New gravel pit for the boys

I decided to take on the challenge of building an outdoor gravel pit for the boys.  I forgot to take a "before" picture of the area that I was going to work on, so this was one taken back in May of 2010.

We did get rid of the tree stump and the tree right next to it last summer.  We also decided to toss out the bird bath since it was leaning a little and we didn't want it to fall on either of the boys!  As for those red flowers - well, those used to be the peonies. Bobby kept weed-whacking them that I couldn't distinguish them when I was re-working the area.  :-(
Anyhow, here is the after!

Phew!  There was quite a bit of digging involved, leveling, and also dealing with the roots of those trees!

Hopefully the bricks will hold its form as those trees grow!

And thankfully after watching so many episodes of Graham's "Team Umizoomi", I have developed "Pattern Power" ;-)  I had quite the task of arranging those pavers in a specific pattern.  And it doesn't help when those pavers are so darn heavy!
The boys are definitely having a lot of fun playing in the pit.  Didn't take Charlie long to get comfortable in it:

We decided to put their sand play table in the pit too, although we're now making it a "gravel" play table.

We did fill the play-table up with some water as well and Charlie just loves splashing around!

The boys sure love to dig!

So busy!

Hopefully the gravel pit will be a good place to play for the rest of the Summer and into the Fall season. We are still trying to deal with the mosquitoes issue too.  Yikes!  Nonetheless, Bobby and I are already enjoying sitting in those bright blue chairs on the paved area :-)

Silly Graham!

Need I say more???

Graham was really excited about going to swim at the neighbor's house the other day and he was obviously being very silly about it!

Brotherly love

We were at the golf club last Friday for Pasta Night.  I love these night because Mommy doesn't need to cook :-).  It was a really nice evening so we decided to hang out by the practice green before and after dinner.  It was also a good time for Mommy to take some pictures of the boys.

 Charlie loved playing with the golf balls

 Cutie pie :-)

 Big brother on the other hand was running around playing golf like hockey

 Daddy impressing the boys with his juggling skills

 Alright, soccer time!

 Huh?

 Tackle time!!!

 As if once wasn't enough...

 Little brother gets taken down AGAIN!

 Funny thing was Charlie didn't mind it at all!

 Charlie finally had a chance with the soccer ball.

He was crawling and pushing the ball along. Too cute!

 Love the way he sits with the one leg forward and the other to the back.

The boys are growing up so fast!

Charlie's 1-year doctor's appointment

Since we were away in Phoenix for Charlie's 1st birthday, we had to reschedule his doctor's appointment in Tulsa. We were finally able to get him in this past Monday.  Again, as chubby as Charlie is, he is only in the 10th percentile in weight at 20lbs and 8oz and in the 25th percentile in height at 29 1/4".

I had forgotten to bring the camera with me, so the only photo I got to take was of both boys completely passed out in the car on the way home from the doctor's office.  Charlie was definitely quite beat up after 2 vaccination shots on the left thigh and one other shot on the right thigh.  Poor fella!

Well, what Charlie lacks in weight and height, he is definitely gaining in personality. He is becoming quite the little person now.  He has learned to clap:

He has learned to wave:

And I've been trying to get Charlie to say "da da" on camera. I believe that's his new word these past few days, although I'm still not sure if he's actually trying to say "da ge" meaning big brother. Anyhow, Bobby has just been ecstatic!

As you can see, there's a lot of "monkey see, monkey do" with big brother Graham and it's been happening more frequently lately as Charlie gets more mobile crawling around the house.  Both boys love to copy each other, especially when it comes to screaming.  It's almost difficult to differentiate their voices now!  It's going to be tough to figure out who did what when both boys are screaming and out of my sight!

Charlie has also learned to climb up the stairs all by himself now. He would actually pull the security gate off from the bottom of the stairs!  He is still working on coming down the stairs. Going backwards is still quite a challenge. No video of this one yet as I'm not sure if I can take my eye off him as he's on the stairwell.

And what else? Oh! Making a mess, as usual:

I wonder how much longer before Charlie finally takes his first step.  Although, don't they always say "be careful what you wish for?" :-)

Hot, hot Phoenix!

It was a last minute trip to Phoenix in order to play some golf and also for a golf reality show audition. I finished tied for 8th this time. It was so hot during the week I thought I was going to pass out on the 2nd day of play!  And I think the golf went better than the audition, but who knows - maybe I might get lucky and get selected for one of their new shows :-)
The boys are getting used to the airport routine:

Although, now Charlie wants to look out the window too!

Graham is happy as long as he has his tablet and some cookies:

And Charlie is happy as long as he's with mommy... and has some cookies too!

It was really too hot to do much outdoors, so we decided to check out the Phoenix Children's Museum.  Wow! What a place! Walk in and this is what you see... an architectural "tree" for the kids to climb up and down in:

Charlie and Mommy decided to stay low to the ground instead:

And be cute, of course:

There was so much to do at the museum - like paint a rocket ship:

Bike through the "car wash":

Watch balls roll and make music:

Watch more balls roll around:

Play pretend at the "supermarket":

Play at the "no shoes required" area.  Check out the shoe rack!

I thought the little birdies in the shoes were a cute touch:

Then, there were these ramps where you can drop little cars and watch them roll down the slopes.  Graham loved this area!

But I think Graham loved playing at the ice-cream stand the best. We had a tough time pulling him away for lunch!

Well, I guess it's just like how Charlie loves to stare into the washing machine when it's running the wash cycle. He he... too cute :-)

Seems like Daddy is getting better at keeping the boys occupied while on these flights home. 

Some day, these boys will be able to take care of themselves and probably won't even want to sit next to us on the plane! But until then... we still need to deal with the occasional "that screaming kid on the plane".  Thank goodness Charlie finally fell asleep halfway through the flight. Phew!

Pridgen boys growing up

The boys are surely growing up fast. Graham is now able to reach the book drop at the library:

And Charlie is tall enough too to reach for the blinds and look out the window:

Occasionally, they do enjoy each other's company:

Sometimes, they play fair:

Both boys just started to take baths together and they don't seem to mind it at all:

And they both seem to get excited about the same things.  Look... Charlie has now learned to point too!

Before the boys, Bobby and I used to fight about who gets the window seat.  Looks like that argument is going to extend to the boys now instead!

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie!

Charlie celebrated his first birthday this past Wednesday on July 31st!  We were at the "Phoenix house" for his birthday as Mommy was there for the Big Break audition (a golf reality show) and also for another Cactus Tour event.  I had golf earlier that morning so I only got to see the birthday boy when he woke up from his nap.  He still cries every time I walk into the room, but at least now he knows he needs to put his binky back into his crib - too cute!

Charlie didn't get a big "1" made out of rice krispies like Graham's first birthday. Shhh... don't tell him! Instead, the birthday boy got a cupcake which he was actually quite excited about!  

Although when it came time to eat it, Charlie didn't do too much damage to it:

He sort of just poked at it with his finger:

On the other hand, Big brother Graham was tucking in quite nicely into his "cotton candy" cupcake:

Alright, time to open up his present.  Graham helped, of course:

It's Tickle-me Elmo!

Like everything else, we need to "taste" Elmo first:

Okay, now we have to turn it on.  Charlie's thinking - How long is this going to take???

Once Elmo was turned on, I think Charlie really liked it!

And finally, a birthday card from Grandma and Pop-pop:

Nice!  $1 for a first birthday!  Thanks to Grandma and Pop-pop for all the awesome new clothes too!