Sum-sum-summertime....

We hope everyone enjoyed the summer. We've managed to keep pretty busy.

For our 5th (hooray!) anniversary a couple of weeks ago, we dumped the boys on Derrick's parents for three nights and spent the weekend in Washington, DC. It was our first child-free vacation since Taylor was born, and we had a lot of fun. Caroline got to ride in a subway for the first time. Still, we missed Taylor & Joshua and were very happy to come back home. They apparently lived the high life with Oma & Grandpa, and Taylor especially might have been happy to stay with them forever (grandparents do like to spoil their grandkids, don't they).

But the big news is, Caroline got her first car! It's a '65 Mustang convertible, cherry red.

Well, OK, it's really a minivan. But hey, it is red. Caroline really likes it though- it's got all the options she wanted (even a power sliding door), and she can drive around without feeling like her rear end is dragging on the pavement. Best of all, we got it for well under $3000, thanks to Ebay. The dealer we bought it from had bought the thing for only $100 less than we paid, so he probably lost money on it when you take into account the time he spent doing paperwork, having somebody clean it, etc. It took us long enough, but now that we're a 2-car family, we're beginning to wonder how we ever made it with only 1 car (a little Neon, to boot!).

Joshua has sprouted two teeth. Uunfortunately, they're side by side (both on bottom, none on top), so he still has trouble biting things. It doesn't seem to slow him down, though- the boy eats like a hippopotamus! Also, a few weeks ago, he decided it was time to start walking, and after about 3 days of trying, he had it down to a science. Unfortunately, his latest ambition is to see how long he can stay awake at a time. He absolutely refuses to willingly go to bed.

For his part, Taylor has become quite the conversationalist- he provides a constant running commentary on life. Just about the only time he's quiet is when mommy lets him watch TV. His favorite movie right now is the second Harry Potter flick- I never would have thought it would appeal to a two-year-old, but he loves it. In another month he'll move on to something else. When I think back three short years ago and remember him kicking around in the womb, it's just amazing how grown up he is now.