Grandpa time!

My dad ended up entertaining the boys on several occasions this last trip due to wedding errands.  I have pictured a few of the

fun things they came up with...

First up is this Mentos Experiment...Apparently if you put Mentos into Diet Coke the Diet Coke goes crazy!  The key is the 2 liter bottle and 5-10 mentos...

however they experimented with smaller bottles of Diet Coke and Diet Rootbeer too. 

The little bottles did create a reaction ~ a few feet of fizz and perfect for Kyle to get involved.

But it was the 2 Liter bottles of Diet Coke that were astonishing.  The crazy part about this experiment is how quickly the reaction happens!  There is no shaking the soda bottle, waiting or any thing besides putting the mentos into the bottle and getting out of the way!  It happens instantly!

Check out this craziness!

Another funny day was when they decided to play in the sprinklers.

Sean is a hot dog roasting over the "fire" here.

You probably can't tell here but after they had played in the sprinklers for a while it started to rain!  Usually Virginia rains include lightning so you can't play in the warm summer rain...but this time was actually different!  Shocking!  So they stayed and played, except Kyle.  He had lots of fun when he could control when he would get in and out of the water, but the rain all over and not being able to escape tormented Kyle...so he came inside until it subsided 15-20 minutes later and then went back out to play!

Sliding under the foam swords was concocted by the Grandpa...and it was in the rain. 

Awesome how the boys can still find fun things to do with that little slide even though Ryan and Sean are bigger than the slide itself!  It has worked as a jumping platform to swing from hanging tree branches like Tarzan or to jump into leaf piles...or slide into the baby pool.  They make it fun!

Another day Grandpa took the two older boys into DC to get a copy of the Declaration of Independence that Ryan insisted we promised him last trip...We were so busy this summer it ended up being their only visit downtown!  I never got into DC!  What a shame!  Anyhow not only did they go to The Thomas Jefferson Memorial to get the Declaration but grandpa took them on the paddle boats in the Tidal Basin! 

Good thing I sent my camera along!  How cute!  Go Grandpa!

*   My dad loved their talks during their excursions.  Ryan's questions to Grandpa on this day were,
"Grandpa, why doesn't John Adams have a monument like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson?" 
and
"Grandpa, I know why we fought in the war, we fought to be free, but why did the British fight?"

*  Another Grandpa outing one day involved getting soft serve ice cream at McDonalds ~ but taking it to Taco Bell and mixing Mild Taco Bell sauce into the Soft Serve...and taste testing...they were sure it was going to be disgusting.  The idea came from a gross ice cream flavor discussion...which led to this crazy idea.  Then the craziest thing is they didn't think it was that gross!

*I got to tag along to see Toy Story 3.
*  There were two or three nights in a row that he put all three boys to sleep (Bridal Shower night...and I forget what else) and the kids actually went down better for him than they had for me!

Thanks dad for all the help!  I know the boys had so much fun listening to the Beatles in your car and all the other things you got to do together!

Virginia fun!

Of course we had lots of fun before and after the wedding during our 2010 Virginia stay!

We went to Mt. Vernon again this year.  My kids are so great...they were asking to go!  Lucky kids got pretend rifles which they were obsessed with from that point on.  Good thing I've got lots of boys...because they were so long they didn't fit in our suitcases so many Motley boys will get to enjoy these George Washington rifles at Grandma and Grandpa's house throughout the years!

After hiking through George's forest we surprised Sydney and ate dinner down the street from her house in Crystal City.

Another evening we met Julie and her fam for a Beatle's cover band concert in the park! 

If you didn't know my dad LOVES the BEATLES!  I remember driving in our old two tone tan Volkswagon Vanagon listening to them with him...and the black Beatles Love Songs tape I loved!

My dad had introduced them to some songs before the show and they were a little sad the band didn't play Yellow Submarine.  My boys had lots of fun with their Virginia friends and listening to good music.  

Sean really got the bug and could be heard singing,

"Love love me do!  You know I love you ~ so pleeeeeese Love me do!"  . 

Julie's cute little Nay and Kyle dancing to the music!

As with before the wedding ~ those coolers needed to be washed after the wedding too!  Each event turned into fun waterplay.  Soappy bubbles, water balloons and hoses were involved.  A fortress was created from the flower buckets.

My dad can really think like a kid and goes along with some crazy ideas! 

Thus the bucket tower!

Another day we took a trip to Baltimore to tour Fort McHenry ~ where after the Battle of Baltimore

Frances Scott Key saw the huge American Flag still flying from a ship about 8 miles out the harbor and wrote THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER! 

