celebrating poppy

 I absolutely love outdoor dinners on my parents covered porch. It's a little slice of escape dining lakeside. It's over the top when uncle Clay can in on the familia dinners. Miller and Eliza Kate enjoy the extra attention.

Tonight we celebrated Poppy & the wonderful grandfather that he is. So thankful that we've given him this season of parenting grands. He's all about the fun factor & can get away with shenanigans that only grandpas are allowed to get away with.
Notice Miller man's sheering hair cut.  His stylist "crush" is recovering from a broken foot and this hair style is a result of her absence. Oh well, I think we'll make it until a back to school hair cut.

Nothing like an uncle's love. Uncle Clay is always wrestling & turning our boy upside down and all about. He roughs him up and there's nothing like the sound of contagious giggles that can be heard from across the room when these two are together.

This one loves her Poppy. Poppy loves to take her lovey and play hide and seek with it under his shirt. He's always playful with this one chasing her and teasing her with little games. If he's not showing her Elmo clips on YouTube, he's reading to her. Poppy likes to sneak in little treats and cookies too. That's why Poppy is moving up the ranks in popularity with our missy.

She's always up for a snuggle on her daddy's lap.

Miller could barely make it through dinner without asking us over & over about our after dinner pool plans. It's nice that their community's pool is a short walk around the lake. We've grown accustomed to the neighborhood kids' laughter at the pool while eating. The sounds of happy summer play become the background ambiance noise to our outdoor dinners. Of course, this only adds to Miller's impatience to get swimming. He can't handle not being included in the action.

 Can you blame him for his excitement? Miller was volleyed him back and forth in the water.

He didn't quite work up the confidence to conquer the water slide. There's always next visit to conquer that. These three brought about alot of activity to the pool. Something about all that male energy....

 Eliza Kate entertained herself with the shark watering can. The pink and green girly can doesn't cut it anymore.

She finally warmed up to her uncle by giving him a shower with her watering can.  Oh the joys of filling her can up to the brim and slowly pouring it over Clay's head.

 Evening swims are becoming our favorite around here. It always feels like vacation to me taking an after dinner swim. Quick trips like these are a great way to end the day. No sunscreen application time and it exhausts the kids just in time for bed.

All cozied up in her towel. Flashback to 1985 and this was my poolside striped towel. It's always fun to bring back a retro favorite for your children to use. We call it her lovey for the pool;)

 Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads!