Family Photos & Sammy's Revenge

Sekora Posse! Sorry kiddos, while you got mommy's beautiful eyes, I think you got daddy's not-so-beautiful hairline.

Family day at Safeco (for one family at least!). Audrey is prepping herself for what she knows is coming next . . . .

She is officially boycotting the traditional seventh inning stretch singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame until they add " . . . and buy me some peanuts and cotton candy . . .".

"Wait a minute . . . THESE are cracker-jacks? . . . and buy me some peanuts, cracker-jacks, and cotton candy. I don't care if I ever get back . . . "

After all the sodium and sugar that went into our little spark-plug, a cold liter of water had no chance.
Jackson (far left), Sydney, Audrey, and Mason lined up for the 4th of July parade in anytown USA (actually Anacortes town). My money is on Jackson to get the most candy, though he doesn't have a bag in his hand . . . poor planning Jackson!
By looking at the parents clothing you could very well mistake this for the Thanksgiving day parade . . . oh 4th of July in the Northwest!

Audrey's absolutely in love with her new helmet. She made a pitch to sleep in it last night (seriously). She even negotiated with the fact that she might fall out of bed. It was a decent point and well argued position. Daddy still won in the end but she is getting better.

Lisa's family has a reunion every other year. Being together for 10+ years I believe this was my fifth. One of the best traditions is the homemade ice-cream. I think Audrey took seriously the joke that you don't get any if you don't take your turn on the crank.

A much needed rest after all that cranking (and eating). With Audrey being a family name in Lisa's family, here is our Audrey resting atop the Audrey of one-generation prior.

Sam has pointed out that Audrey simply gets way to much air time on this blog. He decided to "cute'n up" his game by posing with his new girly friend Quinlan.

"Seriously dad, if I just held hands with a girl, it better buy me some photos!".

Who doesn't love a double chin! Smart money says there is another layer tucked under there somewhere.

Sibling Love

Peek-a-Boo!

Audrey is really enjoying her little brother, even throwing out a "he's so sweet!" sometimes . . .

. . . sometimes! I remember being at least 12 years old before I tried this move on my big sister. Well done Sammy.

To Audrey's credit she maintained a good camera pose while countering Sam's left fist with a quick slap down.

For any babysitter's out there, ice cream cones are Audrey's weakness and should be used in any sort of bribery situation. They will never diminish in value with her.

About here she realizes that either a face wash or bath is iminent . . .

. . . bath it is.

Sam tends to be wide-eyed about half the time. Good thing he got mom's beautiful eyes!

For those of you who have seen Audrey over the last 7 months you are familiar with the brown dress above. I'm happy to announce that it has been retired and this is the last time you will see her in it. Whoo-hoo!

There is no emotion more irrational than a parent's pride in their children's accomplishments. Of course Lisa and I think we have a little Picasso on our hands based on Audrey's drawing above. Little do we know 2-year olds should probably be drawing teeth and ears along with their faces, but at this point we'll just continue to wallow in our ingorance and be proud none-the-less.

Aries and Flamingos

2nd Aries in the family of four. I do believe the actual symbol of the Aries is a ram (My lovely wife confirmed it (through fact, not action)). While I love a strong-willed ram, the cuddly little sheep depicted above is what I believe to be false advertising . . . hmmm, this outfit did come from auntie Tauna . . . . another ram . . . . I mean Aries!

Audrey is taking to her big sister role quite well.

Grammy is taking to her role pretty well too. : )

Sydney turned 3 in May and I do believe Audrey looks a little intimidated by the extremely large pink princess crown cake. You can barely make out the finger "swipe" mark she took out of the corner. Caught on camera kid.

Proof that it's not all sugar going into our little spark plug.

Audrey discovered the amazing fun of blowing the "weed flower bloom" into the wind. Daddy discoverd an activity that took 45 minutes and had a positive outcome on the look of the yard.

Not mommy's favorite picture. Lisa and I have a standing "beef". Mine is that Audrey loves mommy's tatoo (as well as the tatoos found on her first two nannys), and Lisa's is that Audrey loves daddy's "bicycle". I guess tatoos are a little less dangerous, but how cute are little moto-cross girls?!

As usual, mommy's right. We'll stick to the 3 wheeler for the time being.

Those cheeks aren't going anywhere soon.

May brought a weekend that hit 90 (really), so we decided to head down to the beach and . . .

. . . break out the new pink flamingo bathing suit.

Kids have an amazing tolerance for cold-water. Nothing makes you feel more manly than having your 2 year old call you out for not being able to handle the chill. "Hold on honey, daddy's got to ease his way in . . .".

I see this as proof that Audrey will be a great rebounder in hoops someday, Lisa sees it as a solid base to build some cheerleader moves on. Either way, she's not wearing the cinderella dress!

Though somedays I think the cinderella dress is better than the alternative. The best part of the outfit is the finger to elbow yellow gloves. Classy.

Sammy!

Cotton Candy and Baseball

Nipping at the heels of the brown "cindarella" dress in Audrey's list of favorite things is the Space Needle. On a freakishly warm April Saturday (remember that 80 degree'r we just had?) we decided to take her down to the Center for some close up viewing of the Needle. Here she is in full "rock star" pose staring up at it. Does anyone else see Lisa here?

And here she is debating the pros and cons of running into the fountain . . . Pro - absolute, care-free fun . . . Con - wet cindarella dress resulting in potential change of clothes . . . result . . . .

. . . . keep the cindarella dress dry and head for the COTTON CANDY!!!! (mom was very happy with this decision)

I do believe cotton candy has now passed the Space Needle into the #2 spot on Audrey's list of favorite things.

My memory probably serves me wrong, but I don't remember Audrey sleeping nearly as much as Sam. Look alive kid!

He's border-line trying to nap in the tub! Notice Audrey's contribution of the rubber duck (it bounces surprisingly high of a 3 week old's head when thrown from outside the bath).

GG got the only smile on camera (so far). Well done GG.

Mommy picked out the outfit. Sorry Sam, at least the collar isn't turned up.

While this looks like we allow Audrey to play with electrical outlets, it's actually just her waiting in anticipation of microwave popcorn (honest).

In cindarella dress fashion, the new "annie" nightgown dominates the evening wardrobe.

This is the once a week alternate when the annie nightgown is in the wash.

How many Sekora's can fit on one couch cushion? While Audrey has been very sweet with her little brother, she definitely has a subtle way of nuzzling in on the action. I know someday soon I'll be begging to get them both on my lap again so I cherish every second of it now.

Grandma Sharon got Sam out to the Ballpark for his first taste of the action. I failed her miserably in the baseball arena, but there may be hope with Sam.

Right about here we blew the 2 run 8th inning lead. Sam, watching the big screen, couldn't believe it either. I think he agrees with Grandpa Fred, as soon as the bullpen took over, we should have headed for the car!