Today is our last official day of summer break (we’re calling it that since we’ll spend the majority of tomorrow in the car). Our original plan was to pack up and leave our beach house this afternoon, but we just couldn’t do it. The boys have been having the greatest time ever; it’s just amazing to watch them all explore and play together.

Our Tucker loves to receive gifts (I mean, honestly, who doesn’t, right?), and regardless of its monetary value, Tucker will shower the giver with hugs and thanks for several days afterwards. Case in point: Russ gave Tuck a freebie calendar he’d gotten from the Virginia Tech business school; it’s one of those little pocket ones that has a page for each week. Tucker has slept with “his special book” in his bed and has had us write down “‘pecial things I see” in it. So far, he’s had us write “I pet a frog”, “I touched a fiddler crab”, “I saw a rainbow”, and “I love my Purple.” His ‘pecial book is going to be priceless one day.

Theo has absolutely perfected his walking ability while we’ve been here. When we arrived on last Saturday, he could walk about 10 feet or so before sitting down and resorting to the much more efficient crawl. Now, he is doing laps around the kitchen and living room, arms raised in the air and cackling the whole time.

Our J has turned into a fish this summer. For a child who would not jump off the diving board last year, he has made remarkable progress this summer. Check out his fancy dive above–it’s more like a kicking belly flop, but I guess when you only weigh 38 pounds, belly flops don’t hurt that much.