We have been trying to fill our days with anything outside our apartment as possible. The boys get extremely restless inside, and they absolutely LOVE to leave. It has been nice that it is not nearly as hot here as Childress, so we can got outside a little longer and more frequently. It is very nice when Daddy gets to play with us.
Damon gets very frustrated when he cannot sit in one of these containers. He dumps out the toys and tries to climb into the empty container. It's pretty funny to watch him try and stand on one leg and get in. Now Kyler likes to do it too.
We decided to make the sand volleyball court our sandbox. Damon typically dumps shovel after shovel full of sand into his hair. We always go straight to the pool after playing in the sand so the sand doesn't come home with us.
There is a pond close to the apartment that we take walks to in the evenings. The boys like to play with the rocks and sand, watch the ducks, and run in the grass. Damon puckers his lips like this when he gets excited. He too, like Kyler, learned how to whistle before turning 1.
This is the position the boys are in the majority of the time they are at the park. I remember my little sisters doing this all the time. From the back, both of them have diapers sticking out of their pants!
I guess he got tired of squatting!
I can't believe how fast these boys are growing! Damon is getting so big!
Sometimes these boys can share and be nice to one another.
Another place the boys like to go is the tennis/basketball court outside our door. It is not really functional if you actually want to play tennis or basketball, but it's a great place to have 2 little boys run around. It's fenced-in which is awesome and for the most part the balls and they boys are contained. However, Kyler likes to throw the balls over the fence!
Damon likes to kick the ball as he walks. He's getting faster and faster!
We take all kinds of balls with us, but he loves to throw his footballs.
Damon's little pucker!
Whether this picture shows it or not, Damon does love the pool. This little turtle has been a live-saver for me when I take the boys by myself. Kyler has to take his turn in the turtle too.
Damon takes his swimming seriously!
The sand toys come with us to the pool, and Damon has to have 2 yellow shovels with him at all times.
Kyler likes using the beach towels for some reason. He has to have one wrapped around him as soon as he gets out of the pool.
Damon's new 'trick' is to try and jump/dance on the lounge chairs. He thinks he's so big and won't fall off onto the cement slab below. Boys make me very nervous!
Snack time is of course the best part of swimming. I think they spend more time eating snacks than swimming! Pathetic, I know.
I can't believe it's already mid-July! Our boys love being outside and playing at the pool or the park. It has been nice to have a pool at the apartment complex and having parks nearby. If we leave the apartment, every time we drive-up, Kyler immediately starts crying. He hates being home. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing. We have found story-time at the library and we get a free book each week. It has been hard not seeing Kenney much, but we have managed pretty well so far. Kenney has been doing really well in school. He only has 3 weeks left this semester and 6 tests, so we might not see him much the next 3 weeks. We take what we can get and LOVE it!
This is Kyler decked head-to-toe in Buzz Lightyear gear. I'm not sure what kind of face he has, but I think it's funny! His swim shirt, swim shorts, floaties, and flip-flops all have Buzz on them. He was so excited to get the packaged from Grandma and Grandpa!
Damon usually has a face like this when Kyler is pushing him around on this car. Lucky for him Daddy is pushing this time, but Kyler usually knocks him over and then runs the car over him! Damon is pretty tough these days.
A much better ride on the car!
The boys got matching swimsuits from Oma that have dino-spikes on the shirt. They are really cute, but it's hard to get a good picture of both the boys. They don't make many things easy!
He kept his hood on for most of the day. I can't remember how I eventually got it off, but needless to say, he loves it.
Kyler now thinks he's big enough to push Damon around in the stroller. He pretty much finds anything close and rams the stroller right into it.
This was right before Damon found a nasty, dirty straw someone left at the park and started chewing on it. I don't think he has gotten any diseases yet, but it makes me sick thinking about it.
Kyler has to do a full pull-up before going down the slide
Crazy climber has great balance, thank goodness. It's hard watching 2 little boys climb all over things at the park.
This is Kyler singing/reading Old MacDonald had a Farm. It does four animals at once, so it is a little different than the real song version, but you can definitely get the Old MacDonald vibe!
And the wrestling begins!! Kyler and Damon randomly knock each other over and tackle one another throughout the day. I think Damon is much better at taking a hit!
I love having family visit or going to visit family. It is so nice having someone to play with the boys. It is amazing how much fun they have, and I love watching them make relationships with aunts, uncles, and grandparents!! I just wish these visits didn't have to be so spread out. After we got home from AZ, we had about a week and a half before my family from Missouri came to visit. The boys get really bored with just me around, and they played so hard while they were here. We went down to visit my Nanny and Grandaddy, and my Aunt Darla came to see all of us too. It was a blast! I even got to go shopping without the boys!! It was nice to have so much help and be able to spend time with everyone. Thanks for everything!!
These are some glasses Kenney got for free while we were gone. The boys have fun with them.
He's one cool Dude!
Gotta love that big gap between his teeth!
This is what Kyler did most of the time we were at Nanny's. He played on her iPad. Yes my almost 81 year old Nanny has an iPad, and I don't even have one! My sisters found some cool apps that Kyler liked, but he played this Toy Story one over and over.
