Oliver, Uncensored

 So the other day I was looking through the photo gallery on my phone and realized that Ollie took, like 30 pictures with the phone. And five videos. Here are the highlights:

 

 

 

 

 

20130717 164519[1] from Sheryl K. on Vimeo.

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Also, here's a great pic of Ollie at summer camp:

Belmar's Sandcastle Contest 2013, Trenton's Swim Meet

 Every year we go to the Belmar Sandcastle Contest. This year, Oliver had summer camp and Jim played hooky from work-- it was nice to have him with us!

 

 

It was sooo hot outside... A nice time in the water, although the water near the 17th Ave beach in Belmar is NOT the cleanest...

 

Later that afternoon, Trenton participated in his first swim meet at Silton Swim School. After only having seven lessons, he was able to confidently jump in and proceed to swim the length of the pool.

 

 

Third Place! Great job, Trenton!

Keepin' cool... Massive heat wave this week with temps above 95 the entire time... Yuck. But after this photo was taken, we were invited to go swimming with a friend over at The Atlantic Club... so that was nice!

Toothless Trenton

Trenton's Final Day With His Front Tooth from Sheryl K. on Vimeo.

Now both Trenton and Harrison have matching smiles ;)

Evening In Avon- Heat Wave Begins

In trying to escape the god-awful heat and humidity at home, we spent the evening at the beach. 

 

Lookin' for things. Like sand crabs. Jim says the one above is one of the largest he's ever found.
This boy found FOUR sand dollars. Screamed and shouted with each discovery.
I told him that he was buying us dinner with his dollars, haha.
Seriously, though, aren't they more rare than that? Perhaps Sandy-related?

 

Four more days of 95+ heat. Bring it on... we know where to stay cool ;)

My Rugged Maniac

 Well, y'all know by now that Jim likes to run races, right?
Although I still can't wrap my mind around it, there is a Rugged Maniac race that seems to be compelling enough for hundreds of people to want to participate in it each year! Above, our friends Nicole, Lyn, and Rodney pose with Jim for a "before" shot. This is because this race will definitely leave you looking very different "after"!

Here's Jim scaling some kind of wall. He's in the red shirt-- smart, because then we could see him!

 

It was a sweltering hot 95 degrees. The participants got all kinds of muddy as they tackled numerous obstacles. The kids got all kinds of muddy by just being kids:

 

Connor and Gabe know how to do it right ;)     Trenton could not WAIT for Jim to finish.

 I believe that is him on the top of that wall! And below, nice and dirty.
All clothes went straight into the trash!

 The "after" shot. Yuck.
Yes, there were showers...and the boys took a quick stop underneath them...
Glad Jim & folks had a great time running the race! It was a unique experience to watch them!

Outdoor Fun & Play

Time for ice cream... playdates... crazy water slides... ice pops...

  

 Here's my glorious flower-- a Maroon Lily.  Incredible maroon color. Above is how it looked earlier in the week. Below is what I found this morning!

 

And bring on the garden of goodness! Top left: You see the cucumbers on the left, then some peppers on the right. Oliver's bean plant is in the pot on the ground, and some sickly looking "patio tomatoes" (that I'll never get again) are on the right. Below, left, you see our white eggplant in the foreground and the purple one behind. And on the right are the boys' sunflowers. Massive, eh?

 

And I spent this afternoon creating these pickles! I used the same recipe last year and they were delicious. In a week, we'll be snacking on these tasty, local veggies.

 This morning we knew that the rain was coming. But it was delightfully cool and encouraged us to play outside! Oliver finger-painted his little heart out.

 

Trenton, ever the avid reader, decided to curl up with his new book in the clubhouse. (Yes, he is reading Captain Underpants in his underpants.)

 

And check out this incredible toy! Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Alex brought it for the boys on the Fourth of July. It took awhile for Jim to blow it up... each hexagon had its own chamber! But with two holes, the boys could climb in and out and have a grand  'ol time rolling around on the grass outside. 

(Thankfully, we have room in the shed to store it! I can't imagine deflating and inflating this thing each time...)

20130712 Rolling Around In the BIG BALL from Sheryl K. on Vimeo.