Rockin' out at Leo's Birthday Party

Our cousin Leo turned 10 in August and we joined the family celebration.

Collin had fun running like a crazy man outside with his cousins, jumping on their trampoline, and singing Lion King songs (thankfully for birthday party goers, the microphone was off).

Maya got to meet family some family, like Victoria, for the first time.  She really was happy at the party, but it coincided with her evening snooze, so she crashed in the Moby wrap, and I got to enjoy dinner and cake with a snuggle bug wrapped up on my chest.

Aunt Rita came to the rescue of our hyper boy, sharing her iPad, which resulted in sharing laughs with B and Annie.

Don't worry sweet sister, you can have birthday cake when you turn one.

Brownie and Grammy could get some smiles once Maya woke up from her evening siesta.

We were all happy to celebrate Leo's birthday and enjoy an evening with family.

Alma Mater Brainwashing

I love my Fridays with the kids, getting to have slow, lazy mornings, cooking breakfast, giving Maya a bath in the sink, staying in our pj's until Maya's morning nap is complete.  Lately we've been inviting ourselves to swim at my aunt Debbie's pool after Maya's morning nap, which has an incredible success record of wearing us all out for an afternoon nap.

 

Maya sporting her bathing suit and hat -

Happy about hugs from Collin - 

Yogurt mouth kisses -

Our silly boy with Maya's tutu on his head -

Maya normally falls asleep between 8:30-9:00.  She quickly goes from sitting up awake to asleep against Cas' cheek - 

And before the biggest game of the Aggie season, Cas realized Collin didn't have an Aggie shirt and Maya had outgrown her onesie, so he ran to Academy to get our kids in gear.  Collin thinks every single football game stars A&M, yelling for the Aggies all day on Saturday and Sunday!

Lounging with the cousins on Labor Day

We visited Nico and Lorenzo over Labor Day, and it was Maya and my first time to meet our one-month-old new cousin, since Maya had a cold when Cas and Collin visited.  Collin and Nico were busy playing around the house, with Maya watching bright-eyed at all the activity and Lorenzo somehow sleeping through all the noise.

Then we hit the pool and got a shot with 3 of the 4 young cousins -

Collin enjoyed lounging on the floats -

Cas watched Nico while I had Maya and Collin luckily is fairly self-sufficient in his puddle jumper.  Cas with his cutie-pie nephew, Nico - 

The kids and I swimming.  This was Maya's best time in the pool yet, and her feet were kicking up a storm -

Maya and Nico bonding -

Super Collin flying high . . . but a little concerned with how Cas would lower him back to the water.

Soaring and splashing now that the little ones were out of the pool - 

Uncle Libero with sweet Lorenzo -

Collin "jumped" into the pool and of course we had to cheer and tell him how brave he was, even though he very cautiously was carried into the pool by Cas -

He was quite happy and proud of his new trick -

The boys are silly and the girls are kind

I've seen lots of cute baby pictures of little girls in leg warmers and was excited to find a store online with ones that don't cut off the circulation in Maya's healthy thighs.  Not sure she was excited about my online purchase though -

 Our happy little sister loves her tongue - 

Maya was probably quite relieved to hear Brownie's whistle announcing their arrival and breaking up our photo session in the backyard.  Inside, Collin showed off his reading skills with two of the books he has memorized, "reading" to Maya - 

Brownie acted out the parts to Barnyard Dance while the kids giggled at him.  Collin says almost daily that the boys are silly and the girls are kind, and Grammy and Brownie acted accordingly.  Grammy is the favorite for bath time and bedtime, as Collin knows she is kind enough to be talked into one more book or 17 more minutes in the tub, while Brownie is the favorite for exploring, tumbling and wrestling, and acting crazy. 

Grammy and Brownie with their grandkids -

Brownie enjoying some Maya time -

And Grammy was rewarded with some smiles -

We're all enjoying this silly and sweet stage with the kids at 3 years and 3 months.