falling is like this

Halloween was a rainy day...luckily we had several events proceeding than the actual event so the boys could try out their costumes. The Dude is a natural, and embraced the Iron Man persona. The Meer Kat was a hit in the Yoda get up.

I think an E.T. get up would be more appropriate for Fletch though. He is walking, as you can see. He stumbles around the house in a way that is reminiscent of the scene where E.T. stumbles around the house drunk. It can be a little risk as our house is also a disaster zone. The master bath is almost completed. The kitchen chaos has yet to commence. Hopefully we will survive the holidays.

My baby turns 1

I know it is cliche, but time has flown by. My little meerkat is One. He is a little boy now, on the verge or walking. He is a scrapper, and can bring his brother to his knees with one handful of hair. He can also eat most people under the table and screeches until he gets another bite. I love you buddy!

Fall in North Carolina

We carted our bikes and children out to North Carolina, and lived to tell. Rob was in charge of renting the car. He thought an SUV would be big enough to carry the bike box, but he forgot to take into consideration that the kids had to sit in the car as well. We ended up ramming the luggage and children into the car, with me sitting on the center console and the stroller in the passengers seat in order to get on the road. After a quasi-highschool reunion with Rob's friends, we acquired a bungy cord and were on our way to the mountains. It was well worth the effort to get everything out there. We were able to bike the Blue Ridge Parkway and see beautiful leaves while the grandparents were able to clock some time with the boys.

Kodachrome Basin

Our first official summer camping trip came at the tail end.

And July comes to a screeching hault

July was a great month, right up until the end. After a fabulous 4th of July weekend (see above), we headed out to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This trip was about 2 years in the making. We organized a trip with our bestest friends - the Other Joneses, and the Ledfords, long time friends of Rob from his college days. We headed out to Corolla, NC to a big beach house. The weather was awesome, hot and humid, which afforded long lazy days spent at the beach and in the pool. We did a lot of relaxing, which is hard to do on vacation for Rob. But all of us cached in on much needed daily naps in between trips to the beach and awesome fresh seafood dinners. Floyd had a hard time with the beach,the waves namely, on the first day, but as the trip went on we could not get him out of the pool. Fletch on the other hand is a fish, he loves the water. He successfully sealed the deal on an nickname during the trip too, meerkat. He would pull himself up and screech all the time like a meerkat. We plan on going back again soon, maybe next year. And then the rest of the month.... Rob headed out on a man-venture on July 24th for some man time adventure in the high uintahs. I was hanging with my monkeys, trying to entertain them and maintain sanity in the house. Well next thing I know, there was a crash, and a screaming meerkat. I found a lamp on the ground next to him, but could not find a mark on him. He cried for a few minutes but seemed all right. Later on I noticed he wasn't stuffing food into his face with his left hand, a usual two handed event for the meerkat. I took him into the ER and sure enough, he is a poster child for greenstick fractures of the radius and ulna. He is happy enough, you would never know he was even hurt. It was my first failure as a mother, guilt.

World's Best Wife Award

This July marked the beginning of my last year of training as neuroradiology fellow. I am tired. This spring really wore me out, and the lack of vacation for about 5 months didn't help either. July is my favorite time of year because of all the great memories I have of the 4th of July in Rexburg. This year was no exception. However the planning becomes a little more intensive because it is also Rob's birthday on the 5th.
The whole family, and the lizard man went up to Rexburg for a weekend of festivities. I had my dad orchestrate the best birthday gift ever for Rob, one he could not return; an experience of a lifetime.
One of my dad's friends has a few WWII fighter planes, and he let Rob fly this beauty a few times around the Grand Teton.
All of the brother-in-laws went along for the ride, so it was a good thing there were no problems on the flight which included a few barrell rolls.
The other event, which proves I am the most awesome wife was a trip to see Glenn Beck speak in Driggs. Just kidding, we avoided that, and instead Rob and I went to see Wide Spread Panic. A band that I cannot stand, but Rob loves, so I went to complete his weekend.

The boys had an amazing time with the cousins too!

Are you ready to Rock?

The boys have discovered the tempurdic mattress, on mom's side of the bed. I have a similar photo from everyday last week.
Fletch is a wild man. He can hold his own against Floydee. Floyd may perform the "bodyslam" with increasing frequency, but Fletcher easily defends himself with the hair-pull.
We went to the Art's Festival on Saturday night. The only good part of it was Floyd taking on the persona of Gene Simmons. Other than that it was hot, and stressful dealing with Rob's agoraphobia or agora-anger more like it, and chasing Floyd through the crowd.