Arrrgh!

Tonight we spent the evening at Way 2 Play Cafe for Pirate Night. Luke enjoyed playing with the kids, but he steered clear of this pirate ... too scary for him! But Reid was a brave little guy and buddied up to him for a photo opp.

Reid learns the basics of swashbuckling.

Bright eyes & a bright smile!

Car cart.

When shopping with two small boys, the car cart at the grocery store is a must. Usually, Luke is the driver and Reid is along for the ride, but look who's the chauffeur today!

Bitten by the blog bug.

Lately, we've had a flurry of friends and family members start blogs! We love keeping in touch this way and hearing what's happening with you all! So if you are checking our blog and we don't know about yours, then zip us an email with your blog info so we can keep tabs on you, too!

Ruby Slipper Designs -- Jami's graphic design company -- has also been bitten by the blog bug! Check out the newly revised website (courtesy of highly skilled web designer Scott) at www.RubySlipperCards.com. New samples, new focus, new fun ideas! It's been 3 years since our heels started clicking! Amazing! In addition to the new site, RSD also has a new blog at www.rubyslippercards.blogspot.com, a great resource for invitations, announcements, and other creative concepts on paper! This will be updated twice a month so check back often!

Slip-n-slide-n-slurp.

Luke's buddy Owen came over for a playdate today. On the agenda ... the slip-n-slide. The boys had a blast splashing around and slurping popsicles afterward.

Top right: Ready, set, splash!

Middle left: Reid wasn't the fastest guy down the slip-n-slide, but he had fun all the same!

Bottom left: Popsicles are serious business.

Fun times with our Meyer friends.

Tonight, we attended Luke's VBS program. His class stood up and sang 2 songs. Luke however chose to not sing ... or do the actions. It seems he had a case of stagefright during his moment in the spotlight!! He did however do a great job of standing very still in place, which is rare for him! Afterward, we grabbed some dinner with the Meyer family. Lexi, Colby & Luke were all smiles!

Walk 'n' roll.

Last week we dug out the walker to see if Reid wanted to give it a try. He's been cruising all around on the furniture, so we thought he might be ready for the "next big step." From the start, he was off and walking and loving every minute of it. Walk 'n' roll, baby!

Schoolhouse rocks.

Luke has been test-driving his new school routine by attending Vacation Bible School at the church where he'll attend preschool in the fall (it's a Methodist church just around the corner from our house). He's loved the time spent learning with the other kids and his teachers. Here he is with his classmates.

Reid-atouille.

Tonight the Leahy family ventured out and about for a movie night. The feature film was "Ratatouille," a charming story about a rat who can cook. This was also a milestone movie as it was Reid's first movie in the theater (and Luke's umpteenth movie ... he's quite a fan of the cinema). Reid watched the first half of the flick and then dozed off for the latter part, while Luke munched away on his Skittles, his preferred movie snack. It was a nice way to escape the heat and spend the night with the family!

Baptizing Reid.

Today we celebrated the blessed event of Reid's baptism at our home parish of St. Mary's in Chandler. We were fortunate to have several friends and family members join us for this very special day. Reid cooperated well and was on his best behavior. He is such a gift to our lives, so it was wonderful to share this spiritual gift with him.

Mr. Baptism is ready for the big event.

Deacon Hintze baptizes Reid with the rest of the family watching over him.

Here we are with Reid's godmother Emily Cappo (Scott's cousin) and Uncle Eric who is standing in for Reid's godfather Uncle Paul (Scott's older brother).

We enjoyed a nice family dinner afterward at our home. This special occasion warranted a striped Tammie Coe Cake, placecards with pictures of each family member with Reid, and a special blessing card from Mom & Dad.

All in the family.

What a special treat for us to have some family fly in for Reid's baptism! Scott's Aunt Mary Ann and cousin Emily (Reid's godmother) flew in this morning to share in this special celebration with us. They hopped off the plane and on to a family breakfast with all of us at TC Eggington's.

A date to celebrate eight!

To celebrate our 8th anniversary, we spent the evening in suspense at the Broadway Palms Dinner Theater's interactive murder mystery show "Murder in Paradise." We enjoyed the night out, while the boys had a ball with Uncle E and Charity at Amazing Jake's playland. Rumor has it they rode the teacups and go-karts while we were out solving crimes!

Clownin' around.

Luke enjoyed a morning out to Rolly Pollies summer camp today. Can you tell what the theme was? CIRCUS! Move over, Bozo ... there's a new clown in town!

