the 4th of July

sweet little Trenty enjoying his cookie in the wagon

together again!

big boy taking a break

the sweetest girls and bestest friends

6 of 8 enjoying popsicles...

Trenty was to the left, out of the picture shot and Abby was asleep.

On the 4th, we went to mom and dad's and ate a delicious meal! We had a great time getting all the Duke grandchildren together to play and having all the Duke children together also. The kids had fun playing on the playground and in the sprinkler! It was a super fun day!

the 4th of July (on the 3rd)

Bradley and Carter on their "sweet rides"

the bobbin' tub

Rachel...ready to bob!

little Ms. Lauren


my sweet Rachel...best "apple bobber" around

Trenty preferred eating the apples instead of bobbing for them

our "white" son, Bradley, lathered up with sunscreen

lovely Sophia

Rachel, Carter, Elle and Lauren in a pool in the pool

(somehow the baby pool busted after an hour or so!)

The 4th of July...

~was so much fun at Gege and Papa's.

~had the BEST BBQ ribs, chopped pork and chicken...YUM!

~involved the kids bobbing for apples.

~was when we all swam and swam.

~was a gorgeous day with perfect weather.

~also included a water balloon fight...

~in which Nick threw one at Matt M. and left a welp on his leg.

~and also when Nick was running away from Sophia

and fell in a hole and almost twisted his ankle.

~is such a wonderful tradition!

Trent's 1st big haircut

(pre-haircut)

Say "cheese"!!

look at those long locks! (pre-haircut)

(post haircut)

the sides don't really match all that well...

his sweet little neck

yea, not too good at blending anything...

Post hair cut...our handsome little boy!

We finally did it. We cut off Trenty's hair. We had been contemplating for awhile and after a few people asked us if he was a girl, (Really??!!) we decided it was time. I did the official cut, and it's not that great, but thankfully he's really cute no matter what his hair looks like! He was pretty cooperative sitting on my bathroom counter, messing with every possible thing he could...from toothbrushes to make-up to the faucet. But, it's cut and it'll do fine till we take him to a professional next time.

the kids @ the beach

hangin' on our balcony in their underwear

All my loves

waiting to take an airboat ride at Boondock's

Believe it or not, we did get a few pictures of the kids together. It's just hard to get them all to cooperate at the same time! :)

Rachel, our lovely, caribbean girl

We've had the joy of taking Rachel to the beach many times and it just seems to get more fun each year. Rachel swims like a fish so she's super confident in the pool. She liked the ocean and gave it a fair try, but it was just too rough. She did like the sand, though, and enjoyed building some sand castles. She also LOVES putt-putt and would have played at every miniature golf venue if we had let her. She and Bradley went once with Gege and Papa and once with me and Nick. She does not want to putt correctly, so it takes her about 9 or 10 times to get her ball in the hole, but she enjoys every minute of it. Of course, her beautiful brown skin is even darker and more caribbean-like as usual for the summer. This year, Rachel took her own room at the condo. She said she wanted her own bed and was (scarily) almost like a teenager. (However, after the first night, she got scared and wanted Nick to sleep in her room.) She took snacks and drinks into her room, watched tv all the time and kept her doors closed. It was kinda funny, but also a glimpse into her teen years. She is such a sweet girl, always wanting to take care of her brothers, full of compassion and kindness. She's so smart and observant and is truly becoming a big girl...her interests are changing and she doesn't always want to hang with her brothers. She also thinks she knows more than she does and can make decisions without asking her parents. This is something we're working on with her and she's so bright that I know she gets it. She's still such a cuddly, sweet little girl who loves to get attention from us and her grandparents. We love our sweet caribbean girl!

Big, brave Bradley @ the beach!

This was by far Bradley's favorite trip to the beach. He really embraced the sand and the pool. He even tried the ocean, but the waves were too rough. Unfortunately, no one got to spend too much time out there. Our big boy Bradley has gotten so much more confident and has become quite the little swimmer. He now puts his head under water for long periods of time, blows bubbles and tries to go farther and farther when he swims. It's so exciting watching him gain confidence in his abilities. He also LOVED playing putt-putt and was really good at it, even with a faulty technique!This year he has really blossomed into such a sweet, easy-going, enjoyable little fella. He fully embraces the "toughness" of being a boy. He likes rough stuff, super heroes and hanging with other boys. He watched some older boys using skim boards on a large puddle of water on the beach and then spent about 30 minutes trying to copy them with his boogie board. It was so cute. His favorite words are doo-doo and poo-poo. He's silly and funny and loves to tell jokes, mostly including his favorite words. He loves his baby brother and also likes that he has the upper hand with him. He spent one evening at the beach playing a friendly game of tag with Trent and Rachel and then we realized that his "tags" for Trent were also knocking him onto his butt every time. We have to reign him in sometimes, but he's such a sweet, kind little boy. He loves his big sister and she can still make him giggle like no one else. He still copies her and thinks she's the coolest. He gets his feelings hurt very badly if she doesn't want to play with him. He's sensitive and smart and very inquisitive. His feelings and interests are intense and I think he's going to be really good at whatever he wants to do when he channels that intensity. We had a great time at the beach with our big, brave boy!!