One is so much fun!

Sweet baby Archer turned one last week...and is quickly exiting the baby stage! It has gone so quickly. We celebrated his first birthday with a water-themed party in the yard. We had a splash pool, sprinkler, water table, and ball pit for his 15 or so friends to enjoy.

Grandma Gigi came all the way from Nebraska to celebrate with us. She also made an adorable whale cake for the birthday boy. Archer wasn't overly interested in his cake though; it was nothing like when Will turned one and destroyed his cake. Archer was mildly interested, tasted a little bit, and then tried to throw the cupcake off of his tray! hahahahaha He did love his party though; he had a great time splashing around and watching the big kids play.

Archer scored some great gifts, all of which Will "helped" him open. As you would imagine, Will has played with Archer's new toys more than Archer has. It seems the sharing goes mainly one way in this house.

At one year old, Archer is changing every day. While he took his first independent steps on Father's Day, he still prefers crawling to walking most of the time. When we try to get him to walk, he usually just sits down and looks at us. But when we're not looking, he'll take a few steps. Aaaah, that independent streak is already emerging! He's doing better with eating as well, even though he is still pretty picky. But he'll now eat a little meat (shredded pork or chicken nuggets...not every mother's first choices!) and will eat a banana but only if given to him whole, in the peel, and he can hold it himself. Stubborn much? If given the chance, he'll eat an entire can of Lil' Crunchies (the equivalent to baby Cheetos) in a sitting. Healthy!

His vocabulary is progressing as well. He can say "kitty" but it sounds more like "ki-ki". Oh and that tends to mean all animals, not just cats. He still throws "dada" around like a professional, although I have yet to hear a "mama". "Uh-oh" is a popular choice...and he gets many opportunities to practice that one as he's dropping food off of his tray during mealtimes. He's also mastered "hello" and even knows to say it while holding a phone up to his ear. I have no idea where he learned that one! :) Pretty soon he'll be playing Angry Birds on my phone.

He's just turning into quite the little man. The boys continue to play together; I won't necessarily say "play well"...but they do play together and sometimes it doesn't involve tears! That's progress. Will really is a good big brother. He told me he wants Archer to sleep in his room. Hmmmm. Interesting idea but one I'll shelve for now. Maybe when we move. Which, by the way, is happening around October of next year. We're headed back to San Diego and are really looking forward to it!

4th of July

Archer celebrated his first 4th of July with a bang! Actually, we skipped the fireworks (too late for our little people) but we did party in our friends' pool, which was perfect. We also spent some time repainting our deck. Not very fun but a necessary job. Keith had watch on the 4th itself so he was probably feeling super patriotic while stuck on board the USS Truman. :)

Can you tell me how to get...

to Sesame Street? Well, not exactly. But I can tell you how to get to Sesame Place, which is north of Philadelphia and actually has a Sesame Street replica, which was popular with the kids as well as with Keith and me (okay, I was most excited about it...so nostalgic!). Sesame Place was the perfect spot for our family vacation this summer. We had a blast! We spent 2 days riding all the rides and hanging out with Elmo and the gang. We got to meet almost all of the Sesame Street characters and even had lunch with Elmo, Cookie, Big Bird, etc. Will was pretty excited to see Elmo, his favorite, and insisted on getting pictures with everyone we saw.

Archer really surprised us by how much he LOVED the characters as well. He really took a liking to Cookie Monster and wouldn't let go of that blue fur for anything. We finally had to pry his hands off. It was hilarious. Will rode a ton of rides, including his first roller coaster. It was quite an adventure for him.

In between Sesame days, we ventured into Philly for some fun. We hit the Please Touch Museum, which is the best kids' museum I've seen so far. Will spent the afternoon fixing cars, driving the bus, working at a grocery store, and being an astronaut. We also visited the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. It's billed as the world' most touchable aquarium. Will got to touch sharks, sting rays, and a bunch of smaller sea creatures. Even Archer was able to practice his sign for fish over and over again.

We managed to hit a few adult spots as well. We spent a morning seeing the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's house, and a few other landmarks. I wish we had had more time for history (and more willing participants) but the rest will have to wait until the boys are older. And we couldn't leave Philadelphia without having a cheesesteak so we drove to Pat's and got the classic. Will wouldn't eat it but Keith and I enjoyed ours.

All in all, it was a great trip. Traveling with 2 little ones was interesting for sure. Once we got past the daily meltdowns and semi-nasty hotel, we had a lot to enjoy. And I'm already thinking about where we'll go next year! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Will playing hopscotch on Sesame Street

Archer at the Adventure Aquarium

Meeting Elmo

Sesame Street firetruck...we spent a lot of time here!

Ready to begin our journey

Will and Ernie

Touching the stringrays

Underage driver

Will at Big Bird's house

Will's first roller coaster ride

Archer loved Abby Cadabby! (he's squealing with excitement)

On the famous Sesame Street stoop

Will's first car

on the teacups

Archer meeting Bert (Oops...I originally labeled this "Will meeting Bert". Well they do look a lot alike!)