allan & griff

Monday, June 23, 2008

Weekend overview

Another big weekend.

Friday night Onkle Markus, Tio Luigi and Tia Diane came over for an impromptu grill session. The weather was perfect for it. Unfortunately Griff and Markus got tons of bug bites (despite being sprayed liberally). Allan got none. None of the rest of us got any. Guess that just shows who the sweet ones are.

You can see that Griff made a bee-line for Markus and climbed right up in his lap. Markus has found just the right spot for scratching Griff's back and he acts like a cat in response.

Dad worked on Saturday leaving the boys and me to our own devices. The rain cleared off and we made our weekly jog to the farmer's market. On the way back, we stopped to check out the baby neigh. In part, this is because the boys enjoy it. In part, it is because the park is right at the bottom of an uphill part of the run and I like to have a little break before tackling it. After lunch both boys conked out for a couple of hours and I had a little time to get ready for our evening's entertainment. Little Miss A was hosting a Solstice Party. She wanted to make sure that "Griffith with the beautiful hair" was coming. The boys were all cleaned up and on their best behavior. Allan fell in love with the Elmo activity table. Griff fell in love with the hammock. In between there were lots of trains and toys and nooks and crannies to explore. Home before dark (it was the longest day of the year after all) and neither of the boys was interested in sleeping. Allan would drift and be nearly out and then corkscrew wildly and grin and giggle. We finally fell asleep on the couch only to be awakened by Dad at midnight.

The boys did not feel the need to sleep in, either. Up early enough that Dad insisted we go to church (Bible-thumper). Allan LOVED the bell choir. He beamed every time they played and 'danced' which for him means sitting in the floor and moving his upper body around in a circle. Think reggae. Griff didn't care one way or the other about the bells, but he found the choir to be a little on the loud sound. Every time they would sing, he would start, turn to me and yell "up." (They are a little exuberant.) When they would finish, he would clap and yell, 'yeah!' -- he's all about the atta boys.

Since it was nice out, we headed for the pool. The boys are old hands at it, having gone there with Jesana frequently, but this was the first time for us. Griff loves it -- mostly he likes walking around in the various depths of the baby pool and kicking and splashing. Allan has been a lot more reticent but did great yesterday. He walked all over the place and bounced (so long as you had hold of his hands) and enjoyed being dragged along in the water (so long as you weren't too vigorous.) Home in time for lunch. Griff about couldn't keep his eyes open, poor lamb. Then when we got snuggled for nap, he couldn't get settled -- kept kicking and thrashing his legs. I'm pretty sure he was feeling the waves of the pool. We finally all napped (2 hours!). Then Dad and the boys watched soccer and folded laundry while I gardened.

Unfortunately the microwave gave up the ghost yesterday so (late) Jay headed out to get a new one. Griff found it exceedingly frustrating that he couldn't "help" his father, but got over it (mostly) in exchange for the box. So long as I was there to help him get in and out of it. Over and over and over. Allan went along with it, but he was clearly not as enamored as his brother was.

Enjoy the photos. We will try to update more later.

The magic box

Hours of fun in the box for the new microwave.

Farmer's tan

Allan's working on his.

Griff's bucket hat

Once again I could not get Allan to keep his on long enough to even get a picture.

Row, row, row

Which is what Griff kept saying to get me to keep swinging the hammock.

Pile on

What is the weight limit on this thing?

Hold on tight!

Grif gripping the hammock.

There was a little curl

This little curl appears on its own. I swear we don't style it this way.

A little curl, right in the middle of his forehead

My sister used to always recite the nursery rhyme to me about "there was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, she was very, very good and when she was bad, she was horrid." Griff's curl makes me think of that.