8th anniversary.

As we celebrate our 8th anniversary today, we thought this pic would be a fun walk down memory lane ... or down the aisle in this case! Here's to 8 great years!

Mimi, Papa & the munchkins.

One final photo from our trip: the boys with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson, our great Colorado tour guides!

Boulder adventures.

One of our final Colorado adventures was making a day trip to Boulder. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Sunflower (delish organic food) and then took a stroll down Pearl Street, famous for its eclectic feel and street performers.

Wouldn't you know ... Luke found more water! He and Reid (and Papa) enjoyed splashing around in these fountains.

The fam on Pearl Street.

Just the two of us.

Since Mimi & Papa provide a great free babysitting service, we've enjoyed some time out just the two of us. Last night we met our friends Mary Fran and Joe who just moved to Denver after getting married a few weeks ago. We enjoyed pizza and vino at The Oven in Belmar. Then this morning we took off on a 17-mile bike trek from Lakewood to Morrison along a scenic bike trail following the Bear Creek. Somehow we took the more challenging route and ended up scaling some crazy small mountain on our bikes, but it was quite a cruise down! Our final destination was meeting up with the family at the Morrison Inn for some Mexican food. We hauled the bikes back in town ... it was a one-way only trip!

Tales from the creek.

Luke has been on the Colorado Creek Tour. Yesterday we ventured over to a park with a creek flowing through it. Tons of kids were splashing around in the water, so Luke joined in! He also made up a game to throw his blue crocs in the creek and run downstream to catch them. Of course, we were sitting on the bank laughing at him!


Today Luke and Papa ventured down to the creek behind the townhouse for a little more water fun.

Bear Creek Park or bust!

One of our first adventures in Colorado was venturing to Bear Creek Park. Just 15 minutes from Mimi & Papa's house, we spent some time splashing around on the beach at Soda Lake in the afternoon. Last night, we grilled out lakeside and watched the windsurfing and kayaking entertainment. Then Grandpa, Scott & Luke enjoyed a night camping beneath the stars. Grandma, Jami, and Reid roasted s'mores and then headed back into town for more civilized accommodations.

A beach in Colorado?! Sure enough. Sun, sand & mountains in the background!

Happy campers and their humble abode.

Happy 4th!

Red, white & blue ... here's to you!

Goodbye June. Hello July.

We wrapped up the month of June with a quiet weekend at home (vs. traveling). Okay, maybe it wasn't so quiet after all. We ran some errands, checked out the pool at Uncle E's new house, and hit birthday parties for our friend Amy who turned the big 3-0 and our friend Lilly who turned 1.

The pint-size partygoers at Lilly's big bash.

Swimming ... Part 2.

In an earlier post, we noted Luke's recent disliking that he'd taken this season to swimming. We are proud to report that he's officially turned the corner and loving the pool once again. At his final swimming lesson at the YMCA, he received a report card of sorts, which noted he "did much better toward the end." You got that right, Mr. Randall. Today we spent several hours at the pool at the gym. The favorite activity was jumping off the side into the shallow end where he didn't have to go underwater. After 50 or so times, Mom hauled out the camera for some pics!

Brothers.

Here's a recent pic taken on our front doorstep. It is rare these days to take a photo where both boys are looking at the camera. (Guess we'd have to pay them extra for them to both be smiling! )

The family that walks together ... Crocs together.

Escaping the heat.

The ultra hot summer temps have set in, and we've been hitting 110+ lately. We try to make the most of our indoor fun, so today we hit the play area at the mall for a long time. Of course, Luke was all too happy to run crazy with the other kids, and Reid was holding his own among the younger crowd and loving it, too. Now that he's crawling and pulling up, Reid had a great time exploring the play area (and trying not to be run over by the bigger kids!)

2 front teeth.

Reid has been working on getting his first teeth in, and they are finally visible. Two little front teeth are sprouting on the bottom. This is one extreme close-up picture!!

Dallas & Time with Dad

SuperDad was on duty this weekend as Jami zipped off to Dallas for the Officers Conference for her Theta volunteer position. The boys enjoyed a weekend of swimming, pizza, and movies, while Jami enjoyed catching up with old Theta friends and making some new ones, too.

The side effects of TiVo.

For a while, the Leahy family (along with many other American households) have been enjoying the benefits of recording their favorite programs via TiVo, DVR, or any other similar recording device. While we aren't huge TV watchers, our DVR is set to record some of our favorites each week (like The Office and Brothers & Sisters), as well as a full slate of Luke's picks.

