Random Act of Wetness

More pictures from a month ago that I haven't posted on the blog. We should be getting our card reader to retrieve the current pictures from the current camera soon. Till then...

I was scared about summer. I didn't know how I would handle having all 3 kids home all of the time. But thankfully, things have gone very well so far. First of all, I have to admit that as much as I shake my head at the things my children do, they are comparatively good kids. Secondly, the younger two (and Cat occasionally) are pretty good nappers. And thirdly, we have a great yard. When I am willing to brave the heat, the yard is a welcome es-ca-pe. (Anyone else hearing Dory's voice right now? Just me? Okay.)

So, right after Memorial Day weekend I wanted to do something fun outside with the older kids while Eliza was sleeping and the baby pool wasn't inflated yet. I knew I had to involve water, if only for my own sanity, so I decided to bring out every container I could stand to be outside and just let the kids go for it. They had a blast for over an hour, and didn't get me soaking wet, which I appreciated, even though I was playing some too. Here are a few of the pictures I snapped as I tried to create rules that allowed me to get them wet, but for them to mostly get me wet from the ankles down. (Don't judge. We're on a well. That water is COLD!)


Uh-oh, the lawnmower is dirty!

We'll take care of that.

Uh-oh, Cat is dirty too!
Well, not anymore.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer!

In case you were wondering why the lighting is so different in these pictures, I was playing with all the different settings on my camera at the time. No, we didn't have a freak storm or shadow or anything.

Long (Overdue) Post about Memorial Day

I haven't been good about blogging lately because I'm discouraged that I can't currently upload pictures from our camera. (It's a long story.) For some reason that fact has kept me from blogging with the pictures I already have uploaded on the computer. That's about to change! I know you've all been on the edge of your seats, so here you go!

We had a wonderful mini-vacation Memorial Day weekend. We spent the weekend in Tallahassee, FL with Ben's folks, hereafter referred to as Mema and Papa. After driving to Tally Saturday morning, we ate lunch at Mema and Papa's house before getting back in the car to drive to St. George Island, a beautiful barrier island off of Florida's panhandle, and a favorite spot of mine, since it's where we always went to the beach when I was going to college at FSU. It was cool to take the kids there, and for this to be Eliza's first trip to the beach. There was hardly anyone else there and the weather was perfect: warm but not unbearably hot.

We invited our friends Tim and Cassie and their 3 kids to join us. Ben and Tim were best friends in high school, Tim was the best man at our wedding, and all of our kids are almost exactly the same ages. We love hanging out with them!

Cat and Lana were pretty much playing in the Gulf the whole time. They took a few breaks to play in the sand, grab a cookie or a drink of water, assist the fishermen, and inspect the catch of the day, but then they went right back into the water.



Eliza seemed to really enjoy herself. First, she napped under the canopy. Then, she tested the water before deciding to just hang out with her buddy Jacob:


Jack was wary of the water for the first few hours, spending most of his time watching the girls, playing with cars (surprise, surprise), and helping Daddy and Papa with the important business of catching Sunday's dinner:


But finally Jack decided it was okay to play in the water after all. (I wish I had a good picture of Jack with Madi, Tim and Cassie's 2-year-old daughter. Next time!!)


Jack even seemed to enjoy tasting the water. See for yourself:

And I had to include this video of Jack running. Just because I love the way he runs!

We had so much fun with Mema and Papa and Tim and Cassie's family - playing, fishing, swimming, and just enjoying eachother's company - that we didn't leave the beach until after 8pm. By the time we got some dinner and ice cream and loaded up, the kids were completely exhausted, and slept the whole way home. What a lovely day.

After Church on Sunday, we enjoyed a delicious fish fry and had some play time with cousins:


On Monday, Mema took us to a park with a fun playground and a lake, where Cat was looking for sharks:



My awesome sister-in-law, Lindsey, is starting a photography business and asked if she could take some pictures of our family. Umm... sure!! If you're on Facebook, you can see her "Lindsey Lou Photography" page here. For those of you who, like me, are not Facebookers, I'll post a few of her pictures later.

Then, we had a little more play time before it was time to head home:


Thank you, Mema and Papa, for a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to come visit again!

Unexpected Adventure

A few weeks ago, Ben had to bring something to a coworker in a town 45 minutes away on a Saturday morning. He graciously offered to take Cat and Jack, and after they made their delivery, they decided to explore this little town. And guess what, they stumbled upon a truck show & tell! They got up close and personal with tanks, fire engines, armored cars, and more. These are the pictures Ben got with his phone:


Notice that neither child even had shoes! But who needs shoes when you have a fun adventure with Daddy?

Bookends

I was surprisingly un-sentimental with the end of the school year this year, especially considering the fact that I shed a tear or two in the car after I dropped Cat off on her first day of Pre-K back in August. Cat got herself ready, we took some pictures when I dropped her off (the above, and pics with her teachers), then Jack, Eliza, and I had a normal day before pick-up time. When school was over, we had a little playdate with some of Cat's friends from her class where we all stayed and played at the school playground and ate rice krispies and drank juice boxes. It was a fun little celebration for the beginning of summer.

After the playground, a couple of Cat's friends ended up coming back to our house for more fun. Here are a couple of things I overheard from the girls while they were playing in Cat's room:

"No fair! She has high heels!"
"No, those are tap shoes. They're for ballet."

"You never pick me."
"I didn't pick. I did eeny-meeny-miny-mo. My finger picked."

After Friend 1 left, Cat and Friend 2 decided they should trade clothes. This was pretty funny to me, especially since they'd worn almost identical outfits to school that day. They traded hairstyles too; I got to braid Cat's hair, and Miranda donned Cat's headband. They had a great time, and it made me look forward to summer playdates and not having to have 4 people ready to leave the house by 7:45 every morning.

3 months old!

(Pretend I posted this a week ago, okay? Thanks!)

It's really hard to believe that Eliza is 3 months old already. She's not a newborn anymore! I'm a little sad about that, but of course excited that she's more social and playful now. During her 3rd month, Eliza began smiling at us, trying to roll over, sleeping through the night on a regular basis (usually about 8pm until 5am), and refusing the paci.

I still haven't gotten a great picture of her smiling, because she usually smiles at me when I smile at her, but when there's a camera in her face, she just stares at the camera. I'll keep working on it. This is the best I have so far...