A Summer in Pictures (Part I)

As anyone who gets on the road in Baton Rouge can tell, summer is coming to an end and what a fun, exciting summer it was. Ashley and the boys survived their first summer together at home, and we managed to do a lot of fun things as a family of four. Since we didn't get to post as much lately, we're hitting you with a big summer in pictures recap (in two parts). You ready?

The first big activity of our summer was catching the circus in Baton Rouge. While it seemed a little long for kids, especially with an intermission, but Trace loved it. He especially loved eating popcorn and watching Dumbo (all elephants are Dumbo). Fisher even had a good time, mostly napping.

Summer's are also a time filled with birthday parties (including Trace's). For a while it seemed like we were going to a birthday party every weekend.

Trace turns 3:

A party at Lyndsey's Bouncing Tiger:

A party at the Splash Park:


Parker's 3rd birthday:


One of the big activities of the summer was Trace taking swimming lessons. The first day of class was an emotional one for mommy and Trace, but after that, he enjoyed it and learned a lot of swimming basics. With a little more practice, he'll be swimming without his floaties sooner than we know it.

Ashley and the boys caught a few story times and other activities at the library this summer. Trace even got to meet Harvey the Rabbit and Friends:


During the summer, the Ballard family also became members of the Baton Rouge zoo. Before Trace's birthday, Nonk Eli, Aunt Kassi and cousin Morgan spent the day (or at least as long as we could take the heat) at the zoo with us. Not long after this there was a new addition to their family:

We spent the 4th of July in Grand Isle and got to see the effects of the oil spill first hand. Actually, the only effects we saw were lots of cleanup workers on the island and no boiled crabs to eat, but thank you for the fireworks BP:

Fisher and Trace gained a new cousin this summer with the arrival of Gracie Mae on July 16, 2010:


That brings us to mid-July. One half of the summer down, one half to go. To end part one of our summer in pictures, we leave you with a few random shots to give you a flavor of the summer in the Ballard house:

Cereal and Veggies

It's hard to believe, but Fisher is already 5 months old. He is growing so fast and discovering new things every day. The other day, he discovered his voice, or should I say, his yelling voice. He isn't upset or anything, but he will just lay there and yell as loud as he can. He's just trying to make sure he inherited mom and dad's great singing voices.

At the beginning of this month, we started Fisher on cereal. Saying he doesn't love it is an understatement. He's gotten better, but he still blocks the spoon with his tongue, and you have to maneuver it around to make sure the cereal gets where it's intended to get. Ashley recently started with two feedings a day and introduced his first vegetable: sweet potatoes. He liked the sweet potatoes a little better, so hopefully with more flavors, he picks up on eating from a spoon quicker.

Trace supervising to make sure mommy remembers how to do this:

Daddy's first attempt at feeding cereal:

First vegetable:

Two Little Hams

If only we could get them to both smile in the same pic :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Trace!

I can't believe it, but it really has been 3 years since Trace was born. Seems like just yesterday, we were going to all of our doctor's appointments watching the little guy on the ultrasound. Now he's a 3-year-old big brother.

Ever since the calendar turned June, Trace has been excited about his birthday party. Out of his friends, he has one of the later birthdays, so he's been to a lot of other people's parties. Now it's time for his. Ashley tried to help him understand how many days were left before his party with a calendar she put together for him and printed out countdown sheets. It seemed to work, either that or he just got tired of us telling him his party was still a few days away.

For the party, we went with the theme of his favorite movie Toy Story (Thank you to Jenny for a great logo and invitations!).

With Toy Story 3 coming out the week before his party, there was no shortage of Toy Story decorations or snacks to be found (but just try to find a Toy Story pinata a few days before the party. Impossible).

Toy Story 3 opened up Father's Day weekend, and as part of my great Father's Day with the family, we brought the boys see it. Trace liked it and has asked to watch the new Toy Story a few times since. His favorite part of going to the movies though is eating lots of popcorn. With about 5 minutes left in the movie, Ashley and I realized he was still eating his bag of popcorn:

With his birthday falling on a weekend (this past Sunday), we got to have his party on his actual birth day. Trace woke up that morning and knew right away he was the birthday boy. We let him open a couple of presents right when he woke up, and he even had one from his brother, Fisher.
We decided to have the party at his favorite park near our house, and it was a huge success. While it was a hot day, we beat the usual summer rain by a few hours. Trace had a great time playing with his old friends from day care and all of the other friends and family who came.

To go with all the Toy Story balloons and decorations, Ashley made an awesome Buzz Lightyear cake and delicious Toy Story cupcakes:

We had pizza delivered from Pizza Planet (or Domino's with a Pizza Planet Logo on the box) and a snowball stand to beat the heat:


To top things off, Buzz Lightyear even payed a visit to sing "Happy Birthday." Trace wasn't too sure what to think at first of "Buzz." He didn't recognize me and wouldn't even come near me. After I took off the hair cover, he realized who it was and let me hold him. He tried to push the buttons on Buzz's suit, but still wasn't sure what to think.

After we sang "Happy Birthday" and cut the cake, everyone had a few more snowballs, played some games and enjoyed the park a little more before the heat did us in.

So we loaded up all the presents and headed home for Trace to spend the next hour or so opening them. It was fun to watch him open his presents; he got so excited for everything he opened (even the clothes from Maw Maw, especially his new suit so he can dress like daddy does when he goes to work).After each thing he opened, he would check it out and ask if he could play with it. It was tough to get him to go back and open something else. He now has more Toy Story toys than we know what to do with and lots of other cool stuff like a Star Wars Play Doh set, tee ball set, books, games, etc. But the grand finale was his new Woody and Buzz toys. These had to be taken out of the box right away. They ended up taking a nap with him later, and haven't left his sight since.

It was a great day, and we know Trace felt so loved by all of our friends and family. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and for being a part of our family. We look forward to many more birthdays with the boys, but hopefully they don't grow up too fast. Before we know it, we'll be throwing Fisher's 1st birthday party and planning for Trace's 4th.