Summertime

Summer scenes for the Rutledge crew.

We kicked it off with a farewell to Peace Montessori on the boys' last day of preschool. The end of an era.



There was a lot of soccer, with Owen "Tiger Claws" as the goalie and Gus ensuring that his #11 could still be seen with his jersey tucked on. John Wall created a monster.



We were treated to a visit from the Crumpton gang as Tess learned that there are children to hang out with other than grubby big brothers.

"Corinne, you just gotta try the cupcake like this. Oh man, that's good. "



It was the first time we had seen Big Sam since he went mobile....and mobile he is. He defines what it is to be a little boy. I wanted to roll around the dirt with him just to relive it.



Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude, Amy & I may run the show for now.....but not for long if these guys have anything to say about it.



Our lone road trip of the summer was up to Philadelphia to spend a weekend with our friends the Learys, where buddy Mike surprised me with Victory Hop Devil on tap in his basement bar and our kids were surprised with quite possibly the coolest kid park ever built. It's fair to say that both Dad and kids had to be picked up off the ground before they could believe either was real.




Young Andrew & Miss Tess did the playground boogie.


After our road trip we have enjoyed the rest of the summer at home, spending time with friends, neighbors, and here with family as GJ & Pappy made their way down for the now annual Fourth of July visit. Nothing beats 100 degrees like driveway popsicles.



Home.....where you can hang out in a bucket of water with your sibling on a hot summer day....



....or set personal records at Mario Kart on the Wii.



By the end of July, it was time to start a new phase. Owen and Gus are separated in kindergarten for really the first time in their lives. Owen was not at all happy with the thought of being away from his brother, protesting on Meet the Teacher day by threatening to rip the "Owen" coconut off the wall...and all the other students with it.

But he rebounded, getting on the bus the first morning with his brother, and responding to two nervous parents' question of "How'd the first day of school go?" question with a "It. Was. Awesome."

Phew. Now if we can just get Tess to walk through that preschool door here in a few weeks....

Cheers!