Inspired by another blog friend, I'm going to start doing a weekly post of all of our summer fun. If anything really blog worthy comes up, I'll dedicate an entire post to it. I unofficially started doing this last week. To keep up with the timing, our post will run Friday through Thursday. (Here's week 4 of summer, if you haven't read it already.) School starts on a Thursday, so this should work out well. Band camp wrapped up for Evan last Friday. It ended with a mini concert. Mr. Stephen went to camp too. The first portion of the concert was jazz. It was the first opportunity for both of the boys to play that genre of music. They both earned themselves improve solos and did amazing. I might have teared up a little. They played "Jumping Jellybeans" and "The Lady Knows Her Cheese." Gotta love those song titles!
Next up, was concert band. The band instructors were all very impressed that the campers took on such hard music. They played "Twist and Shout" and "Yesterday" by the Beatles. They also played "Latin Fire" and the theme from the Mask of Zorro. I loved it! The boys had quite the crowd come see them play and I think everyone was very impressed.
We had a great Fathers Day Weekend. On Monday, we had a pretty laid back day. Before Jason got home, I filled up a cooler with water balloons. It took me nearly an hour to fill and tie all of these babies. Our big water balloon fight lasted less than 5 minutes, but it was worth every second of the prep time. When we came inside, Karsyn said, "That was so much fun!"
On Tuesday, we had plans to meet with a few of Addi's school friends. One of her little buddies wasn't feeling well, so we rescheduled. We decided to go to our local pool with my Aunt Jennifer, Sarah, and Silas. When we got there, they said they had an "incident." Someone got sick in the pool. Uhh...yuck! We headed to a neighboring town's pool and had the best time. As we were walking in, we saw my cousin Rita and her two kiddos, Robbie and Erin. My kiddos loved swimming with their first and second cousins.
Daddy, Karsyn, & Addi
Payton & Sarah - I love that they are not only cousins, but they are becoming the best of friends.
Evan &Silas
Just wanted to note that swim lessons will be happening very soon. Hopefully, life jackets won't be needed anymore.
I love how Evan looks like he is sitting on the water.
Evan also loved diving off of the diving board.
Karsyn was her normal fearless little self. She went down the slide only about 100 times. She'd always yell out to Jason, "Daddy, wait for me at the bottom!" This girl just amazes me. Addi only went down the slide once, but I missed getting her picture. I was on the diving board.
Sarah and Payton loved going down the slides at the same time.
Here's a few more fun diving pictures.
Evan looks like a ninja!
Robbie was diving in!
Payton was flying!
Sarah looks like she's walking on water.
Erin's turn.
Payton diving in...again.
Sarah has beautiful form!
We all had a great time and can't wait to go back. On Wednesday, we had pizza for lunch with Aunt Jennifer, Nushea, Sam, Silas, and Sarah. Then, Evan and Payton went to their house for a while. Natalie and Stephen joined in on the fun. They had a great time playing cards.
On Thursday afternoon, I headed to the splash pad with these cool kids to meet up with some friends.
We met with some of Addi's friends from school and had the best time. The kids played for about 2 hours and I really enjoyed chatting the hot summer afternoon away with their moms.
Thursday evening, I had a Mommy's Night Out. I met with my banking days girls and we had so much fun talking and catching up. It was so nice! I loved getting to meet 3 new babies!
It's no secret that our little family loves Chobani's yogurt. This school year, I packed tubes of banana Chobani's Greek yogurt in my kiddos' lunches. Knowing my picky Addi and Evan were getting a little extra protein during the day really made me feel better.
Recently Chobani put out a request, asking for nominations of someone in our lives who deserves a break. This goes hand in hand with the Chobani Flip #breakyoumake campaign. Chobani thinks we all need to take a break and while we are at it, we should enjoy their delicious Flips. My favorite is the Tropical Escape Flip. It's a mix of pineapple, coconut, and crunchy. Payton loved the Key Lime Crumble!
I would like to nominate my Grandpa James. If anyone deserves a break, it's this guy. He's the one in the hat.
