A relaxing week, Harborfest and Fourth of July

During the week the boys and I had a great time participating in different activities: swimming, working out at the Y, meeting up with some friends from the moms group I am part of, gardening and spending relaxing time at home. I was able to organize James' room and then organize Gabriel's room. Again the classic shifting of clothes occurred (moving James' clothes that he has outgrown out of James’ closet and into the closet in Gabriel's room). Gabriel's outgrown baby clothes have made their way into the garage in organized bins.

We had a great three-day weekend. Friday was spent relaxing as a family and attending a BBQ with friends. Our friends, who were the hosts, have a little boy Nathan, who is a month older than Gabriel. Both Gabriel and Nathan took turns "playing" tee-ball (hitting the ball off the stand) with the assistance of their respective fathers. On Saturday we went to Harborfest (a well known and popular annual event in Norfolk). We were able to tour a few traveling ships, including the Brazilian Navy Ship the Cisne Branco, where we took pictures above. James was able to participate in painting the Norfolk icon, the mermaid, and both boys decorated cupcakes. There was also a lot of yummy food to eat there! Saturday evening we saw fireworks at Ocean View, the beach near our house. Gabriel was a little frightened at first by the loud noise of the fireworks. But after observing visual cues of approval from his parents and brother, and with me holding him tight in my lap, he began to point and be pleased with the differing pyrotechnics designs. After a busy Saturday, we all slept in this morning, and then enjoyed church with the kids. This afternoon, after Gabriel's naptime we headed to Home Depot. Our poor pumpkins are afflicted with powdery mildew disease; thus, we went to find some organic fungicide spray to hopefully rid our flourishing veggies of their parasitic "friends". Home Depot is one of son James' favorite stores. We visited the store while it was heavily raining. James in his cute yellow rain jacket explored through the appliances, lawn mowers and the different plants in Home Depot. What a great way to end the weekend!