Well, actually, Luke's shows rule over the digitally recorded kingdom on our DVR. Each day new episodes of Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & LazyTown (crazy show about kids' fitness) are recorded. Since these shows are his favorites, he usually asks if he can watch one of those when he's having some downtime. What has resulted is that at any given time on any given television he thinks he can request to watch one of "his shows." This hit home with us when we were on vacation, and he was asking to only watch Mickey Mouse when we were in the hotel room. For some odd reason, there's not a 24-hour channel featuring The Mouse in San Diego like there is on the TV at home! Guess San Diego has to have some flaws.

Dear Ol' Dad ... Happy Father's Day!

What a treat to be able to celebrate Father's Day on the tail end of our trip! We woke up bright and early this morning and headed to the beach to get in one last sandy outing. Then Luke & Reid treated Scott to his favorite for lunch -- pizza! The first half of his Father's Day was grand. The latter half -- driving home from San Diego -- wasn't as exciting!

Hugs for our dad on Father's Day!

Highlights from the trip.

We packed in so many fun adventures amongst all our suitcases and kid gear for this 6-hour road trip to San Diego. Here are a few of the other trip highlights.

Next on the agenda...We kept the family hoppin' with some stops all around the city including the paragliders at Torrey Pines, the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, and some park time on Coronado Island. We also joined some friends for dinner in Little Italy one evening. Since we've been to San Diego several times before, it was so special to be able to share these favorite hangouts with the boys!

Did Scott and Luke find Jaws at the aquarium?

The main event ... the wedding festivities! A whole crew of Scott's Rockhurst High School friends flew in for this wedding of their friend Joe Park. What a great reunion for all! The festivities began on Thursday night with a bachelor party on Pacific Beach. The wedding on Saturday was the most beautiful outdoor wedding with a beach theme tied throughout.

The happy couple ... Joe & Mary Fran!

All dressed up with somewhere to go!

This wedding was quite the Rockhurst reunion!

Medical drama. Within 30 minutes of arriving at our hotel, Luke fell off the bed and bonked his eye ... giving him quite a shiner. He was fine, thank goodness ... but he looked like quite a "bruiser" for the rest of our trip. Reid didn't want Luke to get all the medical attention from mom and dad so he decided to get a little stomach bug halfway through the trip. Luke then topped that one by getting the worst nosebleed ever on the way home from the reception. Traveling with kids is quite an adventure in itself!

Beach bums.

We just returned from spending 4 fabulous days in sunny San Diego. We kicked around the coast on Thursday and Friday, attended the wedding of our friends Joe & Mary Fran on Saturday, and then celebrated Father's Day there today. This trip was filled with so many highlights, but one of our favorite memories was taking the boys to the beach. Here are the beach bums in action...

Baby's got a new pair of shoes.

Reid has joined the Crocs Club! Mom found this itty bitty pair of mock Crocs today, so he is sporting his new shoes proudly. Amazingly, they stay on his feet as he's crawling around and trying to keep up with Luke.

Swimming lesson saga.

Teaching a child to swim is an interesting process. At the end of last summer, Luke was very comfortable around the water. He was pretty self-sufficient -- jumping in the water by himself, coming up for a breath, swimming back to the side, and pulling himself out of the pool ... all on his own. He just needed Mom/Dad there for moral support.

New year, new plan. We decided to put him in some formal swimming lessons with other kids his age at the YMCA. Social & swimming ... a great idea! Or so we thought. However, we discovered that the winter break brought his comfort level down a few notches. Perhaps it was re-learning his old tricks ... or maybe it was the monsters in the pool (or so he claimed).

At the first swimming lesson, he was screaming and clinging the entire time to one of his swim teachers (high school kid with surfer hair named Randall). Class 2 ... the same scenario prompted us to have a discussion about the panic attacks this was inflicting on our 3-year-old who normally is the ultimate risk taker. We decided the action plan was to spend some time over the weekend working with Luke in the pool to get him more comfortable ... and really putting a positive spin on the ol' swim school.

Class 3 was tonight. Dad took Luke. Mom stayed home and hoped that Luke wouldn't be 'that kid' crying on the side of the pool while all the other kids flutter kicked and blew bubbles as they were supposed to. The verdict -- Dad reported a dramatic change over the previous classes and Luke was totally into it! He was participating just like his pool phobia never existed ... putting his face in the water, splashing around, going underwater, etc. FINALLY! He bid that crazy childhood phase goodbye and rounded the bend to love the pool again.

