Summer, Week Six

Summer rolls on.  I'd like to say we took a few days to "recover" from vacation, but honestly all of our vacation clothes are still in stacks in the dinning room floor.  :) 

Sunday-- Pop pool day.  We slept in too late and missed church, but we did make it over to my in-laws by lunch time for some sandwiches and pool time.  Then finished off the day by having dinner at Steak N' Shake. 

Monday-- I took the kids to Lipscomb's Summer Celebration.  It's a free Christian conference for both kids and adults.  The kids, all three, had VBS type classes and I was able to attend some sessions by myself.  

Tuesday-- I was privileged to be able to attend a session/interview with Michael W. Smith (probably my all-time favorite musician).  At the end of his interview, he played "It is well with my Soul" while the entire audience sang.  Then for the last verse, he stopped playing, stood up, and just listened to the audience-- it was beautiful!

Michael W Smith and Ronda Lowery

Inflatable Fun!

O was too little play

Wee...

Cooling Off

Wednesday--  We spent most of the day with my parents.  We went over in the morning for the "big" 4th of July parade in their small town, then stayed for barbecue and play-time all afternoon.

Waiting for the Parade

Election Year Equals LOTS of Floats

And Random Things

"Vote For Lavender"

And Dump Trucks!

And LOTS of 4-wheelers!

A Train!

My Kiddos in Red, White, and Blue

Thursday-- I took the kids to the Monkey's Treehouse.  We purchased a membership for the month of July, so I imagine we'll be back there a LOT this month.

Friday-- I took E to her 3 year well-visit.  She gained FIVE pounds since last year and grew 2.5 inches.  She's even on the growth chart now!!  Yahoo!!

Saturday-- I continued tagging clothes for a consignment sale (at the end of the month), and we just hung around the house.  It's been over 100 degrees everyday this week so we've been trying to spend as little time out in the heat as possible.

Hope you'll check back next week!

Summer, Week 5: Vacation to Florida

Our vacation to Seaside Florida was fantastic!  We were all able to get lots of sunshine, rest, and most importantly, make some really great family memories.

Sunday-- We woke up to news that we were in the new predicted path of tropical storm Debbie.  It was windy, rainy, and we were forced to spend most of the day inside.

Indoor Play-time!

Wii Dance!

Hide and Seek

Watching the rain

Taking a rainy wagon ride

All wet!

A nap with her Pop

The Boys

Monday-- We woke up and the sun was shining.  Tropical storm Debbie had made a sharp turn to our East and we were completely out of her path.  We immediately headed down to the beach for a walk and to do some digging in the sand.  Early in the morning, the water was still closed to the public (double-red flags), but by afternoon, the surf was calmer and I was able to take L down to the beach.  After dinner, we rushed the big kids to the Play at the Seaside Amphitheater, only to discover it had been canceled. 

Rainbow on the beach

L and his Pop

Afternoon Ping-Pong

Ping-Pong

Beach Guy!

Wave Jumping

A little digging

Me and my little wave jumper

E in the pool

Waiting for the Play, that never happened.

Wagon Ride!

Cheese!

Headed back to the "Florida House"

Tuesday-- A true beach day.  We all got up, headed to the beach, came in for some lunch, and then returned in the afternoon.  

I could probably write an entire post about the differences between L and E at the beach.  E was pretty much afraid of everything beach: sand and water. She even told us several times, "There's too much sand at this beach!" She really wanted to dig in the sand, but she hated getting sand on herself.  It was a big improvement from last year (when she stayed in a chair the whole time), but she still has a long way to go before she'll really be able to enjoy the beach.  L on the other hand was either covered in sand or jumping waves the entire time.  He absolutely loved being down at the beach and would have stayed all day if we'd let him. 

Notice the toes up off the sand

Notice the fists full of sand

Sitting on a blanket

Covered in sand

This was her bravest moment!

Almost touching the sand with her fingers

Cheese!

O's first time at the beach!

He kept wanting to crawl out of the baby pool

Playing for a few seconds with a sand toy

Climbing out... again

Nursing on the beach!

Evening Bike Ride: E and her cousin

My two boys

He is growing up SO FAST!!

Wednesday-- Another beautiful beach day.  More digging in the sand, jumping waves, pool time, and hanging out at the, "Florida House."

All Boy!

O claps at everything!

My "big guy"

Some Wii Glee!

Thursday-- We enjoyed another day in Florida.  I even nursed O to sleep and let him take his afternoon nap out on the beach.  The water was crystal clear and all 5 of us (even E) got in the water for a little while. Then in the evening, we returned and attempted to take some "Family photos."  Wow, it's hard to get 5 people to all look in the same place and smile.

L is becoming a great swimmer!

Heading to the beach

O in the wagon

Poor guy

Happy L

O with his Daddy

E and I

The big kids and I

Sleeping O

Look out!  That sand might get you!

L and his daddy

Cool Baby!

Me and O

Beach baby on the move!

Haha!

We wore them out!!

Me and my kiddos!

The Family

The kids

O

Daddy and kids

My boys!

O and his daddy!

Friday-- Our last full day down at the beach.  The water was crystal clear again and I really had a great time in the water with O.  When he was on the beach he kept eating the sand, so I felt like it was better for him to be in the water… and cooler.

O and I

Baby Wave Rider!

Cool Girl!

Saturday--  We took a group photo, went to Breakfast at Modica Market, and then headed for home.

The Group Photo

O

L

O and his Pop

E

I can't believe I was able to upload this many photos in one post!  Hope you'll check in again next week (in a few days:)