At the beginning of the year, our family got the heartbreaking news that my Grandma Shirley had brain cancer. With every doctor's appointment, we'd get encouraging news, but it was always laced with news that would wipe away a lot of our hope. It was incredibly difficult. Through it all, Grandpa James took such amazing care of my Grandma. He was there for her through all of her doctor's appointments and hospital stays. He took notes at the doctor's office. He kept up all of the housework. Every move he made was such a touching action of love. You could just feel it pouring through. I was blessed to witness their love all of my life.
In late April, Grandma was having some complications and was in the hospital for over a week. She finally got well enough to come home and we all believed that she had turned a corner. The very next day, she was back in the hospital. The news was not good. Her battle with cancer was coming to an end. Grandpa never left her side. It's where he's always been.
Grandma went to be with the Lord in the early part of May. It's been extremely hard on everyone. As painful as it's been for us, I can't imagine the heartbreak my Grandpa feels. He is learning to live without the love of his life and forging a new journey. I would love for Grandpa to be able to take a break. He sure deserves one.
It's the last Wednesday of the month. That means I'm linking up here again for What's up Wednesday.
To join in on the fun, answer these questions and join the link-up.
1. What we're eating this week...
Last night, we had Crock Pot Chicken Tacos. These are always a favorite. I always make a little extra, so that we can enjoy leftovers later in the week.
2. What I'm reminiscing about...
We had the best time at the beach this summer. My dad and I have been dreaming about taking a family beach trip for years! It finally happened a few weeks ago. We visited Jamaica Beach, Texas and had a great time.
3. What I'm loving...
The summer reading program at our local library. It has a super hero theme this year and the kids are really enjoying it. We love going for craft time. There's a lot of fun events planned throughout the summer. Last week, we went to a magic show. Check out your local library for a great way to keep your kids reading and having fun this summer.
4. What we've been up to...
Yesterday, we had the kind of day where our plans kept changing. We ended up going to a neighboring town's pool with my Aunt Jennifer, Silas, and Sarah. As we were walking in, we saw my cousin Rita and her two kiddos, Robbie and Erin. We had so much fun jumping off the diving board and going down the slide with our cousins. Karsyn LOVED the slide. She kept zipping down. As long as Daddy was right at the end, she was good. I can't wait to go back!
5. What I'm dreading...
Next month, the kiddos all have Well Kid Check Ups. A couple of the kiddos have to get their boosters. That's NEVER fun.
6. What I'm Working On...
We've been doing a mid summer purge of the the kiddos' closets. Before we know it, it's going to be time to buy new school clothes. I like knowing what works and what doesn't before we bring in a lot of new items.
7. What I'm excited about...
Enjoying the rest of the summer. How can it be that we've already been on break for one month? It's been so much fun so far and I'm really looking forward to the next couple of months.
8. What I'm watching/reading...
Jason and I have been watching a lot of old reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens. I know, I know, we are super exciting. I was a teenager when the shows were originally on the air. I enjoyed them then, but watching now as a married woman, they are even more hilarious.
9. What I'm listening to...
I don't think love is a strong enough word for the way I feel about the song "Holy Spirit" by Francesca Battistelli. It's such a good song! I had one of those moments where God knew just what I needed to hear. This song came of the radio the night that I got the call to get to the hospital fast for my Grandma. I was shaking and praying as I was flying down the highway. I know that this song is about entering into the presence of God through worship, but knowing that Grandma would soon be entering His presence and experience His glory brought such comfort to my heart.
10. What I'm Wearing...
Our weather has been cycling between flooding and very hot and humid. I'm just dressing to be as comfortable as possible!
11. What I'm doing this weekend...
I have a couple of little projects that I'd like to tackle. I also hope we get some time at the pool.
12. What I'm looking forward to next month...
Addi and Payton are going to go to an evening Hip Hop dance camp. When that wraps up, Payton's going to art day camp. All 4 kiddos will take swimming lessons. We are also trying to lay out the plans for a few family fun days.
13. What else is new....
We have some play dates planned with some new friends. We are all looking forward to that!
