Solis Family Escapades: More Summer 2012!

In late June, we enjoyed a yummy bushel of crabs with family! Ryan LOVES crab; I had to work double-time to keep that boy fed! B was happy with a hot dog.

After crabs, we headed up to the pool. where the 5 cousins enjoyed a quick swim.

This is as close as we got to a cousin picture! We actually tried to go to Sears - which was a TOTAL disaster! Devin just isn't into sitting still OR smiling for anyone other than me.

We finished up the day with a birthday party for Emily. Although she was officially already 10 years old, it was nice to have her in town during her birth-month. We took advantage of the rare opportunity to celebrate.

Everyone got a turn with the pinata - even the little guy! Of course he was smiling again as soon as he got to hit something!

Our little garden produced SO much this year. The boys just LOVED picking the produce. Have you ever seen someone so giddy about green veggies? Our freezer is full and ready for the colder temps!

Tony played on the church softball team for the first time this year. Every Tuesday, the kids and I would watch Papa's double-headers in the heat. The boys played HARD with their friends and would come home literally covered in dirt. One of the games they played each week is their made-up game of "Ninjago" where someone (usually Braden and another) take turns being the "SNAKE". There are different rules to this game but the group of kids are the ones that really know the ins-and-outs! I caught them sitting still and having a Pow-Wow. I wish I knew what they were talking about!!

At the end of the two games, the boys were extremely tired. Nana and Grandpa came to one game, which gave me an opportunity to capture just how tired and sweaty Braden looked at the end of the night!

The 4th of July was a lot of fun for us! We started the day at the Leesburg parade. We watched the parade for awhile and then joined our church group. Tony pushed Devin and Braden while Ryan and I handed out 2,500 Ice Pops. The Ice Pops were a HUGE hit and I think the church plans on getting 5,000 next year because we ran out so early!

We had fun making our shirts and dressing up for the event!

After the parade, we went to a BBQ at a friend's house. Can't go wrong with good friends and good food! The kiddos had fun popping pop-rocks in their driveway after dinner.

We came back to the house and watched the fireworks at the school across the street from our house with another group of friends. Tony set off a pack of fireworks we had purchased at Costco. The following picture isn't the best but I included it b/c I couldn't believe how much B looks like R in this picture!

Devin was rudely awakened from his deep sleep to be placed in a field in the dark. Took him awhile to warm up, but he eventually enjoyed himself. He was more interested in feeding me chips than the fireworks in the sky!

Picking green beans in grandpa's garden!

Hard workers....

Star Wars Legos have pretty much taken over Ryan's room. Ryan and Braden both same their money and purchase new sets at least monthly. They have all their droids and battleships lined up and ready for play. They have outgrown this little table in Ryan's room and are now all lined up in the windowsill, too. Ryan has to lock his room each and every time he leaves it b/c Devin lives for an opportunity to "check out" what his older brothers play with! Ryan has designated "nap time" (when I work) as Star Wars time.