Our newest addiction

Please, waste time along with us. This game will suck you in and never let you go (and it's actually intellectually stimulating!).

the reason the briggs children have been neglected the last two days

Don't blame us, blame James.

Shameless picture post

I've come up with all kinds of witty things this weekend that I want to post about but, as usual, when I sit down with time to write the posts, I forget all the wittiness. So I'll just post some of my favorite recent pictures instead.

Some backyard frivolity:

Watercoloring- did you know it's possible to put so much wet paint on a piece of paper that it falls apart?

Reese clapping for the "music men" at the 4th of July Symphony:Makena found a prime firework-watching seat:A morning at the park:
We think they're kind of cute. On their good days :)

Happy Fourth of July!

This is the first year we have taken the kids to see fireworks. We're in luck because they love them! Last night we went to the Charlotte Symphony's summer concert series finale. It's a picnic-y setup and we camped out on a tarp and blankets with friends and listened to the music and let the kids run relatively wild (with about 5,000 of our new best friends). The fireworks display at the end of the concert received these stares.

Tonight we went back for a repeat performance. We walked a few hundred yards to the country club across the street and camped out on a tee box to watch their fireworks show (the gentry historically turns a blind eye to the regular folks squatting on their manicured lawns for a half hour every year). Makena spent half the time running in circles with various friends and Reese clapped and hollered "more more!" over and over again. I'm so glad- fireworks always make me happy!

I hope your long weekend celebrations are filled with fun and friends. Take a moment to consider what we're celebrating and who we have to thank for that. It's rather overwhelming when I consider how little appreciation I have for the life I lead and the sacrifices other people made to provide it for me. Our generation can't possibly thank the ones who went before it enough. Try.

June 24

2005

2006

2007

2008

Happy Birthday Makena!

They're three!

Another year has passed and the Briggs, Pays, and Whites celebrated their firstborns with another big birthday bash! This year we had a water party in Bradley's back yard with no less than 80 friends. The highlight for the kids (and some very jealous parents) was a big orange waterslide. See exhibit A.

Happy Third Birthday, Makena, Keller and Bradley!

For fun- here they are last year and this year.

Changes in latitude

We've been a motley crew of traveling fools of late. A week ago, we packed up and headed south to the beach in SC. We shared a house with two other families- between us we totalled six daughters ranging in age from 4.5 to nearly-2 (Reese was the youngest). You might think the husbands felt outnumbered, but these three have pleasantly accepted lives filled with estrogen.

We spent hours in the pool and at the beach. Brett and I were both still a little nervous about how Reese would react to the water (both the pool and ocean were yet untested after her pond incident)- she hated the ocean (not uncommon) but she absolutely ate up the pool. Yea!! We worked on skills....like jumping into the water...

...skills that are, conveniently, transferrable to the lake! This past weekend we packed up again and headed northeast to visit Brett's parents at the lake. Much more jumping occurred.

From our family to yours...we wish you all good wedgies.

Changes in attitude

Our children are masters of this art. They can go from loving to aggravating in 2 seconds flat. I'm told this, too, shall pass. Sometime after they go to college.
Their developmental stages are intersecting now to make some incredible moments. The other morning, after dressing herself (correctly), Makena sprinted into the living room and announced to Reese "I got dressed all by myself!" to which Reese responded "good job, Kema!!". Cue the melting maternal heart. They have taken to reading together. Makena will take Reese's favorite counting book and tell Reese "count these red apples" and Reese will launch into "one, two, three, four, three, six".
The flip side to those moments are also incredible. Milk theiving is one of Reese's favorite activities. Makena takes pleasure in telling Reese to "go away" at any given moment. Reese, in turn, tells Mommy to "go away". Fun times.
I must take a moment to give props to the world's most patient dogs. Maggie has become the favorite target of the "dump water on anything that moves" game when we're playing at the water table. Both dogs put up with various children using them as pillows and punching bags. Reese has decided she wants to be eye-to-ear with the dogs every time they eat. They're good dogs.