Beach at summer's end

Mid 80's, muggy, and gray skies above.  But hey, the kids liked it (for about 30 minutes anyway)! Cooper was running around too much to catch him in any pics.
Can't wait for the temperature to drop again like it did last week.

Coop's Birthday!

Mmm nom nom nom...

Cooper had a fun birthday pool party, with just a handful of close friends.  He picked out a huge chocolate cake with balloons (not flowers), Mom added cars for each slice (not yummy), and Aunt Carlie's sparkler in the shape of a big number four (see the video) was a big hit.

The kids all played with water rockets and other pool toys, and they jumped and swam off the cake like coked-up monkeys.  I know the kids had a blast, and the rest of us had it pretty easy.  Chastity's planning made everything run smoothly - this was the easiest party we've thrown so far.  We even had a chance to talk with our friends and enjoy some of the food and beverages.  Imagine that!

Hey, where's our cake?

Lounging Princesses

While mommy took a nap Abue let us lounge in style and drink our bottles on our tinkerbell sofas.  So classy!

New Bedroom Setup

First day playing in the new bedroom (mama's idea)!  Bye bye cribs!

...and they all fell asleep within a half hour at bedtime.

Poolside in Boca

Alright...

ONE,

TWO,

...

Childhood toys go full circle

Peter, remember these wooden blocks?  Well Cooper's new classroom has the deluxe version.  Check out the extra long blocks in the bottom right!  Those would have made a much bigger dent in my tooth!  I hope Coop fares better than I did.

Google Plus

Anyone who wants to try out Google+ can use one of my invites.  Before you do, check out the description page, or maybe this demo, or the video below (also see related videos when it's done) to learn more about it.
To put if briefly, it's like Facebook, yet not Facebook:

Click on this link to get started if you want to sign up.  I don't have many invites to give out, so please only do it if you're interested in using it, like for serious.

Popsicles with Emmy

Everyone's got their thing - and Cooper's is definitely popsicles!

Hmm, popsicle?

Yay! Popsicle high! ...and mama gets a break

...and then the crash...

YMCA HighTouch / HighTech

Check out Cooper in his school's weekly newsletter updating the kids' families about special events.  This past Friday, a team from "High Touch - High Tech Science" showed Coop's class all about light.  Whenever we ask him how school was, he usually just says "I played with cars".  Now he wants to play with flashlights!

Colorful Thunderhead

Saw this today on my way to pick Cooper up from school. It's a thunderstorm on its way, but the colors spewing out its top caught my eye more than anything. Here are a few pictures:

Key West Fishing

This post is a couple weeks late - I'll blame it on a little surge of work and some weird flu symptoms.
Nevertheless, we all had fun during the trip.  We started bright & early at 6:30 every morning ...at least we did in our hosts' house on base!  Some outings included fishing on the big-ship pier, the Eco-center off Duval (air conditioned!), and cooling off in the swimming pool.
The fishing was great that Monday, with a charter that came highly recommended through Jessica's cousins.  We started off excited about the weather, since the overcast skies afforded us a break from the day's heat.  The fishing started off slow on two levels:
  1)  I realized that the Langley boys think of fishing as an activity, as opposed to sitting back trolling.
  2)  Nothing was attacking the lines, except an occasional clump of sargasso.
Once the captain realized that the currents weren't helping us find any dolphin, we hit some reefs and fished the bottom.  That hit both of the keys above: lots of reeling and lots of fish!  Big amberjacks, half of which made out to the boat in one piece (damn sharks!).

Magical Candy Machines

While out for dinner at a local burger & hot dog joint, the kids were thoroughly entertained by the candy machines.  I'm not sure if it was the candies and trinkets inside our the metal cranks and flaps, but it helped while we got our order in.
I almost forgot the best part of the while trip: they all ate tons of salad, and no fries!  We couldn't believe it!

Fwd: Langley updates

From: Jessica Langley

Hi everyone!

These past few weeks have been full of milestones and celebrations.  Its official, both of the girls are now sitting and crawling everywhere.  Its exhausting but so fun to watch them.  I am constantly doing head counts to make sure they are accounted for at all times.  They have recently discovered the hallway and the kitchen.  Zoe likes to drop her toys and her stick in front of them for them to throw but the hand eye coordination hasn't matured to that level just yet (thank goodness).  Sarah starting sitting first while Sophia couldn't be bothered with just staying still.  Sophia was the first to crawl.  Sarah soon learned to crawl after Sophia while Sophia learned to sit.  Confusing yet?  To make it easy they are both crawling and sitting like champs now.  Their next challenge is pulling up, which they are already trying to figure out.  

Last weekend we headed up to Miami to have the girls Baptized.  It was a great weekend filled with celebration and family.  They got to play with their cousins and go swimming too.  It was so neat to watch the two sets (yes I said two sets) of twins play together.  I wonder if they all understood eachother's twin language.  Who would've thought there would be two sets of twins one year apart.  The Langley's like to multiply by twos I guess.  The baptism was a beautiful service and the girls did great.  Not one tear!  The minister, Thom, was wonderful with them.  It was such a nice and special day.  

Hope all is well with everyone and that you enjoy the pics too.  We are doing well in Key West.  Our door is open anytime anyone wants to stop by for a visit.  More pics to come as they grow everyday it seems like.

take care,

Jessica, Peter, Sarah, Sophia, and Zoe too

Words of wisdom from Zoe (Sophia)

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an encouragement kiss (sophia)

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and we're off and crawling (Sophia)

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following the leader (Sarah in orange and Sophia in white)

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Bath time! (Sophia)

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Splashing like a silly goose but having so much fun! (Sophia)

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The Langley twins, the almost look like quadruplets (Beckham, Sophia, Sarah, and Colton)

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Baptism day June 5th 2011 (Sarah on the left and Sophia on the right)

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Being shown off to the congregation (Sarah on the left and Sophia on the right)

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(Sarah on the left and Sophia on the right)

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Four generations

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proud uncle and his girls

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topless babies in the pool (Sarah left, Sophia right)

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We can't forget Zoe!  and ofcourse her stick 

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Watch us grow - 7 months already!

From: Jessica Langley

Here are some of the latest pics of the girls.  They are already 7 months old.  Can't believe how fast time flies.  The house is slowly starting to become baby proofed and the are going from rolling to sitting to now crawling.  Sophia is turning into a crawling pro, while Sarah is a sitting pro.  Sophia can't be bothered with just sitting around like Sarah.  She is on the go and her favorite thing to get a hold of is my obnoxious bright blue slippers and Zoe's prized possession... her stick.  Don't think Zoe is too much of a fan of Sophia getting her stick but so far she's being a nice big sister and sharing with her.  Sarah on the other hand is happy to just sit herself up anywhere she is.  She can be in the middle of the room with nothing around and just sitting contently.  Its so funny to see them develop at different times.  They sure are silly girls.  We have been taking advantage of having a pool here in the  neighborhood and visit it often.  The lifeguards know us there already.  The girls love to kick their chubby legs and splash too.  We also have a little kiddie pool that we put up in the back yard which they enjoy as well.  So far things are going well down here.  We are adjusting to the unique Key West lifestyle and all of the crazies down here.  We see the lady with the hot pink hair at Kmart often as well at the guy who put the pool noodles on the handle bars of his bike.  He's already changed out the red and blue noodles for new green and teal ones.  Never a dull moment down here that's for sure.  Hope this email finds you all happy and healthy.  Miss all of you!  Come down and visit anytime!