Lots of summer fun...

Happy summer to you all! It's stinkin' hot here but we're doing our best to keep cool and have fun. It's really hard to blog when you're at the community pool for 4 hours a day - so now you know where I've been! Here's Jake, Dylan and Carter in our backyard with Jake's new awesome skimboard slip-n-slide (birthday money still!). So much cooler than a regular slip-n-slide...you can see Jake has mastered it.Yeah baby!

Dylan and Carter prefer the old way of sliding on your belly... Jake was super nice to share his toy. Dad, on the other hand, is not enjoying the way the grass looks now.
This is Dylan's first high dive jump of the year! He does not love it but will do it for candy.

I debated about posting these next pictures since this incident is not the highlight of my summer. But I thought, if anything - it will make you feel better about the kind of day you're having. You would think that having three boys would make messes like these a regular occurance. Thank heavens they're not! Carter took it upon himself to deliver us our first mess of this caliber. I was upstairs getting ready for the day when Jake and Dylan ran upstairs and told me that Carter decided he needed more syrup on his waffle. The syrup was in the pantry with the lid on it, in case you think that my negligence caused this mess.

This is what an entire Costco-sized bottle of syrup looks like on Carter and on my table and floor.
He looks proud of himself, doesn't he?
This picture gives you a great idea of how thick the layer of syrup was.

Ah joy. I was so glad I hadn't taken a shower yet because an hour later, after the mess was cleaned up (sort of - I probably mopped the floor every day for a week trying to get rid of the residual stickiness) - my hair was all coated with syrup. See, I had to get under the table and pull apart the leaves to get all in the table and stuff. Sigh.

We've done some other fun stuff though, thank goodness. Patrick's work took all the employees to a Diamondback's game and we had a blast. Maybe it was all that free food but it definitely was one of the most fun times I've had at the baseball game. All the kids got to wear Bell Automotive shirts that his company provided. I thought they looked super cute.

Cutey bug Carter
Take me out to the ball game!
Patrick and the boys and a couple of Shannon Wilson's girl's (Patrick's friend and coworker), being silly as usual.

Carter was so cute that night - I think he was trying to make up for the syrup fiasco.

I love this picture of my boys in the hats they gave us at the game that night. They were way ahead of me (as usual) but seeing them all together like this just made my heart melt.

And finally, Carter-y had his 3rd birthday! I know, I can't believe it either. All he wanted for his birthday was cake. I feel bad that it wasn't more special looking but it sure was tasty. We had the Mumford's and the Smith's over for a BBQ and a little party.

See how excited he is?!
He did a great job of blowing out his candles but I think sitting on the island was his favorite part.
Yum! He ate two pieces and made a huge mess. He's getting really good at that.

Here he is opening some presents. His friends were so sweet!

Okay, a golf set is cool! Maybe I don't only want cake.

I found this adorable picture of Carter at about 4 months old. I can't believe how big he is already and I miss this little baby guy. He was such a good baby and was so easy and sweet. Despite the mischief he sometimes gets himself into, he is still so easy and sweet. He is always happy and just loves his big brothers. He is also daddy's boy and you can count on him to bowl Patrick over when he comes in the door from work. He is still a little cuddle bug and I love that he'll still let me hold him sometimes. I love you, Carter Cutey Bug, and can't wait to see what this year brings!