After their hirstorical movie they opened curtains and played a boys chorus singing The Star Spangled Banner as you could see this shot of the fort and flag.  As if I don't already have issues keeping my eyes dry at Ball Games or in Church when we sing our National Anthem!  It was spritually patriotic! 

I only wish they would have had an oversized flag like THE flag that was then flying at the fort.  

*The flag is flying at half mast because Sen. Byrd passed away the day before. 

Then we stopped by Mike and Sydney's house to leave them a

surprise heart attack while they were on their honeymoon!

And then we headed to Camden Yards ~ to go to an Orioles game!  Not to be forgotten in all our travels and wedding plans was Scott's Birthday!  So we got really great seats to celebrate just past 3rd base and right by the visiting team, Oakland A's dugout!  Arriving early to get dinner and settled turned out really cool because some of the As players came over to sign autographs right at our aisle!  The boys rushed up and got their mitts signed by Coco Crisp!  Crisp happens to be the As star player and he had a fantastic game!  It was so fun to watch him, especially after the mitt signing! 

Camden Yards is such a beautiful ballpark!   

And we took a nice family stroll through the forrest one evening.

Such a wonderful visit!  We totally loved it all! 

We are so grateful to spend such fun summer times with my family!

The Vadding!

THE BIG WEDDING DAY!  It was so fun to see how cute and happy they were! 
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kearns!

I love this picture...mostly because I never got one on our wedding day!  Nice to have picture representation of the people to came to the Temple to celebrate with you! 

Our family

The Bridal Party

Ooooo...I LOVE THIS ONE!

I love these doors in black and white...

Everyone looked pretty cute that day!  I was in love with my boys purple ties!  They looked pretty old in their jet black pants too...and dad did their hair all fancy.  They looked dashing.  Unfortunately the two youngest weren't their best that day.  Sean was suffering from a case of food poisoning all day...which I initially assumed was just droopiness from the heat ~ but continued tummy aches all day and then Ryan's vomiting while sleeping later that night convinced me of the Food Poisoning.  I wasn't sure what Kyle's deal was until I saw him gnawing on his hand and realized he was cutting his 2 year molars...and the heat and nap time collided with picture taking time so he wasn't very cooperative ~ or the fact that his shoes were a bit too tight and gave him a blister on his Achilles and has refused to wear them ever since.  Usually my kids go with the flow rather well, so it was a bummer for me and my picture obsession.

So since we never got a good one of us together, here's a little collage of some cuteness...and check out my cute little English lad.  Kyle's shorts turned out super adorable after we couldn't find him black pants anywhere under the sun!

And another cute one of the happy couple!  For more shots of them...check out Syd's blog.

Do we like b&w or color better?  I'm thinking maybe color.

Sisters ~ the Black and White is hiding my red hot face!

Sydney asked the boys and Mike's nephew Alex to sing, "I love to See the Temple" at their ring ceremony that day.  My boys were quite excited about it and practiced lots.  I never thought Kyle would stay up and sing without causing a huge distraction, so I didn't let him stay up front, but he kept singing and wanted to be there so midway through the song, I let him join in!  Couldn't believe how he stood there and sung!

The white truffles with Purple drizzles were the Oreo truffles I made sooo late at night!  (Thanks Kris for the idea and recipe!)  It was fun to have something to add in to the food buffet and I loved that I could make it coordinate with the wedding colors! 

Oh and they tasted pretty yummy too.

The gorgeous cake and the groom's cake!  Mike is quite the handyman and has a fine tool collection. 

He's used his skills in several home renovations! 

The flowers turned out so awesome!  I took a bunch of pictures...but the color really doesn't show well.  The hydrangeas were more purple than blue.  I wish I would have taken a picture from further away too. 

Sean was sick...pretty much the whole day.  But unfortunately he really wasn't well during the reception.  It was such a bummer.  He didn't dance but 2 seconds and that was only because of our pleading and prodding.  The whole time he begged to sit on my lap.

My toast to my sister and new brother-in-law!  Where I said stuff like I'm so happy that this day we've hoped and prayed for has come and I'm so glad she gets to experience the same kind of joy as I have in the last 11 years!  And I can't wait to see their family grow over the years!

And I got to dance with my husband.  I always love to dance with him! 

Ryan was excited that he got the tape measure and heard it was all frosting and was going to eat it ...until the first bite and discovered the frosting was fondant and doesn't taste good!

What a beautiful day!  Congratulations Sydney and Mike!

We love you!