Waaay overdue update (and Father's Day recap)

Hello Tompkins family! I am so sorry that this VA Tompkins family update is so overdue, but life has been very crazy for us the last few weeks with the move and everything. We have however been enjoying the Blog activity (although I can't remember the last time I actually made a comment- I'm sorry!) and love seeing everyone's updates (especially of our nieces). Here goes a quick update!

First: pictures! I'm not sure how to make an embedded slideshow with google + but here is a link to our June photos, including our fun Father's Day activities:

https://plus.google.com/photos/103739276046374135262/albums/5890432673292136529?authkey=COKVuu_U-sDBXQ

Second, a Father's Day recap: Ryan was showered with love this past Father's Day weekend and was treated to lots and lots of good food. We started the day with bacon, eggs, blueberry pancakes with whipped cream and blueberry syrup, and ended the day with a Cuban meal with pulled pork, followed by apple pie and ice cream. Delicious! We enjoyed going to Mass as a family in the morning, a quiet nap time at home, and a pool trip before dinner. Ryan was given beautiful cards from his kids, and a small but much needed present: new sneakers. We really enjoyed taking it easy, soaking up time with the kids, and spent the day reflecting on all the wonderful fathers in our family and how these men have enriched our lives by their loving example of fatherhood. We hope that all the other Tompkins fathers' weekend was equally as enjoyable!

In other news we are in the process of unpacking our new home, which we LOVE! The move went as smoothly as we could've hoped. It was a long, hot day when we moved and Ryan and some caring friends worked incredibly hard to move all of our belongings in the very short span that we had a truck rental. I spent the day at my sister's with the kids to keep them out of the way, leaving just once to deliver some good ol' Dominos pizza to the moving crew. We were not sure how the kids would react to coming back from a day of playing at their cousins' to a brand new house, but they simply loved their new home from the very first minute, and have been overjoyed ever since. All of us just love the new space we have and feel very snug and cozy. We are so grateful for so many of it's features-- a basement playroom, a deck, a guest bedroom, ceiling fans!-- and feel very much at home already. It will be a long time before all our pictures and decorations are put in their proper places, new furniture items are purchased, and all our boxes are unpacked, but we are enjoying the process and view every chore with a deep sense of gratitude. As soon as we get more unpacked and the rooms are more presentable I will take pictures of the whole house and share them on the blog. :) We cannot wait for friends and family to come and visit now that we can fit them here comfortably, and look forward to throwing lots of parties. This weekend we are having the Lantiguas over and we are all counting down the days. After that, who will be the next Tompkins family members to visit?? :)

 We are also currently having my sister Teresa stay with us as she has moved to VA to work for an insurance company and is in the process of looking for an apartment or potential roommates. She is taking her test to get her first (of hopefully many) insurance license this Saturday so if you could send any prayers her way, she would greatly appreciate it! Although we don't see her much because she works during the day and comes home to study at night in her bedroom in the basement, we are enjoying her company and the kids really treasure this time with their fun aunt. Ryan Jr. is very enamored with Teresa and typically greets her at the door saying "Aunt Teresa is home!!" when he hears the lock turn and then a big gasp when he sees her followed by "woooow, you look like a princess!" (which is his way of complimenting a lady). Lucy has also really bonded with her Aunt and squeals with delight when Aunt Teresa "chases" her, and Cecilia is always asking her aunt to paint her nails, since she has the coolest colors.

The kids are all very well and keeping us very busy. They really enjoy the pool so we go there as often as we can. Cecilia loves to go in the "big pool" with her arm floaties on and just walk, hop, and dance her way around the 3 ft. deep pool (typically while singing), whereas Ryan Jr. loves to jump into the arms of either Mommy or Daddy in the deeper water. He also braves the big slide (with much coaxing from Daddy), and after one trip down he tells him "No thanks, Daddy, Ryan all done." Lucy girl LOVES to splash in the water and is especially funny to watch when she is first put in the water. She shrieks at the cold sensation and then slowly gets used to it...but with lots of shrieking. She is such a happy baby and she keeps us all entertained with her fun personality. We always say that she is 10 months going on 3 years because she acts like she is one of the big kids, playing with the toys they play with and acting the way they act. As a result of this constant imitating her siblings, Lucy started walking, the earliest of any of our kids! This weekend was when she really decided she was confident enough to really walk, and she's been doing a lot of practicing since. Although she is growing up in many ways, when it comes to solid food Lucy is not very interested. I don't really understand how any child of mine could not be interested in food, but maybe that will change when she gets her first tooth??

I took some videos on Saturday night which I posted below, as well as one from our Father's Day celebration that I hope you will enjoy.

You'll see that Ryan Jr. had determined that the apple pie was missing one small ingredient which he graciously added:

I hope that this blog post finds everyone well and that in the coming weeks we can reconnect with all of you on Skype! We think of you all often and love and miss you very much. Love, the VA Tompkins family.