Down time with the Burts

So as our first summer in 3 years that does not include new house painting and a move, we've been surprised at how much fun summer with the kids can be. Though we've not done much in the way of big adventures as of late, we're enjoying the backyard, walks around the block and evenings with at least a little bit of down time. A few snapshots of any given night at home with the Burts.

Porter loves his hair best after he's just gotten out of bed and it's still fuzzy, and will spend the morning "making it fluffy" and talking to me while I get ready for work.

Nora loves to take baths more than any baby I've ever known. As soon as we walk in the bathroom she starts to squeal and kick, and she's happy as a clam until I pull her out of the water. She calms down once I start to goop on the lotion, loves to roll around wrapped up in her towel, and gets mad when we reach for the diaper and PJs.

Between homework and coaching, Andy's summer hasn't been quite as relaxing, but he's been a trooper, and on top of mowing the yard faithfully (and humoring my environmental whim with the push mower), he's proven himself quite the handyman. In the past two months, he has constructed a flagstone patio, built a workbench for my garden, built two decorative wood benches for our backyard, installed a custom drip system to my garden boxes, cleaned out the garage, and helped our neighbors build custom shelving in their garage (he did ours last summer). Eeek...guess I should ease off on the DIY to-do list for a while.

Best summer in three years. (Knock on wood.)

Finally, a Smile

Though Nora has been smiling for a while now, she's been a coy little gal when it comes to capturing her toothless grin on film.

Until now.

Sudden Screaming

Last night was a very productive one in the Burt home, with garage and car cleaning for Andy and gardening for me. Our easy-going kiddos joined in the fun, with fireman play for Porter (he kept spraying water into the street, trying to hit the house across the way because apparently it was on fire) and a relaxing evening in the swing for Nora (complete with drooly mouthing of various rattles and chew toys). The productivity and peace continued for at least an hour, when suddenly, Nora released a heart-wrenching shriek.

Any guesses?
(This could become a very common question as we document the antics of a very imaginative three-year-old.)

Andy and I both came running, to find our sweet little Nora's face covered in cold droplets of water.

It appears to have been an accident (happening yet again as I worked on unbuckling the world's safest and most inconvenient baby swing). Apparently, Porter decided to clean his wagon; unfortunately, Porter's wagon was just feet from and directly in front of Nora's swing.

So much for peaceful and productive.

For an instant, I though to get a photo, but I don't think a 5-month-old would understand the importance of documentation over consolation.