Now, if we can just figure out why he won't eat green beans ... ah, the trials of parenthood.

On Cloud 9...

We have often joked that the easiest job to have would be a meteorologist in Arizona in the summer because the forecast is always the same ... sunny and hot. Well, today was a different story in the routine weather forecast. It was actually a bit cooler and cloudy!! We were loving our change in the weather, so we took advantage of the break in the heat. Jami and the boys hit the park at Tempe Town Lake for a little bike-n-blade adventure, followed by some fun at the splash park afterward. What a way to spend a cloudy day! Ha!

Hats off to this mom.

Jami spent Saturday afternoon lunching with the ladies at a baby shower for her friend Meghan (polka dot dress in the center) who is expecting her 2nd little girl soon. It was fun to sport the big hats and celebrate Kentucky Derby style!

Stand up!

Now that Reid is pulling up, he's found a whole new level to explore. Here are some recent pictures of the little man standing.

Check out this play area ... it resembles the Alamo! Just standing around admiring the fountain near our neighborhood entrance.

The one that got away.

Tonight we ventured over to do a little fishing. Eric & Charity joined us, too. There were tons of big fish circling by the dock and eating the leftover bread we threw to the ducks. We cast out the line and sure enough, Scott caught a fish. He started to reel it in, and we quickly realized the $15 fishing pole from Target was no match for the fish. He eventually was able to reel the fish in to the dock where we were standing. Okay, this is no lie ... it was probably 18 inches long. Half-joking/half-serious Scott said to Jami, "Well, are you going to get it?" As she stepped forward to attempt to wrangle this flopping carp, the fish was flailing around so much it broke the line and off it swam with a hook and a bright green gummy fishing worm in its mouth. While we were all a little devastated that the Big One got away, we were a bit relieved too that no one had to deal with wrestling the hook out of its mouth ... though it's too bad the fish is now swimming around with a new piercing thanks to us. So after many fishing excursions, we succeeded in catching our first fish (well, sort of)!

Happy campers.

Scott and Luke embarked on a camping adventure this weekend with the playgroup dads and kids. They drove up to Lynx Lake near Prescott for a s'more-roasting, trail-hiking good time.

The camping crew: Tom, Owen, Alec, Dave, Brian, Skye, Will, Lucy, Scott & Luke.

The campsite was bustling with activity!

Boys will be boys ... especially when water and mud are involved!

Bunco baby shower.

Back: Kim, Brooke, Amy, Jami, Emily, Jenni
Front: Luke, Jenny, Julie, Terri

The Leahy house was hoppin' last night as the Bunco girls gathered together for a baby shower for our friend Julie!

Little man's best friend.

Reid found a new friend yesterday when we were at the Glanvilles ... their dog Sam. Since we don't have any pets, it's always interesting to see how our boys respond to animals. Luke is a dog-lover, and it looks like Reid is, too. He kept smiling and laughing at Sam and was crawling over to pet him and catch his wagging tail. How funny that such a small little guy would like such a big dog!

First chomper.

Better grill up a steak ... Reid's first tooth is coming in! Mom discovered it today!

Oh, what a beautiful morning ... at the park!

Now that it's heating up outside, our park time has moved up to the earlier morning time slot. We ventured out to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler to hit the newly constructed Playtopia. The kids loved all the fun play equipment and the sand pit with "dinosaur bones" to uncover.

Luke, Robby & Emma take a whirl on the tire swing! Whee!

Kickin' it.

This week marked the start of another soccer league. Scott, Charity, and Eric are all playing on the co-ed team this time around. The fan club (Jami & the boys) joined them to watch the first game. Here's to a fun season ahead!

Ready to roll.

Jami has swapped her running shoes for rollerblades these days. The bike trailer detaches to make a double jogger, so she loads up the boys and off they roll! Luke and Reid love to zip along as Mom blades around the neighborhood.

Memorial Weekend.

It was a nice long relaxing weekend for the Leahy family. We joined our friends for dinner (see previous pics), hit the pool at LifeTime Fitness with our friend Terese, rearranged some furniture at home, spent some time on the Slip N Slide in the backyard, and hung out with Uncle E a bit last night. There was no rest for the wee one though. Reid is crawling everywhere and is a man on a mission!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

There are times when the camera is able to capture a photograph that so perfectly illustrates life at its finest moments. This is one of those. A nice family picture gone awry...