Summertime!!!!!

Fun in the water - that is what our days are consisting of mostly. It is June, and I know by the middle of July to August it will be stifling, too hot, even for the pool in the middle of the day, so we are making the most of it right now!

Yesterday afternoon, after church, we enjoyed some backyard fun with Ashley, Mary Alice and Sarah Davis. I oughta just make this a joint blog - b/c they seem to make appearances nearly as much as my family!!!! My SIL aslo joined us with Patton and Mills - the children literally played for 4 hours NONSTOP!!!!

Popsicles are a MUST-HAVE on a 90 degree day!!!!

Sorry Ashley!!! I couldn't resist this picture - it just shows the pure joy that was experienced, even by the adults!!! Too bad I couldn't grab my camera fast enough to show you sliding down the slip-n-slide or the blow-up slide!!!! She's the most fun mommy EVER!!!!!

Summertime - please don't leave us anytime soon!

Six Flags

I know ya'll are going to be so disappointed, but I did not get a SINGLE picture at Six Flags - after comtemplating it awhile, and discussing it with my friend, Ashley, who went with us, I decided not to risk my DSLR camera to roller coasters, water rides and thieves. So, this post will be pictureless, and instead depend solely on my very minimal writing skills. If I'm friends with you on Facebook - you can see pictures there - thanks to Ashley!!!!





Ya'll, we had a BLAST!!!! The day could not have gone any better. The 3 children were GREAT. We went with my sister in law, Ellen, and her husband, Stan, and 4 year old Patton. We also went with my best friend Ashley, her husband, William (who also happens to be dental partners with Stan) and their 5 year old daughter, Mary Alice. Since there were 9 of us, and all of our cars hold 8 people, we had to take 2 cars. The ladies rode in my van with the children on the way there, and the men rode in William and Ashley's SUV with the children on the way back (they got the better deal b/c the children were wiped out and slept almost the entire way home).





One piece of advice - splurge and get the Flash Pass Gold - you literally walk up to every ride and get on. Will and I did not buy it, but the other families did, so when it came time to ride the big roller coasters that the children cannot ride, Will (who will not ride them) kept the kiddos and I borrowed a Flash Pass and we rode quickly - even trade off, don't you think?



The children rode everything they were tall enough to ride- including the Mind Bender - the upside down roller coaster!!!!! I was tickled with pride!!! Now, I don't think any of them will be getting on it any time soon - but they all did it without freaking out! Emma Claire started crying AFTER the ride ended, but she said it was because her head hurt from hitting the side of the car so many times - I completely understood what she was talking about - one word - NINJA - the worst roller coaster EVER!!!!!





The best ones - SuperMan - Goliath - Georgia Scorcher!!!!!





Thunder River is always a favorite too - Emma Claire and I got the wettest of all - drinched to be exact!!!! If only I had been brave enough to take my camera!!!!





After we got home at 11:00, I was tucking Emma Claire in to bed and she told me it was the "best day ever"!!!!! That's my girl!!!!!





Today she's been talking about going again, next time taking her brother, Wilson - so sweet! Wilson sat with me while I was looking at the pictures of FB - he kept saying, "I want to ride!" I want to ride!" - I told him he's got to start eating first, so he can grow tall enough!!! Maybe that will be something I can hold over his head for awhile - not that I bribe him, EVER!!!!!!

Finally getting around to it....

Can we talk about what a BUSY month May is???? WOW!!!! I thought the Holidays around Christmas were bad, but now that I have a child approaching grade school - whew - May has December beat by a long haul!!!!!

So, nearly a week later, here is our Memorial Day weekend fun. This is where we were before the ballet Dress Rehearsal - and explains a little of why I still had my swimsuit on in the picture.

What is still a mystery, is where the bra and panties I had packed to take to the lake are. They originally were hanging around the hanger that my shirt and shorts were on. I then remember taking them off the hanger, because I didn't want to carry my clothes in the house with undergarments hanging in plain view. I placed them in my carry-on bag - or so I thought. When it came time to change clothes to head to the dress rehearsal they were no where to be found. I was a little frustrated, but figured I laid them down on the sofa or bed instead of putting them in the bag (because getting our clan ready to go anywhere, not to mention the lake and THEN straight to a full-costume, makeup dress rehearsal, is no easy task - especially in the 20 minutes I had because I chose to run with 3 friends that morning and we stood around chatting for 30 minutes AFTER the run). So, anyways, back to the missing undergarments..... I just assumed they would be laying around somewhere when I got home.

