . . .

Water Park . . . almost

It was a hot sunny day yesterday so we invited Liam's cousins over to do a water obstacle course and make ice cream sundaes. . . Liam loved the slip and slide . . .

Owen diving into the kiddie pool during the obstacle course . . .
Erin showing perfect form jumping through the tubes . . .

Then after Liam's nap we went over to the beach with Aunt Jac, Nana, and Pop Pop . . . Daddy and Uncle Adam were working so we met up with them and then went to Surf Taco for dinner.

Fun Day!!!

Back to the Beach

After all the craziness this week, I was looking forward to a relaxing day on the beach. . . Apparently Liam didn't get the memo that he was in the emergency room a few days before and should be tired (a.k.a. not full of energy and running everywhere). He was non-stop and thinks he can swim without any help and heads straight for the waves.

Daddy trying to reason with him . . . Good luck with that!
Playing in the boat . . . he wants Casey to take him out for a row sometime this summer
Then I finally got Liam to nap and after about 45 minutes of sleeping a random rain storm came out of nowhere and he just slept through it for another half hour . . . people were busting a move off the beach and Liam is just snoozing under the umbrella - I laid down next to him to stay dry as it poured. He eventually woke up and we made a makeshift shelter with the cousins . . .

Eventually the rain stopped and we had the beach to ourselves. . . and Liam and his cousins were back to running along and into the water - so much for relaxing!

I Don't Remember Signing Up for This

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, it's been a little crazy around here. Most notably, Liam was in the Emergency Room on Tuesday night. All day Tuesday he had a low fever (about 99.5) and I was giving him Motrin to keep it down. When Casey came home from work, I was getting ready to leave for swim practice and I took his temperature again. Still 99.5 . . . while at work Casey noticed Liam was really fussy and lying on the couch, so he took his temp again and it was 104.6. It jumped 5 degrees in an hour - so he gave him more Motrin and put him in a cool bath to bring it down. . . while in the bath Liam was playing and then all of a sudden he just stopped and zoned out. Casey said he wouldn't respond to his name being called and then his eyes rolled back in his head. Our neighbors are a nurse and a police detective, so Casey ripped Liam out of the tub and ran next door (I am coaching swimming during all of this and have no clue) - the nurse wasn't home, but the detective called an ambulance and they were there in about a minute. Liam had come to by the time they got him in the ambulance, and they rushed him to the ER. On their way, Casey got in touch with me and Jaclyn drove me to the hospital. Liam looked so sad sitting naked (he had been in the bath) on the gurney. He was diagnosed with FEBRILE SEIZURES - a seizure brought on by a rapid rise in a fever. . . It was the scariest thing Casey has ever seen and it's something I never want to see firsthand. The poor guy had to get his rectal temp done 3 times (the first time it was 103.6) and since he had no clothes on, they gave him a little hospital gown to wear. I didn't think to take a photo at the hospital, but I made him put it on today so I could capture it on film. . .

Everything is good now, his fever is totally gone and now we know to watch for it.

If you want to read more about febrile seizures click here:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/febrile_seizures/detail_febrile_seizures.htm

Thanks to all our family for being there for us through this!

Believe in the Sun . . . Even when it's not Shining

Yesterday we had a beach date planned with our friends from our neighborhood . . . The weather did not seem like it was going to cooperate - after nonstop hot sunny days, it was actually raining. . . we didn't give up and once we got to the beach, the sun came out! We ended up spending almost 5 hours there and the kids had a blast. Here are Ava and Liam looking for shells . . . ( I couldn't get them to look at me)

Liam and Brielle played so hard they ended up crashing under the umbrella . . .

Can't wait for the next beach day . . . Probably Sunday :)

Fourth of July Fun

We had a great 4th of July! First we headed over to the beach nice and early with all the cousins.

Some push-ups to impress the ladies . . .

The best shot I could get of 7 Scallon cousins . . .

After the beach, the boys came back to our house to swim. . . Liam loves being one of the "guys"

Then we headed over to Aunt Jaclyn's house for a BBQ and the best view of the fireworks ever!

The boats starting to fill up the river . . .

Time for the fireworks . . .

We had a great day and night and I woke up this morning and Liam said "Mommy it's your birthday" . . . doesn't get much better

Batting Practice

Since Liam filled his sticker chart for using the potty, I told him he could get a special gift. At first he said he wanted a taco - I thought I was going to get off easy, but the more we talked about it he decided he wanted a dump truck. Today we went off to Target to get a dump truck. I must have showed him about 4 different dump trucks and he decided he didn't really want one. So what did he pick??? A baseball helmet, and a T-ball bat, and a green baseball. He walked through the store wearing the helmet and carrying the aluminum bat. I walked next to him praying he wouldn't start swinging. He couldn't wait to get home and break in all his new equipment. . .