Summer Fun

So, now that the school supplies are out (really?), I guess it's time to do a post on summer. We've had lots of summer fun so far, mostly involving water. Because, let's face it, I don't really enjoy temperatures over 100. Or humidity. This will definitely be a "catch up" post, but lucky for you, it's gonna be mostly pictures. And speaking of school supplies, I CANNOT believe my little man is starting "real" school in less than 2 months! "Real" meaning school that he actually has to go to when mommy isn't working. I'm not really ready to think about it yet, so let's stick with summer for now!

Katelyn loves the pool, but she's not such a fan of sprinklers or any sort of splashing/falling water. Collin, however, loves any sort of water activity. He HATES to be hot!


My sweet niece Campbell swimming in Gran's pool.
Collin didn't care anything about having his picture taken that day.
Katelyn and Mimi.
Katelyn and Nanna.
Collin loves going to the "ice cream factory" (aka Carvel)
Katelyn's first time on a boat! Thanks to Hugh and Ashley for such a fun weekend!
We went to St. George Island with my family for a whole week in June. We stayed in a big house for the first time and I think everyone loved it!

Collin and Katelyn on the beach the day we got there.

The house had a pool too (the kids' favorite!).
My baby sister (Aunt Kandace) and her cute sunhat.
Collin headed out to fish with Daddy on our first morning at the beach.
How I spent the first morning.

Collin loved the pool. After begging him all last summer to take off his floaties, he finally decided it was time.
He just took them off and started swimming. And within a day or two, he was doing this:


Katelyn on the beach.



Collin and Carter digging holes.
Mommy's girl.
Yeah, right. She's a daddy's girl.
One of my faves.
Checking out the starfish.
Push Ups! (Our power went out in the house for almost 2 days. It was our attempt to keep the kids cool.)

Out to eat with all four kiddos because Kelli and I didn't really trust much of our refrigerated food. They did surprisingly well. Cam and Kate are having some attention issues, so it was so sweet to see them getting along :)

Cam and Uncle Mike.

Best buds.More beach play.
The toy buckets were a huge hit!

Little man trying to stay cool under the tent (right before the wind swept the tent away and destroyed it.)

Loved her curly beach hair!



First time forward facing in the car (she borrowed Cam's car seat for a trip to the souvenir shop.)
Collin, Carter, and the crab.

Nanna and her boys.
Silly boy.
Our last night at the beach, Jason and I tried to get some good beach portraits. I'm sure he has better ones, but here are some of my favorites.


























Happy Summer!

A New Do

This past week, we spent a week at the beach with my family, including my nephew Carter. (Beach pics coming soon.) Collin and Carter have always been good buddies. But this week, I think they became much closer. On the way home yesterday, Collin was already asking for Carter to come to our house. He cried when I told him I didn't know if we could go see Cars 2 with him. He asked me this morning why we couldn't stay at the beach. Then he told me that he wanted his hair cut short like Carter's.So since his hair looked like this at the beach (also his choice...when I took him to get his haircut a couple of weeks ago, he told me he wanted to keep it long. Since when do 4 year old boys have opinions about their hairstyle?? Anyway, I went with it, but had no idea how fast it would grow and be too long.), I said why not? It's summer and in the 90s and I bet it will be pretty darn cute. Plus, the sun and chlorine had turned it a weird greenish-yellow color.

Just before:Here goes...Almost couldn't watch this part...Collin's first look in the mirror...Does he like it??Maybe so?I don't know...it's a little silly.Yep, I think he does. Anything that makes my little man smile this big has got to be worth it.And this smile actually saves me money!

Memorial Day Weekend

So this is a little late, but we went to the cabin again for Memorial Day weekend. Mimi, Auntie Joy, Kelli, Carter and Campbell joined us. It was a great time! We went to the lake one day and the kids stayed in the water the entire time. And at the cabin they loved swimming in the hot tub! And after all of the fun with the kiddos, we grown ups even watched a movie each night after they went to bed (Little Fockers and Country Strong...both pretty good!). Here are some pictures of the fun!

Backyard

We have birdhouses on our back porch, and this spring we discovered that a bluebird family had built a nest in one of them. Now, I have never been a "bird person" or thought too much about them for that matter. But once the eggs hatched, it was amazing to watch the mommy and daddy bluebird bring food to the babies and see their little mouths sticking out of the tiny hole in the birdhouse. (Some of these pictures were taken through my bedroom window, so they may not be too clear.) Then one day, there was no mommy or daddy bluebird. I was a little sad. But it turns out, the whole family is living in our backyard and is working on a new nest in the same birdhouse.Not to mention, we have a nest in one of our rosebushes. I could kick myself for not getting a picture of the cute, tiny blue spotted eggs that were in the nest. But here are the sweet baby birds. Waiting on food to be dropped in their mouths (Collin and I bumped the rosebush trying to get a picture. I guess they thought it was their mommy or daddy).We also have another nest under our deck. It's too high up to see if their are any eggs inside. We're also hoping to grow some of our own fruits and veggies this year. Here's a picture of our first squash, blueberries, and what will hopefully be our first strawberries!We (Mike) also fixed up the playground a bit this year. Hopefully the mulch will help when it rains and it won't be so muddy!And what's a post about our backyard without our friend Rylee?
I knew I wanted a wooded backyard for a reason. (Besides not being able to walk right up into someone else's backyard from mine).