Get ready for a photo dump of our summer. It's been a fun one!
MAY...
We kicked off summer with sweet Emerson's birthday party at High Point.
It's aMAZing how quickly two 10 year old boys will happily eat a girly glittered Trolls cake with pink forks and never bat an eye.
We had Isaac over one day the first week since his daycamp hadn't started yet. We had a fun day kicking off summer...
Memorial Day weekend has always been the sign of 2 things to me, I'm another year older and summer has officially begun. This year, we got the added bonus of celebrating Roman's birthday in Destin. My parents were already there and we didn't think we were going to be able to make it. There was so much going on, but you only turn 1 once, right?!? The kids and I jumped in the car super early Saturday morning and headed off to surprise my parents and family there. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was the first time I drove the kids all by myself so I was a little nervous, but we made it fine.
Birthday kisses from my babies...
Leslie and her family were there too, so we met up a few times.
Oh, this boy. I love him to pieces!!
"We survived the first year of parenthood" kiss...
Andy got me a "42" cupcake.
We got home late Tuesday night after following my parents home. It was such a great trip and I'm so glad we did it. These are memories I hope my kids remember forever.
JUNE...
We made the decision early not to fill up our summer with lots of camps and stuff. This meant we got more unplanned time to do stuff as a family, but it also meant the kiddos would be drug to "work" with mom and dad some. That's just the trade off. But still, we had lots of lazy mornings and lots of lake time and weren't running all over town from camp to camp all summer.
Keatyn's dance recital was precious. Her dance was Beauty and the Beast...
Three ADPi sisters and 3 little legacies...
Back in the spring, Mandi and I bought the kids tickets to see Dan DTM in Nashville. He's a famous Youtuber and Mindcrafter. The kiddos were PUMPED!! We spent the night at the Opryland Hotel and played in the pools before the show. This was the first time Trace has ever been there and he was amazed. It is SUCH a beautiful place. We had a ball!
The next morning on the way out, we "ran" by Opry Mills to look around and eat lunch. A terrible storm came through Nashville while we were in there and so we waited it out... for 7 hours. I couldn't believe we shopped for 7 hours. That was a record for Trace, I'm sure he doesn't ever want to break. Lol!
Lots of lake days on the pontoon and raft...
VBS was the last week of June. Keatyn invited Emerson and they both really enjoyed it. This was us at the park after crazy hair day...
Trace did a basketball camp at CCS that week. He's never been a VBS fan. :(
JULY...
We went to Sheila's for the annual 4th of July. I love this tradition so much!
Granddaddy's thumb... ;)
Then in mid-July, the Alabama cousins came here since Millie and her family are always at the beach on the 4th. We played in the lake and took all the kids to the zoo. 2 days and nights of fun and sleepovers wore them all out! I pray they are always close to their cousins.
A few hours after they left, we took our house apart (literally) to get the hard wood floors refinished from our water leak in the spring. This was no joke. Two "Bellhops" came and moved every bit of furniture out of our first floor into the garage. We had already taken everything off the walls and a lot out to paint since it was going to all be torn apart anyway. Whew... we renovate houses for a living, but living through one is not easy. But my walls and floors are new and beautiful and things are mostly back in place.
When the floor guy told us we needed to move out for a week, we decided to take our summer vacation then, and Sisty and Granddaddy kindly let us use their condo. We had an amazing week in Destin and our highlight was this...
We've watched parasailers for years from the beach and always talked about doing it. Keatyn was finally old enough so...up, up and away we went! Jimmy and I both got to ride with both kids because they needed the "weight" on the sail. It was BEAUTIFUL to see the coast from 1200 feet in the air. I got to see first hand why it's called the "Emerald Coast." We luckily (depending on who you ask) didn't see any sharks, but it was incredible experience.
While riding home, we got to talking about peppers. Trace was inthralled with the hot pepper challenges and the Scoville scale. So when we went to the store, we picked up a few and did a little challenge at home. Ha! I lost, big time. I'm a self declared weenie.
More boat rides...
Right before school started back, we met Christy and her kids and rode the trials at the Riverpark. That was such a fun day! It made me sad we hadn't ever done that before. We are so lucky to live in a city with this in our backyard. It was gorgeous and such good exercise. We rode, played, and ate lunch.
Sisty taking her turn on the tube...
AUGUST...
We finally got mom, dad, Andy, Kadi and Roman out on the boat for a ride and dinner at Aries. Roman didn't know what to think about the waves and the kids riding on the tube. It was such a fun afternoon.
The last day before school started, we went to the new movie theater to see The Emoji Movie in the recliners. I'm now spoiled. I took my sweater and a blanket and was in movie heaven.
It has been a wonderful summer spent with family and friends! Getting back into the school schedule with bedtimes and homework aren't going to be easy, but we will survive. Love getting to spend summer days with these kiddos!
