Sweet Summertime

We had a completely "summer" kind of day.  Kicked it off with mowing the grass, ate lunch on the deck, played in the rain during a pop-up thunderstorm, rescued a baby bird that fell out of its nest, went swimming (well, Natalie did anyway), and watched the sunset outside after dinner.

And during all that, I realized that it's been seriously forever since I've pulled out my good camera to capture these sweet faces...

melon!

love the pizza face

pretty lady

(how great is Ben's face in the background?)

Ben has always had this thing with wiping food in his hair, 

but this one takes the cake.

love these two

I love when Nat takes the time to listen to Ben.  His speech is getting better and his vocabulary is huge for his age, and listening to them talk with each other is so incredible.

um...

once she discovered she could do this, she went all the way around the deck.  and back.

The kids love Ty so much, and Natalie tells him every couple of days how glad she is that he lives with us and that he doesn't have to live in a cage anymore.  Heartstrings.  Tug.

serious Ben

and comedian Ben

Catching the last of the sun and some fresh air before bedtime was the perfect end to our day.