Samuel's Club (Ben has joined !): September 2006

Busy weekend, Part 2

Mark's brother, Michael, and his wife, Linda

We hit the road again Sunday to visit with Mark's parents. (Unfortunately, Samuel protested all the way about being in the carseat again.....) Michael and Linda were up from Tampa for the weekend, so we got to spend Sunday afternoon with them as well. We had a great time visiting and catching up, but we did have one tired little boy by Sunday night !

Busy weekend, Part 1

Samuel with Grandma's cousin, Bruce (a.k.a. Santa Claus)

Samuel was the youngest "Tompkins" there.

Samuel with cousin Peyton and her mom, Sherrie

Who's this?

Samuel and Grandma's cousin, Barbara

> It was a busy weekend for Samuel. Mom and Samuel traveled to Alabama Thursday evening, and Dad came down Friday night, and we all went to the annual Tompkins reunion on Saturday. There were lots of folks there who'd not met Samuel yet, but they decided he was a keeper. We all had a good time. Driving home wasn't quite as much fun though. Mom and Dad had to drive home in separate cars and, once we got to the interstate, in really heavy downpours and thunderstorms. Dad had convinced Mom to let Samuel ride in Daddy's car, since Samuel's inevitable crying "would not bother Dad like it does Mom; Dad can tune it out" (per Dad). (That was partly what was worrying Mom). 15 minutes from Grandma's house, Mom's cell rings and it's Dad letting Mom know that Samuel is crying!! So much for Mom's peace and quiet----let's spread the misery into two cars....... However, Dad pulled up beside Mom at a redlight a little while later and let her know Samuel had stopped crying. (Samuel did resume crying 1/2 hour from home, but Dad wisely did not phone Mom !) Adding to the un-fun of the trip home was Alabama's double overtime and eventual 1-point loss to Arkansas. At stop signs, etc., Mom got to see Dad's gloating over Bama's mishaps in the rearview mirror, since we were both listening to the game. Oh well. We were very relieved to reach home safe and sound.

More reunion pics

Samuel's great great aunt Bett

With Grandma

With Bett's husband, Byron

Help, get me away from Kayla......

With Mom and Samuel's cousins Kayla and Brooke

Tummy Time, Times Two

Daddy's tummy time

Samuel's tummy time

Daddy's tummy time

Samuel's tummy time

Multi-tasking

When Samuel's on his playmat, he's often holding his foot, grabbing a dangling toy, and talking to himself in the hanging mirror.....all at the same time. Mom wishes she could get so many things done at once ! :>)

Hello !

We think we've got the backlog of pics, from this summer anyway, posted. This seemed easier than trying to email a lot of pics out to different people, etc. We checked out various websites, but decided we'll try this site for awhile and see how well it works; if we don't like it, we can always change to another site. (Or, better yet, all our family and friends spread everywhere can move to M'boro!!) Leave comments if you like, but mostly we just want you to enjoy the pics. We'll try to keep the site updated when we've got new pics. We think of all of you often and hope you enjoy "seeing" Samuel on a more regular basis :>)
Love, Rhonda and Mark

Dog days of summer

Samuel loves being outside; he seems content to just watch what's going on for longer stretches than he usually does most things.

Samuel has gotten old enough to be fascinated with watching the cats and the dog. The cats couldn't care less of course. However, when Samuel was outside recently and put down on a blanket, Sackett got so excited, his tail was wagging back and forth like windshield wipers. He got down on the blanket as close as he could to Samuel. Samuel enjoyed it; he just laughed and laughed.....UNTIL......Sackett got too excited and barked. He has a big bark and was close, so of course Samuel started crying. However, he quickly calmed down when he was picked up and held. This picture above is when Sackett decided the blanket was for pulling. He pulled the blanket over Samuel several times, which Samuel thought was funny. When Samuel's older, we're sure they'll be best buds, and even now they're both big drool boys :>)

All four of our critters: Sackett, the dog; Sophie, the cat (front); Gracie, the cat (back); and Samuel, (in the bouncy seat).

I won't eat you, if you won't eat me.....

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERBABY !

The other goofball (i.e. Mark) and Samuel like to play "SuperBaby", when Daddy flies Samuel over his head. Samuel usually giggles himself silly.

What a goofball....

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

Samuel loves bathtime. Momma sings "Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath" in a silly voice and we have a good time!

King of the Jungle

Samuel's wearing the latest in safari fashions, courtesy of our friends, Brenda and Alicia. Everybody loves this outfit on him. He was wearing this when we all went out to eat for Grandma's birthday in Alabama, and all the waitresses stopped at our table to flirt with him!