Livin la Vida Leone

Bicycle fun!

Elias got a bike for his 4th birthday, but hasn't developed the confidence to ride for long periods of time...until now! It was so fun to see him practice, overcome obstacles, get back up from falls, and finally ride long stretches with super-big-kid confidence all over his face!

Bella had been scared to get on the back of a bike with Mami, but finally acquiesed at Nona and Granddaddy's house. She had a blast, telling me "faster Mami faster!"

The little beach at the Refuge

We're the adventurous type of family, so when we see a little sand and water, we let the kids strip and run into the water half-naked. Once Elias was in up to his head, the park ranger came down to inform us that "you really aren't supposed to swim in protected waters, but as long as we were just...getting our feet wet...that it's ok" This as Elias is whole-heartedly splashing around and Bella's getting ready for a dive. "Oh yes, sir- you know how kids are, we won't let them really swim" ...

Elias has his father's wide feet...while Bella inherited Mami's narrow, long ones. I wonder if she'll have trouble finding narrow shoes like I do...

The Outing to the Santee National Wildlife Refuge

The Cookout at Nona's and Granddaddy's

Nona has been wanting to try our hand at cooking over a bonfire in their backyard for a long time, so the first night the kids and I were there we decided to give it a shot. As usual, the kids threw in their share of unexpected events such as the "hotdog on a skewer dance" by Elias; Bella eating her hotdog raw off the skewer before we could wrench it out of her hands to cook it; eating over half the marshmallows raw then crying because there weren't enough to cook... but the outcome was a lot of fun- Elias and Bella both tried their hands at cooking over the coals, and they loved eating the final products- roasted hot dogs and marshmallows- yummmmm. The next night when Talia and Tia Cara got there, we did some more marshmallows, and made s'mores. Bella got so hyper that she was on a crazed sugar-high for about an hour thereafter. She was HILARIOUS, banging her head into the couch and laughing hysterically, while Andres sang "Sugar High" in the background!