13. Bonus question for the month: What are you doing for the 4th of July?
We usually go to our town's firework show with some family and friends.
Fathers Day is such a great holiday! I love all the men in our life that we get to celebrate. We started our day by celebrating the daddy of the house. We gave Jason cards, gifts, and got donuts for breakfast. Then, we headed off to church. On the way home, we had a road side photo shoot. I knew before Jason and I got married that he'd make a great father. He's so patient and kind. Watching him be a great daddy is such a blessing!
After church, we met with Papa Floyd and Grandma Beverly at Cracker Barrel for lunch. The girlies always love smelling candles in the store while we are waiting for a table. I was quite impressed that our party of 8 got seated so quickly on a holiday weekend. This group sure loves some down home food!
After we ate, we headed out to the front porch area. If you've ever ate at Cracker Barrel, you know that's a must. Here's a 3 generation picture of the men in our family.
We tried to to a grandparents/grandkids picture, but the littlest ladies were too busy playing a game of checkers.
I'm not fully sure how the toy baby bottles work on this game, but they had fun. =)
Then, it was Daddy and Papa's turn to play a game of checkers. Daddy's side of the family loves board games, so I thought this was a really sweet moment.
After we ate lunch, we headed home and Daddy got to take a Fathers Day nap. He loved that. We were hoping to get to visit a while with Papa Gene in the evening, but we were only able to do a quick stop by visit. It was still nice to get to see him. We had a late, easy dinner and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Jason said he had a great day. I am so glad that we get to share of our lives with so many great fathers.
This week, we've done a lot of fun little activities. We've heard that the river dam is a sight to see these days. With all of the rain lately, the dam is pumping out over 30,000 cubic feet of water every second! On Sunday, we decided to go take a peak. It was an amazing sight!
The dam is a bit of a drive from our house. The littlest ladies fell asleep, so they couldn't be a part of the picture fun.
During the summer, the river is usually pretty dried up. I've really never seen it flow with so much force!
Here's a look at the lake on the other side of the dam. It was so full! We tried to drive by our favorite swim beach, but the roads were closed off to it. Most of the swim beaches were completely underwater.
On Monday, Evan started band camp. Our sleeping in days were over. It was actually quite nice. As much as I like sleeping in, I also enjoy everyone being up and around. I wanted to take the girls to the park each day and have a little summer fun, but the weather worked against us. It has rained and rained AND RAINED! On Monday, I took the girls to McDonald's to play. By Wednesday, we were all getting a little stir crazy. After we picked Evan up from band camp, we grabbed Silas and Sarah and headed to the library for craft time. The plan was to make garden stones for Father's Day. After Payton and Addi decorated theirs, it was announced that the crowd was bigger than anticipated and they ran out of cement. The wonderful children's librarian ran to the store to pick up some more. We went to the top floor of the library so that the kiddos could color and sign up for the reading program. When the librarian got back, we were excited to finish out projects. Only, she bought the wrong kind of cement. Bless her heart! She was really having a day. Payton had a great idea. She said that since we had two stones, each of the dads could have one. The stones would now be from all of the kids, so we thought everyone needed to help decorate. They got busy doing just that.
Payton, Addi, Karsyn, and Evan working on Daddy's stone.
Sarah and Silas working on Uncle Terry's stone.
And I mean, what dad wouldn't like this for Father's Day???? Ours kind of broke in two, but it will still look great in the garden. No worries. We'll get Jason a little extra something to go along with his gift. =)
After band camp on Thursday, we met up with Aunt Kary, Natalie, Stephen, Sarah, and Silas at the library to watch a magician. After the show, we got his autograph and took a picture with him. We had so much fun, that I sent the magician an e-mail to see if we can book him for Uncle Billy's upcoming 40th birthday party. I can't wait to see if it works out. =)
ILLUSION!!!!! (That was for you Nattie!)
We got home just in time, because the flood sirens started going off. It was kind of scary. We are okay and as far as we know, our neighbors all across town are too. We are very much looking forward to some sunshine next week.