Aunt Darla and Damon
I have to say this is one of the better pictures of Kyler. He doesn't like to smile for the camera these days.
Too cute!
Four Generations. That is crazy!
This might not have been the best one of Nanny with the boys, but I thought it was the funniest! Kyler was obviously DONE with pictures!
Nanny with my 3 youngest sisters. I still can't believe how big all of them are.
The boys love the porch swing
Yep, that's Zadi!
It doesn't take long if you are around Kyler to realize that he loves Buzz Lightyear. While we were at Wal-Mart we found some Buzz and Woody shoes that light up. Aunt Darla had to get them for Kyler. In this video, Kyler is showing Papa Dude how his shoes work and what they can make him do. His skills are pretty amazing!!
This is Kyler after everyone left. He fell asleep in a big box that was made into a fort. He laid it down and put all blankets and stuff in it.
At the beginning of June the boys and I were able to go to Arizona to meet up with family that we haven't seen in a LONG time. Most of the family we saw had never seen either one of the boys, so it was fun for everyone to see them. The main reason for everyone meeting up was that Grammie (my dad's mom) was getting married! It was a fun trip with a lot of firsts, but we missed our Daddy. Kenney stayed in Texas to go to school and take tests, poor guy. The boys had a great time and never lacked for attention or entertainment with so many people around.
WARNING: This is a long post with lots of pictures. Just beware!
The boys did surprisingly well on the plane both going and coming home. It got a little rough when our 1 hour layover turned into a 3 hour layover, but other than that they did great. Kyler loved all of the new things and looking out the window. Damon loved the window too. They were pushing each others' heads out of the way to see! Damon was making all kinds of new friends in the airport by walking around to anyone that was far away from me!
I didn't get a picture of the boys on the plane, but Kyler had just woken up from a short little nap in the stroller. They were both so exhausted by the time we got there. Kyler loved being on a plane and that they gave him juice on the plane.
Damon and my sister Haley at the reception
Kyler and Uncle T, my 6'11" brother who keeps hoping he will reach 7'2"
This poor little guy was so off schedule the entire time we were there, but he was amazingly happy too. I was really impressed. He took most of his naps in the car seat!
Kyler had to have goggles like the big boys! The place we stayed had a pool so we got a lot of swimming in while we were there. Kyler was extremely nervous about the pool at first which surprised me, but after a few days he warmed up fast. He was jumping from the side of the pool going completely under water by the time we left. That says a lot considering he would barely put his feet in the water the first day.
Damon loved the water from the beginning. He never complained once and had a great time splashing.
I don't know if you can see the smile on Kyler's face, but he eventually learned to love the water too.
Uncle Brenn (my youngest brother). I can't believe he just turned 10, crazy!!
Auntie Shandi and Damon. She wasn't able to be there for the entire time, but she had plenty of time to spoil her nephews and get Kyler his Sluprees! She loves these boys more than they will ever know.
Aren't these feet gross? We couldn't believe how wrinkly his feet got in the water!
Poor Kyler was so worn out from the pool one day that when we got back to the room he was eating some grapes, and dropped one on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and never made it back up!! He just fell asleep on the floor. It was so cute!
Logan (one of my other brothers). He was FANTASTIC with
the boys. Kyler loved Uncle Logan. He even rode in the van with the
boys everywhere we went, even though there was a good chance one or both
of them would be screaming. He always tried to help them out. It was
nice having so much help.
Grandma and Grandpa took all of us to Wet-n-Wild one day. Kyler had a really good time in the wave pool until the waves came. They terrified him. This crazy place was quite intimidating to Kyler at first, but eventually he warmed up to parts of it. There were a lot of bigger kids running around.
We even got him to go down a slide, but that tongue had to be sticking out!
Kyler getting Aunt Haley to take him somewhere. He loved being able to grab anyone and drag them where ever he wanted to go.
Wet-n-Wild was an exhausting place for little guys! Grandpa had no trouble putting this little guy to sleep.
Damon's hair is getting lighter and lighter by the day. I can't believe how much it has lightened up. Don't those eyelashes make you sick? I wish they came from me!
There's that tongue again!
This is Damon with my Aunt Heidi. She is the angel of the family, and we always say that she is the only thing in the world that doesn't change!
Damon and Grammie. Not the best, but at least they are together for the first time. Grammie talked about Damon's cute smile and this is the ugly one he gave for the camera. Go figure! I am also sad that I didn't get any pictures of the newlyweds, but our family loves Al, and we are so happy for them.
Damon was so happy when he was playing at the pool!
Damon and Uncle Colin. It was such a big help to have so many extra people willing and wanting to play with the boys. They have really struggled since we have been home because all the get during the day now is me!
So cute!
Yes I was there too! Haley got the camera so I guess I had to get my picture taken too!
Grandma and Kyler. We are blessed to have so many people that love us and our boys!
How fitting for a Hill family gathering! The tongue is a weird Hill thing. All questions can be directed to my Dad or Grandpa because he started the whole thing.
Last but not least, this is my favorite picture. Shandi got this in the Visitor's Center at the temple in Mesa. I absolutely love it!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG){kind=link}