Summer fun, that is

Summer has been good to us so far. In fact, we've been having so much fun that we keep forgetting to share our experiences with you. This is what we've been up to since May:

Construction on the back yard started right after Memorial Day and was completed on Father's Day weekend. It's a true makeover- the whole yard was leveled, a retaining wall was built, a new fence was installed, and sod was laid. What does this have to do with the babies??? They'll be able to play in their own backyard some day (not just yet because the sod is still taking root). We have to do some planting, mulching, and fence-staining before we're all done, but we are pretty darn happy. Here is a before and after shot of the far right corner...

Before

After

Nannie came to town and had a great visit with the babies at the end of May. Kevin and I got out for a dinner date, which was nice too. Below is a video of Nannie bathing Eleanor. I don't think I've ever seen or heard Eleanor laugh this hard.

In the first week of June, the babies and I had our first road trip without Kevin. We drove to Pittsburgh to see GiGi and PopPop Gallagher. The kids were great in the car and slept like little angels during our visit. Plus, GiGi and PopPop were game for lots of play time on the floor, so it was a really nice visit for all of us. Great Grandma, Aunt Sue, and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ron came to visit. Eleanor decided to start crawling (forward) while she was in Pittsburgh and she hasn't stopped since. Below is a nice picture of GiGi and Eleanor on the front lawn (Eleanor is wearing an outfit that I wore as a baby!).

GiGi and Eleanor in PopPop's beautiful grass

While I was in Pittsburgh with the babies, Kevin worked like a dog around the house but also had some much-needed rest. And that was a good thing, because I took my first business trip that week. I went to New Orleans early Monday morning and returned Wednesday night after the babies went to bed. Kevin stayed home on Monday, and then their nanny Yanick spent Tuesday and Wednesday with them as usual. Much to his surprise, Kevin was wiped out when I got home on Wednesday night.

Only two days later, I rounded out the week with a visit to Philadelphia. We all went up to see PopPop Perese for Father's Day. One of the highlights was Jackie's inflatable pool. We ALL got in it!

PopPop Perese and Ian

Aunt Karen and Eleanor

Since Father's Day, the babies started pulling up. They love pulling up and standing at the activity table that makes music and sings to them in Spanish and English. And they just started pulling up on everything else. Frightening.

In the past couple weeks, let's see ...Ian's two bottom teeth showed up, I got my hair chopped off, we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary, and we had our first Waterbabies swimming classes.

Below are a couple of images of the babies when they got back from swim class earlier today.

Eleanor playing with a Pringles can

Ian, playing with the center of an "O"