Catch up on Summer 2009

As I type this I really can't believe it is almost August and we only have 4 weeks left of the summer. We have been so busy. The girls recently got back from a 8 day visit to AR to their Meme and Pops. I have no pictures because I was not there but I know they had the best time ever. I missed them so much but got so much done. I am thankful they can have fun time with their Meme and Pops and cousins with out us. The pictures below are randoms from fun stuff this summer from hanging with cousins, slip n slide, sprinkler, and of course no summer is complete without snow cones. WE think of all reasons to get snow cones. Another things we have done this summer that I don't have pictures from is afternoon table time with the girls. I didn't plan to do this but really wanted to make sure Kylee had some learning time. Her school gave us a calendar of very short easy stuff to do this summer. So we started with the calendar and then did writing and reading and math. Katie thought it looked fun so we have been working on letters, numbers, and shapes. It only last for about 15 minutes but the girls beg me to do it every afternoon. I am so proud of both of them! We are having the best summer ever. I think I am caught up now!

Swimming Time with Cousins

Back in June my sister came over and we went for a fun day of swimming together. It was the first time I was able to get pics of the kids swimming this summer. It was a fun day. It was also the day that Katie really started swimming without floaties and now she has the best doggie paddle and when she puts her face in she is quite a swimmer. I am so proud of her. We always have fun with cousins.

My Nephew turns 3

This past weekend my nephew Ethan celebrated his 3rd birthday with a super fun swimming party. My girls had the best time and so did Ethan! We swam, did a pinata, ate pizza and cake, swam some more, and loved on family. Katie was totally in love with little Ella. Ethan was quite a little swimmer. It was so amazing. Maybe he takes after his mama with a swim gift. Ethan is such a sweetie and I feel blessed to have celebrated 3 years with him. Happy Birthday "E"!

Make it Mondays

This summer on Mondays we didn't have very much planned so I came up with Make it Mondays were we would work on special art projects and food items for the day. We have not been home a bunch of Mondays but when we have we have had fun days and the girls have loved them. I took pictures of a couple of the days. The first one we had was right before vacation and we made beach pictures with real sand and puffy fish stickers and seaweed out of tissue paper. We had also made pancakes that morning for breakfast with the girls help. Then the other pictures I had were from our paint the sun catchers and then we made lemon squares. The sun catchers hung on our back door for a few days but then the wind would catch them and make a loud bang so they were taken down. The girls love art projects and fun food so we have loved our Monday mornings and quiet fun together.

Fourth of July Fun

We had a really fun 4th of July celebrating with friends. That morning we worked for hours in the ridiculous heat cleaning out our flower beds and mulching so we were ready for fun. So were the girls. We had a night full of swimming, good food, sparklers, and watching fireworks. This is one of my favorite holidays just simply for the fun fellowship!

Travel Day Home and Final Thoughts

The picture above was taken very early the morning we left four our long trek home. This was a view from our room balcony. We loved our vacation and were quite sad to leave. We left at 7 am and pulled into our driveway right at 9:30 pm. It was a long day home but the girls did well considering we were stuck in the car all day! The only real eventful thing was when Katie stuck a small foamy up her nose and we had to pull over to try to get it. We did not but guess it made its way out somehow! The girls slept great on vacation. They didn't wake up before 8:30 and Kylee mostly would have slept until after 9 most days but we wanted to get up and get moving. I really think that swimming and hot sun is really exhausting. This was our first vacation that we took with just the 4 of us and it was really great. I am so glad we did this. We had no choice but to spend every moment together and Charley and I had no reason to not play with the girls all the time. We also loved watching Kylee and Katie spend time together. We always tell them that they are best friends for life and this is a great way for them to bond. Kylee has told us many times that she loved our vacation. Her favorite thing was the beach and Pirate Cruise. Katie's favorite things were the hot tub and playing in the sand. This was a great vacation and I am thankful I got to spend it with my 3 favorite people:)