Summer Vacation in SC

We kicked off summer vacation with Daniel's first haircut. I didn't want to chop off those curls!!! But Mike was getting antsy to have them gone, so it finally had to happen.

He was so cute about the whole thing, and he really wanted to taste the scissors and comb. It was a struggle to keep him still.

Almost done.....

Finished! It was much shorter than I wanted, but it's tough when you have to work so fast.

Daniel turned 1 on the 19th of June. I made him this lumpy dinosaur cake with no legs. It wasn't much to look at, but it sure tasted good! :)

Opening presents was a sight to be seen. The two older kids just couldn't bear to let Daniel try to open his own presents. He took too long and didn't seem to care, so they eventually took over.

 He did eventually start enjoying himself, and loved playing with the ball popper from mom and dad.

And of course, the chocolate cake challenge! 

He did a bit better than the first two, who seemed really hesitant to make a mess. Not this kid! He wanted to give us a great big squishy chocolate hug. We gave him a bath first.

Moving on to show a normal lazy summer day. Daniel's morning face:

Emma watching cartoons:

And Matthew taking a break from his puzzle:

Doing Emma's hair:

We can't forget to show pictures of chores. That was a big part of summer too.

We recently visited the Greenville Children's Museum, which was really impressive! The kids had a blast. Emma wanted her picture taken right out front to document the occasion. We weren't quite to the front yet, but she was happy anyway.

They had a big vacuum tube system that Daniel fell in love with. He would pick the balls up as they dropped into the bucket, and load them in again. I've never seen his attention span last so long!

The massive "lite-brite" wall was pretty cool too. I would love to have one of these put in our house.

In the basement they had water tables. The kids stayed here for the longest amount of time. There were lots of other exhibits we looked at too, including the best grocery center I have ever seen. It was a great place and we'll definitely be going back.

 Another day at home. The kids love to play with the camera when they get the chance! We had some fun taking goofy shots one day, and we all laughed uncontrollably. Pretty fun.

Another favorite pass time- dress ups. This particular occasion was fantastic. Just before bed, they were supposed to be getting pajamas on. They came back downstairs looking like this. 

Matthew announced loudly that he was a super hero and he was here to save the day! It should be a fun picture to use later on, maybe in his high school yearbook if he doesn't keep himself in line! :D

Bath time! I couldn't resist snapping a couple shots of these two. They have so much fun in the water!

Emma recently got a new-to-her dresser, and passed her old one on to Matthew, who passed his on to Daniel. It was quite the project. Once it was in her room, we tucked the kids in. Later when we checked on her, she had made the dresser her own. At least we know it will be accepted and loved in it's new home.

The final project of the summer was a 1500 piece puzzle. Mike and I had some fun putting this thing together at night, and it gave us a lot more time to talk too. The kids tried to help during the day and actually helped fit a few pieces in. It took about a week of odds and ends time. It was about 3 feet across. I've heard there are 5000 piece puzzles out there, maybe we'll be more adventurous next time!

All in all it was a grand summer. We had fun and spent a lot of time together. I left our Utah Trip out, since it needs a post of it's own. Stay tuned and you'll be treated to a play-by-play of that extravaganza. :)