Summer Vacation

This is just a small tribute to the top current contender in the "2009 Wife of the Year" contest. She most recently got a number of votes for her planning of and participation in the Ewing Summer Vacation: a ten day road trip through New England and Canada, camping all but two nights in a spacious two man backpacking tent. Did I mention she was (and still is) pregnant?
I'm sure she'll be posting more pictures soon, though probably not all 500.

new friends, old friends

we are so happy all of our friends are back (minus the ones who moved on into the real world)....sniffle.
we are also so happy about all of our new friends that have come to join us in the lovely world of graduate work....(actually some have real jobs-way to go guys!)
and i think cute millie is especially happy that eli has out grown this phase.......
it seems like now she has a somewhat calming affect on him, he kind of just sits and watches.

anyway, i saw these on the hard drive and couldn't resist sharing! our little casanova.... note to reader: the only reason my hand made it into some of these shots was to steady poor millie from the force of eli's affections!

as if you don't already know....

brady and i (and soon to be big brother eli) are expecting baby #2 sometime in february!
boy? girl? guesses? bets? names?
now if i could just stop being so hungry. and tired. but mostly hungry.

smile

oh how we love the tubby!

the rebuttal

i really did have my own blog post almost ready- it was a perfect thought doing cartwheels in my brain. you know- the gymnast worthy, one handed kind of cartwheels. really great stuff.

my posts are always like that, but for some reason i sit down at the computer and my acrobatic thoughts fail to communicate with my impatient i-want-to-post-and-be-done-with-it fingers.

so i settle and hope that i still get a few comments out of the deal.

which means i can't complain that my blog was hi-jacked by terrorists

(sorry, we've been watching a LOT of 24 lately).....

well, one big crafty sinister yet very good looking (and well-meaning) terrorist.

don't worry-he is serving his time as i type.

he is right though, we have been busy lately,

dc was lots of fun, but kind of forever ago.

as was new york

(thank you sam and amy)

eli always picks up the phone and talks of his long lost millie love.....more on that later.

all of the new york pictures happen to be from coney island, regrettably we were too lazy to pull out the camera otherwise.

it was a fun relaxing day and a really, REALLY long train ride. really. like over an hour, which we were not expecting, i thought 30 min. tops. nope. not even close.

we made up for it playing lots in the sand and water

we ate at the original nathan's famous (the best hotdog ever. promise.)

we did not 'shoot the freak'

or ride the ferris wheel.

or the teacups.

or anything for that matter.

just the train (twice).

good times, and eli's first beach experience, so, well worth it.

and lastly,

a farewell to long,

unruly,

unmanageable,

and frequently quite disheveled locks.

it was time.

knowing i would be cutting my hair off i told brady

we needed to get some last minute family pictures in case

(1) i hate it (and i confess, i don't love it)

and/or

(2) i have difficulties wanting/remembering how to actually do my hair.

(actually both are true in this case)

but family pictures were a success even in the unfriendly-to-my-frizzy-hair humidity

the kimbles joined the fun bringing another camera and some professional ski resort experience.

and their cute little luke whom eli refers to as 'yuke'

everything is more fun with 'yuke'.

maybe in another month i will get pictures of the new hair on here too......

p.s. be sure to click on the collages, they are so much easier to see that way!

I'm sure there are many of you who often check this blog and wonder, "What's Brooke up to and why does she only post every other month?" Well, since she's been busy looking after us boys, I (Brady) decided I better put on a few pictures that she has neglected. We've been some fun places this year. Most of them in central NY, but also NYC and D.C. Anyway, here's some highlights. We spent a few days in D.C. riding the metro and seeing all the sights. Eli especially liked the Smithsonian.

This was one of my favoritesThis is back at the house where our superhero child was getting ready for bed. At least that's what mom and dad thought....This spring we attended a Kentucky Derby party. Eli loved my hat and has since gotten one of his own that he insists on wearing almost everywhere, sometimes even to bed.

Last week we went with the Kimble's to take some family pictures, one of those "you take mine I'll take yours" kind of things. Eli had had enough so we decided to reshoot our engagement photo.
Thats all I've got for now. I'll keep 'em coming.

birthday girl

happy birthday erin!

little miss erin

(aka 'the cute one')

just gets cuter and sillier with each passing year.

(the proof is in pictures, and i swear she is trying to be funny and just looks super cute anyway!)

it must be some sort of benjamin button thing.

if only we all could be this lucky!

you're a rockstar er-bear!

love you so much!