Wow.. what have we been doing lately? EVERYTHING! July was a fun month for obvious reasons. We spent the 3rd at my mom & Gene's watching the best fireworks display ever!! The 4th we had our little annual bbq and "blow stuff up" night at home with some great friends! I was shocked and amazed at how much Carson liked the fireworks.. never cried once! Kudos to Mr. Blackman for taking off running with him when the stupid firework tipped over - you make such a great mom! :)
We also got to go to Utah for Doug's brothers wedding. What a beautiful place. I was in awe of the mountains and overall scenery. During our time in Utah all the immediate Beer clan stayed at a bed and breakfast and was able to have a little family reunion. We all had a lot of fun. I was terrified that Carson would be horrible on the plane because, lets face it, he's not a quiet still child, but he did fantastic!! We were able to get a non-stop flight which helped out a great deal. The Temple in Manti where the cermony was, was perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
Brenden had a crazy busy summer. He was the starting pitcher for his baseball team this year. He was also asked to play for another town after the regular season was over for tournaments. They did amazing at tournaments - taking 1st place in BOTH player pitch and coach pitch. Brenden ended the tournament with a total of 2 offensive player of the game awards and 1 defensive player of the game!!! We were so proud of him and it was great to see the excitement in all of the kids!
Doug and Brenden went camping for the weekend with some friends of ours at the Ponca State park the end of July - it was a great "father/son" experience! I was glad to stay home in a nice warm bed. The only downfall was Carson's unwillingness to go to bed without dad. Needless to say we had a long night! The boys had a good time though - they fished, made campfires, made smores (I had to join for that!), and made some fantastic food on the campfire!
Bren started the 5th grade today. I can't believe that he's almost in middle school!! Where does the time go? He's playing tackle football again this year (no big shock) This year he finally gets to play a little on the offensive side of things. He's really excited!
This month we took a last second trip to Chicago to visit Doug's parents and just hang out. It was a great idea in theroy but due to lack of planning we didn't spend much time with family! We did get to take the "train" downtown and hang out at Melinnium Park - which has some great fountains for the kids to play in and some pretty neat sculptures. After playing for a while, we took a walk down to Nike Town for Brenden's sake. Doug said that it's not as cool as it used to be but Brenden still enjoyed being there.
Carson is growing up so quickly. He is a handfull, that much is for sure - but he makes everyday interesting which counts for a lot (both good and bad sometimes). He loves to run around - mostly in circles to make himself dizzy!! He has become used to the constant "go go go" of our lives and doesn't put up too much of a fight anymore! He is sleeping in his own "big boy" bed in his room finally! I took down all of the Winnie the Pooh stuff and replaced it with Thomas the Train - so it's a little more boyish for him! We have decided that he is either going to be a basketball palyer or one heck of a defensive lineman. He is a big boy. At the last doctors visit he was in the 97% for height. At 20 months he is basically 3 ft. tall!!! He seems to be a very happy and healthy little man. His smile and laugh melts your heart in seconds!
Well thats our past few months in a nutshell.. it's been busy but it's been fun!! We are sad to see Summer go!