I still haven't found them to this day.

Somewhere, someone or something has a fabulous pair of panties and a fairly new bra. Please send them my way if you see them on the side of the road or something. Just kidding - just throw them out, or better yet, please don't be picking up random undergarments on the side of the road. Just a bit of advice.

I also have spent the ENTIRE day fretting over and turning my house upside down searching for Emma Claire's glasses. I finally found them a few minutes ago in Wilson's room - I have no idea, uuhmppph, how they got in there, really, I don't. But thankfully $200 will not be spent on new glasses any time soon.

Losing things (and double faulting in tennis) are the most frustrating things EVER!!!! I totally despise myself (not really) and can't think of anything else when I lose or misplace something.

So, here are some pictures of our lake day - it was spent at my BIL's father's house on Lake Tuscaloosa. It was a cloudy, drizzly day, but that didn't stop our waterbugs!!!! We had a great time swimming in the pool, taking a boat ride, fishing, and riding the wave runner.

Can you tell they are COLD?????

Emma Claire got a turn to drive.

We also spent a lovely afternoon, yesterday, at the pool. Henderson met a friend, whose number I got as a babysitter - go Henderson!!!!!! He literally walked over and stood beside her as she studied 20 times!!!!!

Sorry for the brightness in these pictures - it's nearly blinding - the settings on my camera were way off!!!!

We are taking a quick trip to Atlanta this weekend with some friends and family to Six Flags (just the older children) - do you know how excited I am about this? - it's probably been 13 years since I've been - I don't know who will have more fun, Emma Claire, or Will and I?

Mother's Day Ballet

Not only was this weekend Memorial Day weekend, but it was also the spring recital for our dance school. We kicked it off Saturday afternoon with dress rehearsal and then Ashley and I took Emma Claire and Mary Alice to see the Company's Jazz Night and High School Musical production - this, in particular, sealed the deal for us - in addition that our babysitter for the summer was one of the lead roles!!!! The girls had a blast, even though we were there for 4 hours - 10:30 on a Saturday night is LATE - especially with church AND a recital of our own in the very near future. But it was well worth it - it was AMAZING!!!!!

The dress rehearsal went fabulous - it finally ALL.CAME.TOGETHER!!!!! 13 little girls on stage with strollers and baby dolls = chaos, if not carefully planned!!!!! But, it WAS carefully planned and EXECUTED by some wonderful little mommas and teachers!!!! The preschool theme was Calendar Girls, with ours being Mother's Day - they were precious in their hats and dresses, pushing their babies in strollers and swaying them in the air!!!! The only thing lacking on Emma Claire at rehearsal was a smile - but she hit it big at the recital!!!!! She's typically a serious child and she was trying so hard to do it JUST.RIGHT!!!!!

No photography was allowed at the actual performance, so all these were taken at the dress rehearsal!!!!

(not even half of the beautiful bunch!!!!)

After the dress rehearsal (you can see I still have my swimsuit on - more on that later)

After the performance - flowers from her daddy and Nana!!!!

Patton and Chandler came to watch her too and gave her a sweet ballerina bear!!!! She proudly displayed it on her desk in her room!

Opening a gift from mommy and daddy - it contained: candy, pack of gum, new ballet tutu, High School Musical DVD - guess what she ended up being most excited about???

GUM!!!!! Isn't that typical????

She actually is really excited about High School Musical - watched it as soonn as she got home, but when she pulled the gum out, she exclaimed --- GUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - we all laughed!!!!!

Emma Claire and Caroline - sans hats!!!!!

What a wonderful day for our little ballerina!!!!!

We're so proud of you Emma Claire!!!!!!

A day for the history books...

......Or at least a day to remember on my blog!!!!

Friday is the LAST DAY WE WILL HAVE 3 CHILDREN IN PRESCHOOL!!!!!

On one hand, it's a sad day, because it means my oldest child is venturing from toddlerhood to childhood, but on the other hand, it IS like a payraise!!!!!!

They all enjoy being in school together - they get to see each other many times throughout the mornings. Wilson and Henderson will be together for 3 more years at the Dayschool and Emma Claire will finally get to go to BIG school with her cousin, Chandler, and some close friends!!!!! I'm sure I will Blink and they will all be in elementary school together!!!! Though it will be nice to have them all in one place again, I sure don't want to wish these days away!!!!

Enjoy some summertime popsicles!!!!!!!

I try to photograph them together anytime they are dressed all alike - I know that sadly, that is coming to an end in the next year or so too.





Be Back soon!!!!!!