Beautiful Days In The Neighborhood

As anyone who lives in Atlanta knows, the past weekend was absolutely glorious and we Connollys took full advantage of the weather.  We all spent the majority of our waking hours outside and I even got the chance to sit out on the deck, stretched out in a chair with a big beverage in hand, and read for an hour and a half (which is absolutely unheard of these days).  It’s been heavenly.  There has been sand play, soccer, basketball, tricycling, hide and seek, flower picking and even a little silly string thrown in for good measure.  Of course this means I took 500 pictures over the course of the weekend (naturally).  Pour a cup of coffee and settle in cause this is gonna take a while…

We start with some pictures of my darling daughter:

Sunkissed Liam:

Those eyes…

I know this isn’t exactly a photographic masterpiece, but I love that his eye is in focus above the shower of light that sprays across the rest of his face.  It almost feels like he’s glowing:

Who?  Me?

Matt asked him to smile…

…and in doing so made the mistake of showing him how he should hold his mouth:

It’s now his favorite pose.

Mama and her babies:

Mama and her baby:

We came inside to eat and go to bed and Liam took a little time out to make a fantastic tower:

On Saturday Liam and Matt ventured across the street where our neighbor was having an “estate sale.”  I say “estate sale” instead of estate sale because the woman who lives there was under the mistaken assumption that an “estate sale” just means it’s held inside a house.  I think I’m going to stop calling our house The Ranch and start referring to it as The Estate.  Apparently it’s the thing to do these days.  Anyway, back to the point:  Liam and Matt went across the street to the yard sale that was taking place in our neighbor’s living room and the woman who was helping them gave Liam a can of silly string.  Liam and Matt broke it out on Sunday.  Here are some pictures of the big event.

Liam is very excited about what’s coming:

Silly string dance:

Helicopter sighting break (scrunch face necessary):

Action shot:

Surveying the damage:

Perfect shot:

“Hey, Liam.  Why don’t you run through the silly string?”

“Ummmm, Dad?  Like this?”

“Here, son.  Lemme show you how it’s done.”

Action shots:

Liam gets a turn:

I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here, but I HAD to include it.  Obviously.

Our little ladybug in her Amish sunhat.  There aren’t words to adequately describe or pictures that can adequately capture the adorableness here:

This needs to be framed:

Big boy:

Bigger helmet:

Big mouth:

Bigger “smile:”

Daddy’s little girl:

Relaxation time:

Funny faces:

Raspberries:

He still loves a swing:

And the quest for a good picture of me and both my babies continues…

Paige has a new favorite chew toy:

She REALLY loves it…

A lot.

She does not appreciate not having it in her grasp.

“Oh, Mama!  You’ve got to help me out here!”

“Oh please, sir!  Please!  My gums will thank you forever!”

Daddy can be such a tease…

The melodrama begins…

Ahhhhhhh…

Apparently this is the face I make when Paige takes a huge handful of my hair.  That girl’s got a grip on her!

Flower pickin’

Liam takes a sniff:

Matt takes a sniff:

Paige takes a semi-sniff:

Hide and seek (counting):

Hide and seek (looking for Matt under the van):

Hide and seek (hiding):

Gran, Paige, and Paige’s outfit (it’s cute enough to be its own entity, I think):

Boy feet:

Baby feet, Gran hands:

Baby foot, Gran hands:

Apparently Liam will willingly look at the camera while wearing a bike helmet.  I’ll take what I can get these days.

Here’s what apparently happens when I bring a box home from Costco and mistake it as merely an implement for carrying things into the house.  Liam gives a step-by-step on a more imaginative use.

Box step 1:

Box step 2:

Box step 3:

Box step 4:

Box step 5:

Box step 6:

Box step 7:

Box step completion:

Ta Da!