Halloween Fun

This year we dressed Taylor up as a shark (thanks to you Amanda!) and he actually kept on the hood of his costume most of the time. He was really pumped up at the beginning of the trunk or treat and then started to lag about halfway through. He couldn't say "Trick or Treat" so he just made animal sounds. I was a bag lady and Duane was an Arab or Persian or whatever you want him to be in his outfit. We got to celebrate with our friends, Jason and Wendy, and their cute son Everest!  The boys sat outside and passed out candy while we sat inside and talked :) That is what I am talking about!

Pumpkin Patch!

Pumpkin Patch= amusement park? Things are getting out of hand with the pumpkin patches around here! They are full of tickets and rides. I just want the big patch of hay bales and pumpkins. Thank you. We did enjoy the petting zoo and Taylor LOVED the bouncy house. He stayed in there long enough to make it his second home.  We (Duane and I) carved the pumpkin and Taylor decided to look for bugs on the ground. Maybe next year he will be more into the design and carving...for now the bouncy house is enough.

Taylor 2nd Birthday Party

We had such a fun time celebrating Taylor's birthday. We played a little bit at the park, hit up some pinata action, and enjoyed a delicious ice cream cake. I have decided that every cake I have in the future is going to be an ice cream cake. Taylor loves all of his presents! Thanks to all our family for making Taylor's birthday so much fun! I especially enjoyed our pick-up baseball game at the park.

proud parents

with Brad and Catherine :)

  

some of our activities

ooohhhh  yyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh     CAKE!

singing happy birthday

Taylor eating some yummy cake and doing his "happy dance"

Finally...the summer in review

 the Oregon Coast in July

 Taylor playing with water all summer long

 enjoying the 4th of July parade in Boulder City

 said goodbye to our Honda

 saw some great northern Nevada scenery on our way back from Oregon

 loved spending time with cousins in the sun

 had a great buffet dinner and model moment by the Bellagio with Chad and Kristin

 my brother Brad came to visit :)

 

Brad and Catherine on the strip

 got to celebrate my mom's birthday at our house (i.e. I had an excuse to make a really scrumptious cake)

We got to see a show at the Tuacahn theatre! 

There now you are all caught up with the Graham highlights. Woot!

Bahston...

Charles River, beautiful day. Now if only one of those yachts had been ours...

In June we had the opportunity to take an early anniversary trip to Boston (or Bahston or Bean town as the locals call it). We had awesome weather and enjoyed lots of historical sights, excellent food, and even better company :) There are way too many pictures to post so these are just a couple of the highlights of our trip.

Duane enjoying some fresh air in Boston Commons

You are supposed to stand across from the donkey if you oppose it but I thought this was a little more appropriate

Duane getting one of his many famous dead people shots (he is a history teacher people!)

In front of a stature of Benjamin Franklin (Boston is his hometown even if Philadephia is what he is known for)

enjoying some conversation with a local...he had deep thoughts

by the garden.. too bad the Celtics couldn't win the finals during game 6 (we would have been there!)

Lovin' the archways filled with ivy by the waterfront

MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  I feel smarter just saying it!

MIT statues were awesome! Duane thought they were ugly.. but he wasn't a humanities major.

sorry more architecture. But I seriously want my house to look like this someday! Every kid would want to play at my house :)

roof garden above a parking garage that we stumbled upon near MIT.

window shopping (I should have bought this. it is cute!..oh well, hindsight, you know)

Oldest restaurant in town (so they claim) but pretty good seafood

See, pretty good :)

You know you are in little Italy when they play handball on this.

We climbed up this for free! (Bunker Hill Monument)Why would you pay to walk up 292 steps?

"No, I didn't just walk up 300 steps. I just got off a yacht and am taking a break from watching polo."

went on a lunch cruise to see the sights around the harbor on our last day.

"Yes, I am the bum that played on Back to the Future and those kids are still CRAZY DRUNK DRIVERS!"

Of course we took in a game! GO RED SOX!

The green monster.. lovin' it!

Splash park time!

Our home away from home during the summer.

Family Visitors

We had a great time with Grandma Edna and "Bumpba" Tony when they visited in May. We had some good eats and enjoyed chatting around the house. They enjoyed a typical work week with us and lots of Taylor time.

Three generations :)

Summer PJs

We don't sleep in much these days. Taylor is no different.

Dip?

It is no secret that Taylor loves to dip his food..from french fries and chicken nuggets to pancakes and waffles into Cool Whip. Who doesn't love Cool Whip though? If I give him any of these items without a dipping pleasure he acts like he is dipping until you give him the sauce. He is like his nana...loves the dip/sauce more than the actual food.

Birthday Wishes

I am now 28. Nothing big. The best thing about turning 28 is the ice cream cake that I got to enjoy. I can still taste it now just thinking about it. Yum

Where is your...?

Videos from Kauai

fire dancers at the luau

Here I am ziplining...if you notice I do a full twist around at the end. My record was 7 spins on one zipline.

Pictures from Kauai!

We tackled taking Taylor with us to Kauai (did you like that alliteration?) and it worked out well for the most part! Thank you Edna for staying in the resort room with him while we could go out sometimes! My in-laws have a great timeshare there and offered us a room to enjoy it with them. We enjoyed lots of days in the sun, ate very well, swam in the enormous pool, went to a Luau, and flew down some ziplines. We can't wait to go back and take a cruise around all of the Hawaiian islands. Our only regret is that we did not take a scooter ride while we were there. 

Duane waving from inside a cave

enjoying some koi feeding time at the resort

the enormous pool at the Marriott. 5 hot tubs and a circular pool

Who could ask for more?

daddy and son heading to the pool

Lydgate Park and Beach

enjoying some pre-luau chill time

the happy couple :)

Grandma Edna and Taylor at Tunnels Beach

Chickens everywhere and Africa looking terrain...KAUAI!

ziplining!

me in the beautiful Kauai green on the ziiiipppppliiinnene

Duane's entrance

Kailua Falls

saving the best for last! Cutie watching some cartoons