Kenny and I just joined the city pools, so we have been taking advantage of the extremely hot and muggy weather by taking the boys to the different pools near us in the city. Both Rowan and Sawyer love the water. They love splashing around in the fountain in the park behind our house, and they love splashing and wading through the pools. It's a great way to spend a hot summer evening. We all get exercise and outside-time when it's still warm out, but not too muggy, or sunny and bright.

The ride home is generally quiet as the boys are tired, and it's near their bedtime. On tonight's ride home, I glanced back at the boys and saw the sleepy in Rowan's eyes as he stared out the window. Sawyer was cooing gently. Then I noticed that Rowan's hand was outstretched toward Sawyer's carseat (they sit, side-by-side, but Sawyer still sits rear-facing). He was holding Sawyer's hand which was hanging out of his own carseat. I told Kenny to look at the boys and he was just as warmed by the sight as I was. It wasn't an accidental "hand-hold." He was grasping Sawyer's hand and holding onto it.

I can't explain to you how cool this was to see. It wasn't just cute. It was satisfying and fulfilling. It was as though we were seeing in action one of the reasons we had another child. For Rowan. And why we'll (hopefully, eventually) have another one for Rowan and Sawyer.

And it was really, really cute!

It was my high school English teacher's mantra. It's also Stephen Covey's advice to his readers who want to be "highly effective." If you have a dream, or if you have something you want to do with your life, write it down and it will happen.

Sounds like the voices that Kevin Costner heard in "Field of Dreams," doesn't it? "If you build it, they will come."

Well, I'm taking that advice and writing (ahem...typing) this down: Kenny and Liz want to run a bed and breakfast/coffee shop, bakery, bistro someday.

I guess the key word here is "someday." Because how do you run a full time, every-day-of-the week/month/year business when you are raising two kids under the age of two? And we're probably going to have at least another kid, so it pushes the dream farther off into the distance.

It started as a dream to open a coffee shop/bakery but has since evolved into a bed and breakfast with a fresh bakery and small bistro attached.

So our wheels are turning. We're talking through the pros (furnishing a home perfectly for our guests) and cons (um...neither of us has any catering background) of this type of business each day. And perhaps it will come true once our kids are out of college. Or sooner?

Our short "to do" list to further this dream to fruition is:
- Take a short class on "how to open a bed and breakfast"
- Visit as many bed and breakfasts as possible to research (ha ha. yeah, right!)
- Research business plans in starting a small business such as this
- Liz to take a pastry chef course. Somehow.

Last September, as I was walking in the house from the grocery store, I noticed a colorful stringy-like "thing" in the garden. I snapped this photo:
[link(pics/june_05/new_snake1.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_snake1.jpg[/thumb][/link]

A few weeks ago, we noticed that our yard had a tenant:
[link(pics/june_05/new_snake.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_snake.jpg[/thumb][/link]

We're pretty sure it's the same snake. It still has remnants of the markings of the snake in the first picture. We've got ourselves a pet! He's about 4 feet long, smooth as silk, and sly as a...as a snake, I guess. Kenny's been dying to "introduce" the snake to Rowan, and he finally got his chance yesterday when he grabbed the snake and carried it over to Rowan. And now, when Rowan passes by the old raised bed where we put the snake back, he says, "Sssssss." Smart boy, he is.

Some more pictures of how we spend our days...

[link(pics/june_05/new_hose.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_hose.jpg[/thumb][/link] [link(pics/june_05/new_grass.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_grass.jpg[/thumb][/link] [link(pics/june_05/new_swing.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_swing.jpg[/thumb][/link]

Sawyer's fun spaghetti dinner:
[link(pics/june_05/pasgetti.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/pasgetti.jpg[/thumb][/link]

Daddy shares his bodhran with the boys:
[link(pics/june_05/new_drummer.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_drummer.jpg[/thumb][/link] [link(pics/june_05/new_drummer2.jpg)][thumb]pics/june_05/new_drummer2.jpg[/thumb][/link]

After over 2 months of crazy living, we're back to a scheduled routine.

Okay, so it hasn't really been all that crazy. We are busy. We have jobs, two kids, two cats, a house, a large yard with lots of plants and grass to maintain. Blogging is a good, wintery thing to do. The kids are in bed...it's dark at 5:15 pm....brew a cup of tea...cozy up on the couch and type away. But when it's warm out, and there's a yard to maintain, we suck up every last minute of sunshine (up until about 9:00 pm) to weed, dig, mow, water, plant, snip, and replant.

But...I kind of miss blogging. Today was warm and sunny. Not hot and humid and sunny, which is unbearable, but pleasant sit-outside-comfortably warm. I'm going to blog any way. Perhaps I'm losing interest in the gardening and mowing. I'm trying to get a schedule back into the weeks, and in this new schedule, I'll include blogging.

Because I know that the blog-reading world is dying to hear what's going on with the Smith family of Whipple Street. :D

Sawyer turned 9 months last week. He's on the verge of crawling. He loves to pull himself up, roll over, and play with Rowan. He yelps for joy when Rowan shows an interest in him. His arms and legs flap away like crazy when Rowan dances for him, or plays peek-a-boo with him. He loves his big brother. He's growing like a weed. 18 pounds, 4 ounces of pure baby fat and bones. His hair sticks straight up on top and everyone likes to comment on it: "Oh, someone's having a bad hair day?" "Looks like someone's got bed head!" People can be so originally funny, you know?

Rowan is 100% little boy. He's showing his independence more and more every day. He loves to climb, play with water in the yard and he's even got his own little flower garden that I planted with leftover flowers from my window boxes. He waters them daily (sometimes too much), and they survive him stomping all over them. He is discovering every day that Sawyer isn't just a little blob that makes funny noises. He loves it when Sawyer laughs back at him dancing, or playing his little "baby" games. He knows half the alphabet. Yep, brilliant at 23 months old.

Today is Father's day. Kenny deserves every bit of acknowledgement that dads get on these days, and more. He is always ready to play with the boys, try new and fun ways to make them laugh (and make sure they're not bored), loves to read with them, play music with them, teaches them new things daily, and is thankful for all I do with them while he's at work. He knows when I need a break, and encourages me to go out. He makes dinner or helps me with it. And he makes Rowan pancakes at least once a week for breakfast. And still leaves for work on time.

So that's a quick update on the family. Here is an update in pictures.

(Click on picture to enlarge)
a/ rowan snuggling up to sawyer. sawyer not being too sure about it.
b/ a series of rowan waking from a nap. lovely bedhead. lovely boy.
c/ sawyer's a little chubby happy boy! with blueblue eyes.
d/ daddy and his boys
e/ mama and her boys (easter)

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