Handsome vs. Awesome

In our house, the boys have essentially 2 "styles" of dressing ... handsome & awesome. They came up with these terms on their own, and that's usually the million dollar question of the morning, "Mom, do I have to look handsome today ... or can I look awesome?" Here's the difference between the two...

• Handsome: Collared shirt, khaki shorts, hair combed (with styling product) and nicer shoes.
• Awesome: T-shirt, sport shorts, flip flops and baseball cap.

For the most part, this summer has been filled with days of "awesome" attire. But today Mom played the "handsome" card and requested that the boys dress nicely for a few photos. We have so many fantastic memories from this summer, and we wanted to capture a few photos of the boys at these ages in one of our favorite seasons here. We grabbed our camera and headed down to this spot not far from Luke's school with a trickling stream and big shady trees.

So here they are ...the Boys of Summer 2011!

Time to Kick Back & Relax...

The trees made a V coming out of the ground here

so this was a fun little nook for photos.

Never fear ... it looks like they are perched up in the tree

but this was actually taken with them sitting

safely on the ground. That's a good thing ...

Grant hasn't quite mastered tree-climbing yet!

The expressions ... priceless!

Sometimes holding hands with a baby

requires both hands, especially when

he likes to jump and jump and jump...

Let's take a walk, little brother...

The Brothers

Staring Contest

Serious Business

The older boys' hair is a little longer than

their usual short crew cuts ... a fun change

to show off those curls!

Brothers & Best Buds

ROCK-n-Roll

My, oh my! Look at the little man's latest trick. It won't be long before he's off and crawling!

Happy Campers

There is a first time for everything. Especially when you are 6 months old and camping for the first time! This weekend Grant enjoyed his first camping excursion at Bear Creek Lake on Denver's west side.

• Papa's vintage Airstream RV ... check.
• One 4-person tent ... check.
• One pack-n-play to go in tent ... check.
• Air mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags ... check.
• Flashlight app on the Droid phone to light the way at night ... check.
• Camper next to us who decided to play a vuvuzela horn (remember that from the South African soccer games a while back?) at 10:30 at night ... check.
• Good camping memories for our family ... check!

We reserved the duties of setting up camp

for our resident Eagle Scout Scott.

No roughing it at this campsite.

Only the finest menu for our campers ...

chicken fajitas with all the fixin's!

Laidback and lounging. Ahhh ... this is the life.

An evening swim at Bear Creek Lake.

Inner tubes encouraged, but not required.

Our Home Sweet Home for the night.

Tent on the left. Airstream on the right.

Official S'more Makers

A s'more and a sleeping baby ...

what could be better!

Just to give you a visual inside our tent.

We started out with all 5 of us in the tent.

Then the two jumping monkeys (Luke and Reid)

had a change in sleeping quarters and got

moved to Papa's RV for the night.

Mom, Dad & Grant spent the night in the tent

beneath the stars!

Rise and Shine!

All smiles after his first campout.

Makeshift High Chair

Playing catch at 8 a.m. in PJs

Guess who loves spending time with Papa!

Off on a morning bike ride...

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Well, look who is celebrating his "half" birthday...

Grant turned the big 6 months today!

And with such a milestone birthday also comes a trip to the pediatrician. G's 6 month stats are...

• Head Circumference | 18 inches | 90th percentile
• Height | 27 inches | 75th percentile
• Weight | 16 pounds 5 ounces | 35th percentile

Goggles

If competitive bathing was a sport, someone would certainly be signing up...

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

Colorado has many destinations that we love, but we happened upon a new one that just might rank in the Leahy's Top 5 List of Fun Things to See and Do in Colorado ... Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort. About a 2.5 hour drive away, this little gem of a destination far exceeded the already rave reviews we'd heard about it. Tucked in the base of the mountains in between Salida and Buena Vista, this resort channels the natural hot springs and offers a wide variety of swimming, splashing, and water-sliding opportunities. At the end of our first day there out of the blue, Luke said, "Today was a GREAT day." We couldn't agree more. Summer memories ... at their best.

Who's ready for the pool? These guys!

By far, the favorite of this trip was the 300 ft. water slide.

Grab a mat. Have a seat. SLIDE!

This creek was rushing with runoff water

from the mountain snow. If you look closely,

the bank is lined with old cars. Decoration ...

or a deterrent for getting in the water at that spot??

Mama & the boys on the bridge

The actual hot springs ... creek side.

Within these boulders were little pockets

of hot springs. Some were warm;

some were blazing HOT!

These 2 have never met a

creek they didn't like...

What if you woke up, walked out your door,

and this was your view? True story.

The view from right outside our room.

We had a "poolside room" so all we

had to do was walk out our door,

down some steps ... and we were at

the pool! This pool may have the

BEST.VIEW.EVER!

Another scenery shot. That building

is the bathhouse & spa and sits

beside the creek.

More time at the creek...

This summer Luke's swimming abilities have

grown by leaps and bounds ... or is that strokes

and kicks?! Anyway, he's getting

to be quite the great little fish!

Ready...

Set...

DIVE!

One big milestone of this trip included

Luke learning to dive!

Lounging on the Side

Back at the family pool with the water slide,

even the littlest Leahy enjoyed a swim!

G & Dad in the kiddie pool.

Reid is behind them.

Luke on the slide

Toothpick

Cannonball

The Guys

Three of a Kind

Yes, it's true. Our boys look quite alike. Put them all together ... and you have Three of a Kind!

Summer mornings are great

for lounging around with your brothers.

Teaching Grant the finer points

of Lego construction. He seems to be

listening rather intently... or maybe

he's just focusing on sitting up!

Grant is singing the red, white, and BLUES

on the 4th of July! That's it ... he's done!

Beach Babes...

Papa's inner tubes

make great baby seats!