Me and My Brother

Taken by the talented Melissa Schuett.  Don't be surprised if you see this one on a Christmas card.

(I know the very right side got cut off, but I wanted to make it as big as possible for maximum cuteness factor.)

Summer at the Simeks - June

Chloe here.  So back in Spring, Mommy had the brilliant idea of having a standing playdate every Friday morning for all of our friends.  We could play outside on the swing set, in the sandbox and do water stuff if it was hot.  Grammie said she'd do an art project and Summer at the Simeks was born!

It's been a tremendous success and we think our friends are having lots of fun (they keep coming back, at least) so I'm going to do three posts for each of the three months that we're doing our Friday playdates.

Let's start with June.

First, just a gratuitous shot of me being cute.

This is the first time we pulled out the Slip N Slide.

Daddy did it too!

He also helped my friends.  Dylan is sliding while Aubrey and Benjamin look on.

Grammie Jo brings her art supplies most weeks and we do cool projects.  Here she is helping me and Lauren.

Making a flag for 4th of July!

Grandpa Jeff brought Ashlyn and Aubrey the first week.

And Mary brought Ben.  They are loving up on Casey after he got up from  nap.

The Aiello sisters.

Most of the time all the kids gravitate from one activity to another together.  Here we are ALL trying to fit in the sandbox.

Ashlyn and Aubrey Schuett.

Me playing with Dylan (his mommy is my mommy's good friend at school).

Modeling career ahead?  Whatcha think Reskes?

Look at this tough guy!

I will do a separate post for July (really hot) and August (very cool so far).

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Chloe's First Trip to the Dentist

Chloe here. Back in June, I had my first trip to the dentist to get my teeth checked.

Here we are at the office, about to go in. I brought Casey's soft friend, Fudge, so that he could get checked too.

The dental hygenist showed me everything she was going to do on Fudge first.

Then it was my turn.  They gave me sunglasses so that the bright light didn't bother my eyes.

I wasn't so fond.of the flouride on my teeth... they called it lipstick.

Acting cool.

They showed me how to use the tools that blow air out.

By giving me a manicure!

We had an awesome experience.  If anyone out there is looking for a pediatric dentist let me know... I would highly recommend them!

Chloe's Besties

I know we've mentioned these boys on the blog before, but Conner and Aidan are the loves of Chloe's life. It warms my heart, because growing up, I too had 2 boys as best friends, Aaron and Jonathan. We are still friends today and hope these guys will remain friends throughout their lives as well.

These are some photos from May and June... enjoy... we love you boys!

Last day of "school" with the McKennas.

Dougnut Face

Another one I found while editing photos.  Confession -   She has this face at LEAST once a week in the summer.

Ho Ho Hilarious

Trying to get caught up on pictures and found these beauties hiding in the "May 2012" folder. Laughed out loud. Hope you do too!

Indpendence Day

Chloe here. I'll finish up the 4th of July post.

So before I continue, I need to show you my festive pedi... I call it "Stars and Stripes Foot-ever."

And here's Mommy's patriotic mani... I'm blanking on a good name... can anyone think of one?

After the parade and breakfast at Grammie's, Casey and I napped and then we headed over to Jonny and Corrie's for their annual party.

 Casey got to sit on a motorcycle.

 And I got to visit the horse across the street... hello Chestnut!

 As you remember, it was really hot that day, so Coco suggested red, white and blue popsicles... on a towel outside.  Check out all of us kids... 4 and under :)

Eventually only the diehards were left.

 Daddy can I be done?

Sure Chloe... just gotta hose you off!

That's all for 4th of July... thanks for waiting patiently.

4th of July Parade

Casey here.  So I figure if I can get the 4th of July postings done while the Olympics are still going on, that works, right?  3 cheers for the red, white and blue and all that?

So 4th of July.  I don't know if y'all remember, but it was supposed to be 101 degrees that day.  We usually go to the Brookfield parade in the morning, but Mommy and Daddy woke up and decided it wasn't a good idea for a little guy like me and for Chloe.  So we went to Grammie and Grandpa's for breakfast and had our own parade.

 Of course Mommy wanted a picture of us in our holiday best first.

 Grammie had made the breakfast table quite festive.

 With patriotic fruit.

 And a kringle that was all red, white and blue!

 The monkeys were all ready for the parade... they wanted us to hurry up and eat breakfast.

 Daddy got in a squeeze before he "transformed" into Thing 1 (you will see what I mean later.)

 And Chloe was all set too!

So here is Thing 1 all set for the parade.

And really, you can't have Thing 1 without Thing 2, right Dr. Suess fans?

Ahhh... Thing 1 and Thing 2 together again.

Here's a little clip of the parade.

Chloe did a great job of throwing candy... Tootsie Rolls, what else?

And eventually Papa joined Grammie in the audience. (I think he just wanted some candy.)

Everyone was happy... including Big Sister and her monkeys.  We missed the "real parade," but sure had a lot of fun making our own for the day!