We've really had a great summer! With the stress of selling our house last year and trying to get in district before school started and moving, we didn't have much time for carefree summer days. It was nice to enjoy life more this summer, and Jake and I even had some fun nights out without the kids which is always good for a marriage! While I am sad to see summer come to an end, it will be better to be in a good routine again. The kids really crave it, and Jake needs it for work. This is a little review of summer highlights.
We spent a few days with GiGi while Daddy was in California for work. We played a while at the Community Garden down the road, had garden tomato BLT's (well G and I did) and watermelon from the Tomato Place.
We spent lots of time in the backyard and cooled down with many popsicles. Milly will be 2 before we know it! She loves playing outside and getting really dirty! She also loves balls and jumping on the trampoline with her brother and sister. She wants to be right in the middle of backyard batting and catching practice with Jake and Bryce, and she already gets Bryce's old plastic tee and bat and places the ball on the tee then knocks it off with the bat. She will dig in the dirt with Bryce and draw on the patio with sidewalk chalk with Avery. When she is ready for a break, she sits in the green chair below or on the swing with Avery and Bryce.
Jake and I had a date night at Sal and Phil's with Matt and Heather. It was such a great night! Miss Haley watched the kids for us, and we used a gift card I won on Facebook. The service wasn't great, but the company was awesome!
We enjoyed being able to celebrate sweet Sydney's birthday at the bowling alley! Bryce had a great first time bowling, and the rest of us had fun too.
We got "flocked" or "flockded" as Bryce would say by the high school seniors, so we donated and sent them on to others in our hood.
This is the Jeep Avery got for her 4th birthday! It goes pretty slow these days, but MJ loves to ride with her sister.
This is just funny! I posted that we are raising animals at our house on FB! MJ loves her food...
We made it to 30A, Seagrove at Santa Rosa Beach, for a week! We dream of having a place near the gulf one day. It does our hearts good to hear the ocean with the sun on our faces and the sand between our toes. We stayed in a gulf-front condo at Seagrove this summer, and it was the best trip yet! Our neighbors who own their condo sat by us each day, and their sweet girls played with our kids. The weather was perfect all week long. We celebrated both Father's Day and my 40th while there, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Jake and the kids had a banner and cupcake waiting on me for breakfast, and we spent the day at the beach playing. The best dinner was at Louie Louie's that day. I got crabcakes (my fave), and the Jake and Avery surprised me with a HUGE piece of key lime pie. The kids favorite thing to do was play in the canal which was shallow and not as cool as the gulf. They caught little fish and crabs, floated and played in the sand in that area most of the time. I went in the gulf some to search for shells and found a beautiful sand dollar (which I sadly broke) and two pairs of shades (one of which was Costas). No one got a sun burn which is a vacation miracle with our fair crew. We really had a wonderful vacation and made many memories together. We are already planning our next trip!
Be still my heart...three little Bells eating breakfast...
We had Snow Critters with friends!
Bryce got a Lego Critter....
Bryce got a Lego Critter....
Avery had a Frozen Critter....
And Mommy and MJ had cookie dough (and a rainbow sucker)
We love the Pucketts and Meads!
more popsicles and sidewalk chalk...
We grill all the time, and on this night, it was nice enough to eat outside. MJ loves baked beans!
MJ decides to take off her diaper and streak around the yard these days. She is such a mess! Being naked outside doesn't bother her a bit!
On the 4th of July, we participated in our first CP parade as actual residents. Jake and I didn't have kids when we lived here previously, so we didn't do the parades back then. We drove Ella and our kids around in Pop's cart, and they had lots of fun. Afterwards, we headed to Vicksburg to grill and hang out with GiGi. We also watched the fireworks show over the river.
One of my most favorite things this summer is how we got to see some great shows at the new ampitheatre. Imagine Dragons was probably the best concert I've ever been to! We went with Matt and Heather, and it was a blast! The band even came out to the center of the venue to perform, and Dan walked around singing!
Miss Haley watched MJ, and they had fun making silly faces while taking selfies. Bryce and Avery were at Grammy's. They went to church and to a waterpark while there.
MJ likes playing hide and seek in the cabinets...
Milly loves singing in play microphones and had fun wearing Avery's old Belle costume.
Avery will begin dance at Studio Sole again in the fall. She took a break for two years to try out gymnastics. She got back into the swing of things by taking a dance camp. She chose jazz and hip hop, and she had loads of fun. She is best at anything involving shaking her hips!
The Greatest Showman has become the kids favorite movie. They love the soundtrack too! Below they are singing and dancing to it. MJ belts out, "Oh, Oh, Oh-whoa!" when she hears it!
Jake and I had a getaway to New Orleans to celebrate my dear friend, Nicole's 40th birthday. We had a ton of fun enjoying the sights and sounds and more importantly, the food! The first night, we stayed at the Hilton, ate at the Palace Cafe', and went to Bourbon for some music fun at Fat Catz. The second day we spent in the Quarter. We had beignets at Cafe' Beignet, went to the French Market, and headed to the Ritz for a night's stay. It is a beautiful hotel! Nicole had a cool bag full of goodies for us to enjoy, and we celebrated her birthday at the historic Galatoire's in a private wine room with a balcony overlooking Bourbon. We were up pretty high, and Jake thought it was funny to peg innocent bystanders below with beads unannounced! We hung out at the Ritz afterwards then headed to bed. It was a great weekend, but we were ready to get back home to the kiddos!
Avery had a positive checkup with Dr. Ebeid. Her pulmonary valve is still leaking however, her heart continues to do ok with that. She will see him again in 6 months. We have a GI appointment this week and will see Complex Care for the first time before school begins. We also have a referral in to see the CAY Center to explore some behavioral things she has going on. We just want to make sure we provide her with everything she needs, and we want to know reasons for some behaviors. I feel it's the best way to make sure we parent Avery correctly. Otherwise, she is doing amazingly well. I cannot believe she is 9, AND she starts the 3rd grade in 2 weeks!
MJ was really quiet, and when I looked over, I saw her sitting with her bear watching TV like a big kid.
Milly has gotten so big! I just needed to take a few pics of the kids before church because they grow up way too fast!
We enjoyed lots of backyard time...
Bath tub time...
My heart was full because I not only got to celebrate Nicole's 40th with her in NOLA, we spent an entire day in Vicksburg with our moms and the kids!
