Russells in Charleston

Brad and Amy came to visit us the first weekend in August, and PapaRuss, Pooh, and Mimi joined in the fun on Sunday.

Here are Owen and Mimi perusing the car selection:
Sweet Mimi - she has the best laugh, and I can hear it when I look at this picture:
Owen helping Uncle Brad open some early birthday gifts:
The whole gang at Red's for lunch:
After lunch, Pooh takes Owen outside for a change of scenery:
Uncle Brad, Aunt Amy, Pooh, and Owen checking out the boats:
Owen is a big fan of the sloped dock at Red's. Below, he takes Brad and Amy on a few rounds up and down.
PapaRuss and Owen giving goodbye hugs after way too short a visit:
And THEN, a few days after our visit, Brad sent us THIS.

See you in December!

Tickling the Ivories

Bill took these photos of Owen on keys one afternoon...

Outtakes

To get some recent pictures for Owen's second birthday party invitation, we had a photo shoot one morning at the end of July. Here are the outtakes:
And here is the finished product:
More on the actual birthday celebration to come!

Breakfast with Poppie

On our last morning in Chapel Hill at the end of July, I came downstairs and stumbled upon this scene:
This was a noteworthy thing to come upon for several reasons. First, Poppie is a man who loves his sleep and doesn't take kindly to mornings. It was also a Tuesday, so he had to go to work, which usually means dashing off in a hurry. BUT instead he had set his alarm and woken up EARLY (these pictures were taken around 7:00am) to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with Owen before he left.

They shared a bowl of cereal and Poppie even sliced up a plate of strawberries. Impressive. (As I inherited Poppie's difficulty with mornings, I am the first person to applaud such evidence of having your wits about you before you can even cast a shadow):
This is the face Poppie makes when something tastes good. He is going, "MMMMMM!!!" and Owen is watching and enjoying his every move.
See you next time, Poppie!

The Reservation

While in the upper Carolina at the end of July, we paid a visit to Grama and Papa at "the Reservation." Since moving there seven years ago, Papa re-named Croasdaile the Reservation, because... well, because that's just how he does. Most people or things in Papa's orbit get re-named: Marsh and I are "Priss" (or Priss I and Priss II, in official terms), Helen is "Luvenia," Alex is "Leroy," Owen is "Kilroy." Even Megan has always been "Magnum." A given name is just a starting point really, a ball of fresh Play-doh that Papa picks up, reshapes, and then sets down, saying, "There. Now that's better."

Here is Papa escorting Owen down the hallway - in Papa's right hand, he is carrying a gift bag from Nana to Owen, which turned out to be a wonderful source of entertainment for our visit:
Inside Nana's gift bag was an assortment of wonderful puzzles that she had dropped off as a surprise for Owen that weekend (that Nana is always thinking up fun and thoughtful things such as this). Owen and Grama proceeded to open and play with the puzzles, and this most delightful series of photographs resulted - I love every one of these so much that I have to include all of them:
Look at Grama's face in the one below. THAT is the essence of Grama Hazel, right there.
Owen was just smitten with her:
Here, he spontaneously dives on her for a hug:
Good friends:
And here are Papa and Owen working on another one of the puzzles:
Aunt Marsh and Owen:The gang:
Until next time: we won't take any wooden nickels, we'll keep our powder dry, and we'll keep our finger on the trigger and our eye on the hog.

Hotter than July

On our trip to Chapel Hill at the end of July, we paid a visit to Megan and Monty. It was hot hot hot, so Megan suggested that we all go outside and play in the sprinkler - an excellent idea.

Some documentation: