July 2010

After an afternoon of Lego building, the O'Neal men showed off what their wonderful imaginations created.

We went to a park one day and I got a couple good pictures of the boys.

We actually got a pretty good rain one day.  Brock and Ryan had been waiting so long to play in the rain and finally were able to don their raincoats and go play Star Wars in the rain!

Our Vacation Bible Study was titled "Adventure on the High Seas" where they learned about Paul.  We had great props that the boys got to play on.

 The College Station Library held a reptiles day.  Brock and Ryan held a python...

 ...and took a ride on a huge turtle.

(The turtle-riding was right after the boys got their hair cut.  Ryan asked Mr. Wes to give him a mohawk.  I wasn't quite going for that hair cut, so Mr. Wes styled it like a mohawk and that was good enough for Ryan...and Mommy!!!)

 One of the local swimming pools has a diving board.  We had never been swimming at this pool before, but were invited to a birthday party there.  Brock and Ryan both absolutely loved jumping off the diving board.  A friend got this picture of Brock.

July 4th, 2010

We had a great July 4th weekend. We went to my brother & sister-in-law's (Greg & Diane's) house in Belton and to Ft. Hood for the 4th. My other brother, Paul, and his family were in Waco for a basketball camp their son was in, so we got to see them, too. We went to watch Garrett at the camp... ...and hung out at Greg and Diane's house on the 3rd. They live out of the city limits, so we shot off some fireworks on the 3rd. Our lovely host and hostess, Greg and Diane..... Brock took this picture while we were shooting fireworks at Greg and Diane's. He's getting to be a pretty good photographer! Ft. Hood had great 4th of July festivities. They had a fair with rides and games to play, an Apache helicopter, a tank and lots of other things. We got a great parking spot (thanks to Greg!) and set up "camp." Here is Diane and Jody (Paul's wife). Diane, Jody and Brock Carmen, Diane and Jody They had a climbing wall that Ryan really wanted to try. So, we stood in line for quite a while and he got suited up...
...and started climbing. I think he could've gone a lot higher (maybe not all the way up), but he had fun and was very excited!
Ready for the fireworks to start! Steve, Jake (Paul & Jody's son), Paul and Ryan Joe (Greg's son), Brock and Nickie (Greg's daughter) Mommy and Ryan Ryan, Uncle Greg, Jake and Aunt Diane Brock and his buddy, Joe. The "kids." Carmen & Steve Our FamilyThe Crew: Greg, Steve, Jake, Carmen, Ryan, Brock, Joe, Paul

Jody, Diane, Jaqlyn, Nickie

Swimming Lessons ~ June & July 2010

Brock and Ryan did a great job in swimming lessons this year. We signed up for the first 2 weeks lessons were offered and that's when it decided to rain for the first time in months. They missed about 2 1/2 days of lessons, so I signed them up for another session. They did a great job and learned so much. We went to the pool recently and the both jumped off the diving board and swam to the side...by themselves!!! And they actually swam...not dog-paddled!

Ryan had a tough time this year. We think he is allergic to chlorine, so anytime he got in the pool, he sneezed and sneezed. After a while, he was just miserable. He didn't want to put his face in the water because it hurt his eyes and seemed to make his allergies worse. When he put his face in the water, he actually did really well and can swim! This is Brock doing a back float. Ever since he was a baby, he has hated being on his back in the water, so this is a big accomplishment for him!I love when Brock is a sweet big brother and takes care of Ryan. Here he is walking Ryan to his class. The boys wanted their pictures taken by these silly boards at the pool.

June 2010

Swimming
During the summer, we try to get to the pool as much as we can. We haven't been too much lately, except for swimming lessons, but we plan to make up for it the rest of the summer!
Daddy & Ryan having some fun!

Brock enjoying a watermelon break.It's all smiles at the pool.

CANNONBALL!!!!

Father's Day

The boys had very specific ideas of what they wanted to give Steve for Father's Day...they wanted to make him a crown with glitter, jewels and letters. So, we went to Michael's and got some foam board, glitter, jewels and letters. They worked so hard on them and everything they did was their idea...I only helped a little. It was so cute and so sweet. Ryan after he made his crown.

Brock and his crown.Daddy with Brock's crown on.Daddy with Ryan's crown on (and Brock with his on!).

Brazos Valley Bombers

I had the bright idea to take the kids to the local summer collegiate league baseball game...by myself. It turned out to be a not-so-bright idea. Ryan was completely bored and was ready to go home about 20 minutes after we finally got into the game. Brock wasn't interested either. Before we left (in the 5th inning), I got this cute picture with the Bombers mascot, Kaboom.Water Fight at Uncle Greg's

We spent a lot of time this month at Uncle Greg and Aunt Diane's house in Belton. Several years ago, we had a huge water fight while there. The boys remember it and have asked several times since to have another one. So, on this trip, we brought our water guns and went at it. Uncle Greg had already packed their water guns, so we had to use a bucket and hose, too! The boys didn't care, they had a blast!

Cousin Joe getting Daddy in the head while he tried to fill up his bucket.Daddy getting Joe back (throwing the bucket of water on Joe's back).Ryan getting himself wet...who needs a water gun?!?!?!Big Rigs

Our library had a "Big Rigs" day where the boys got to climb in a tractor...

...and fire truck.

Innerspace Caverns

While on another trip to Belton, Steve, Uncle Greg and the boys went to Innerspace Caverns in Georgetown. Brock and Ryan loved it!

Uncle Greg, Ryan and Brock mining for crystals.