Swimming at the Taylors'

Caleb absolutely loves to go swimming at the Taylors' house.

Happy Birthday Lee!

The boys and I threw a Spider-Man dinner for Lee's birthday, complete with decorations, home-made cake, and tattoos all around!

Stuffed Animal Shenanigans

It has been a long time since I have come home to find the stuffed animals partying in the middle of the day. There seemed to be an out-of-control party going on when I got home from swimming this morning. Here are a few pictures:

Duke was trapped in the fridge.
Flamingo was locked outside.
Cookie Monster was turning on the garbage disposal with Newton's head jammed in it.
Mystic and Smokey were passed out on Cruzan Rum.
Grumples and Buzz were playing Wii.
Giraffe couldn't take it anymore.
There was a crazy game of "Twilight" being played.

Caleb's Hair Do

Caleb insisted on brushing his own hair this morning. He was so proud that he did it all by himself, that I didn't have the heart to tell him that it didn't look very good. He asked me to take pictures of the front, side, and back.

"We're Daddy!"

Lee had a nice Father's Day today. The boys and I gave him some special "treats" from Whole Foods, let him rest some, went to dinner at our favorite pizza place, Sonny's, and had dessert at Bruster's.

The boys ended the day by wearing Lee's t-shirts and pretending that they were Daddy. They thought it was just great to dress and act like Daddy.

Happy Father's Day, Lee!!!

Swimming

Cramerton Pool is one of my favorite places to take the boys during the summer. It has a baby pool with a fence around it, so it is easy to relax and watch the boys. The boys love to swim and spent hours in the pool.

Gastonia Grizzlies

Saturday night we went to the Gastonia Grizzlies baseball game against the Forest City Owls with Lisa, Todd, and Emily. Caleb and Graysen LOVE baseball. Caleb says that he is a "baseball man" at least ten times a day. Everyone had a blast! Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Emily was the "UPS Delivery Girl" for the game. She got to deliver the ball used for the first pitch.
Lee enjoying his first "Grizzly Burger," a hamburger on a Krispy Kreme donut. They are actually VERY good!!!
Caleb with his first true love, Sprite.
Group photo with "Chizzle."
Todd with the pizza that all of us won by screaming loud!

Curious George Live!

Friday the boys, Emily, Lisa, and I went to see Curious George Live at the Bilo Center. Graysen and Emily LOVE Curious George and all the kids had fun watching him perform. Afterwards, we went to a pizza buffet for lunch followed by a spontaneous trip to Stoneledge Park.

Missionary Flights International

On Monday night an old friend from the University of Florida, Kevin, stayed with our family. Kevin and I spent most of our senior year together, along with Matt and Steve, as the four of us made up our senior design group.

It was great to see Kevin again and we really enjoyed catching up. It brought back many memories of hours spent designing something that I don't remember, drinking, guitar playing, and eating dinners together.

Kevin is a missionary pilot for MFI (Missionary Flights International). He flies DC-9's into Haiti and the Dominican Republic from South Florida. The flights bring both missionaries and supplies to these two areas. Here is the link for more information: MFI.

The boys thought that Kevin was awesome as he is the first pilot that they have ever met!!!

Kevin showing the boys a model of a DC-9 airplane.
Picture of a DC-9.

Raspberries

Happy Birthday Lisa!
Lisa's birthday was this past weekend, so we spent Friday celebrating her birthday and picking raspberries.

It was cute to watch all of the kids pick fruit. They loved eating the fresh berries, especially Graysen. He was the most fervent picker, but everything that he picked went straight from the bush to his mouth. He was very good at it and knew to only pick the bright red berries. I am pretty sure that I owe the farm for an extra pound of berries.

I am absolutely loving spending this summer with my two little boys. They are a joy to watch and we have a blast everyday doing fun summer activities.

(Graysen's mouth is full of berries as he is picking more!)

Evie's Blog

Mandy wrote a sweet post about our visit with them. Here is a link to their blog:

Seventh Smith Blog

Special Friend

We spent today with our special friends: Evie and her family.

Evie has Transposition of the Great Arteries, just like Graysen. Evie and Graysen were next to each other in the PCICU during their first surgeries and next door to each other in "Step Down." Evie will always hold a special place in our hearts and we consider her Graysen's heart sister. It was a joy to watch them play and enjoy life together.

Evie's parents, Mandy and Chad, live on a lake and we had a blast enjoying a beautiful summer day at the lake with Evie and her four brothers and sisters. Here are a few pictures from our day:

Evie

Britain and a frog.
Izzy, Graysen, Caleb, and Evie
We tried to get a picture with all seven kids. Neither Graysen or Evie were cooperative for this picture. So, here are the other five: Izzy, Caleb, Tristan, Abi, and Britain.