Summertime

I do not think I can even begin to tell you how quickly life passes before my eyes. It has already been one year since Roland started pre-school. He has just moved up to the 3 year old class (no thanks to a January birthday), and appears to really like it. We still have some drama when we get ready to leave the house and getting in the building, but once he gets in his classroom it is like he is in a different world. His new classroom has a ton of puzzles, and Roland happens to be the puzzle king. If you are good you get a sticker at the end of the day and then at the end of the week you get to go to the "treasure chest." The first week, lasting only three days, Roland did not get a sticker for the first two days. I was worried about the his chance at getting any treasure, but he pulled through and came home with a pirate.

He really is a very sweet boy, even though he chooses not to be at times. He asks me every night if I am going to sleep with him and then we go through "I don't want you to go" and "I'm going to miss you" before I finally drag off to work feeling guilty. It is a lot easier to leave when both boys are screaming and crying and I think of how peaceful and quiet it is at work. Although Roland can be a mama's boy, I don't want to undermine how much he loves his daddy. They definitely have their "the nut doesn't fall far from the tree" moments. Here they are at Roland's first Vacation Bible School. Roland had an awesome time, but when it came down to the last night an time for them to sing for the parents, he clammed up.

This one is a little bit Brokeback Mountain, but Roland is not really into clothes right now, literally or figuratively. I figure he should enjoy his nudity while he is still cute enough to flaunt it.

And, every mom's dream, her baby's first tattoo. All it is missing is "I love mom." Roland practically lives in the pool, hence the constant nudity.
We also took some time this summer to explore our femininity. When you don't have girls, you have to make do with what you do have.
Doing what they do best-watching TV and eating donuts. True love.
As always, we also spend a lot of time in the white swing (hammock). I like seeing this brotherly love. The big brother is in full force. He is constantly telling Duncan that he can't put such and such in his mouth because he is going to choke or consoling him while he is crying with some "it's okay Duncan." Occasionally, Roland pushes Duncan down or beats his hands until he falls down, but I am sure he does it for Duncan's own good.

Beach Here We Come

This has been a fast month. Shane switched jobs and had a whole two weeks off work. I do not think Shane has ever been out of work two weeks in his life. I had a list so long of stuff for him to do that I am sure he was glad to go back to work just to get some rest. In the meantime, we took a couple of days to go to the beach. First stop, Waffle House! We are frequent fliers at the Waffle House so we thought to get a picture at our home away from home - a consequence of living the 3rd shift life. There are only so many places that you can get breakfast at midnight. We have met a lot of really awesome people at the Waffle House and occasionally the boys have even gotten some money now and again from random people, just for being so cute. This day, all we got was hats. They go nicely with the Waffle House football we have. Okay, maybe we go there a little too much.

Roland and Duncan love the water park at the hotel we stay at. Shane and I do too. It is one of the few places we can sit back and relax while simultaneously wearing down the two babies. Roland loves the slides. His feature trick was belly-flopping off the whale's mouth (you can see it to the left of the dinosaur). From the stunned look on his face, I don't think he'll be trying that one again any time soon. We are not sure what brought that on-but it was funny.

Duncan did get to take an early morning walk with dad on the beach. What a chic magnet.
Duncan's only time on the beach was no so memorable. Maybe next time.

The highlight of our trip was going to Medieval Times. No eating utensils-no problem. I was loud and boisterous, Shane ate until he couldn't move, Roland did not say a word for 2 hours and ate 1/2 of a chicken, and Duncan alternated between chewing on a rib bone and banging it on the table. All things said, I think we all found our calling in life.

A Real Price Family Shoutout

Although Duncan did not win the pick me contest, he got almost 1300 votes! This is amazing since he only had 8 votes when I sent out an email begging people to vote. We would like to thank everyone for all the relentless voting. A special thanks to Mammaw Sherry for her persistent emails to friends, family and Moose Lodgers, to Aunt Cynthia for bringing on board all of the people at Stanly Community Collge, and to Alan and Paul for working so hard to beat the system. We certainly gave number nine a run for her money. I still think he is a good looking little guy. Thank you all!