Pre Fourth of July celebrations

Our city typically holds their Fourth of July celebrations on July 3rd.  With the Fourth falling on a Sunday this year, they opted to hold them on the 2nd this year.  We had intended to go watch fireworks in the city with my in-laws and some friends of ours, but it rained most of the day. We were a little worried that the field where we watch was a going to be too wet so we decided to invite everyone to our house for our own celebration.

We had a hot dog cookout and then let the kids play outside until it was dark enough to set off the fireworks.  They had a lot of fun.

Amy and I also decided to make some brownies for some very yummy brownie sundaes.  Afterwards, we decided to let the kids lick the remaining batter.     Finally, when it was dark enough, we set up the camping chairs and Ryan and Jeremy went to work on a really great fireworks show.  The kids had so much fun!      Mikayla, Matthew and Gavin watching the show.

The excitement is practically pouring out of her face, isn’t it?

Gavin kept saying, “Boom!” whenever the firecrackers went off.

He also tried to blow them out afterwards.  :)

Amy and Ryan have a new baby girl, Madelynn.  She is three months old and is absolutely adorable!  She did so great during all of the commotion and noise.  I think she was mesmerized with all of the lights.

The guys did a great job on the firecrackers and even had a nice little “finale.”                   As you can see by the kids reaction, the night was a total success.  We even think they were may change our normal pre-fourth tradition into this one.  We had a great night and would love to do it again. :)

New two wheeler!

Well, I guess it is technically a  four wheeler since it has training wheels.  Mikayla got a new bicycle this summer and she has LOVED it.  She is still having to work at getting going, but once she is off, she is all over the place.   I can’t wait until the weather cools down a little so that we can be out more on it.  ( I am a wimp and do NOT like to be outside in this 95 degree weather unless it is by the pool!) Gavin has now inherited Mikayla’s tricycle.  It is so cute to watch him ride around.  He tries so hard to keep up with his big sister…so cute!

A day in Athens

My sister, her husband and nephew moved to Athens a year ago so that my brother-in-law could complete his PhD at the University of Georgia.  I have SO enjoyed having my sister close by.  It only takes us an hour and a half to go see her now (as compared to 8 hours when they lived in North Carolina). 

Shortly after school let out, I decided that we needed to go out and visit my sister.   To entertain all of the children, we took them to Athens Memorial Park.  It is a free park that has a Wilderness trail that you can walk.  Along this trail are several animal exhibits for the kids to enjoy.  We had a great time.  It wasn’t terribly hot and we even had some light sprinkles, but thanks to the great tree coverage of the trail, we didn’t have a lot of problems with the rain.

My sweet little Gavin.  Yes, he is wearing a harness and leash, and no, I am not ashamed to admit it.  Gavin is not a big fan of strollers anymore and I didn’t want to risk him running off.   He liked where Elmo! :) Mikayla had a lot of fun, too.  This is my sweet nephew, Andrew.  We got to the zoo right around the start of his naptime.   Other than being pretty quiet and just taking everything in, he did great!   These are some pictures of some of the exhibits at the park.  I was pretty impressed with what they had to offer.  It was a great free activity for the kids. 

For those of you that have little children, you may be familiar with the NickJr show,  The Wonder Pets.  Gavin really likes this show and was so excited to see “Turtle Tuck” at the zoo.  I just love the mind of a two year old (well, most of the time at least!). After we left the zoo, we went to downtown Athens to have some lunch.  On many of the street corners downtown, there are bulldogs (for the UGA Bulldogs) that are all decorated in different themes.   We definitely had to take opportunity of the photo op!

After lunch, we let the boys take naps and then we went to the pool in my sister’s townhome complex.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this.  I wish I did, because the kids had a great time playing with each other.  We had a great time with my sister and nephew.  I am so thankful to have them so close and to have the opportunity for these cousins to grow up together.

So Behind!

I can’t believe it has been over a month since I have blogged.  We have been having a lot of fun together this summer. I am going to try to catch everyone up over the next couple of days, so please bear with me.   For your viewing enjoyment, I will leave you with some pictures as to why I have been so busy this summer.  I just love hanging out with these kiddos.  I can not believe that in one month from tomorrow, Mikayla will start Kindergarten.  I still am not ready for it!

Gavin eating an ice cream cone.  It’s a huge mess, but totally worth the smiles.

Playing in the sprinkler in the backyard.

Swimming at the pool, with friends,  in rain…

(no thunder or lightning…just a quick summer rainstorm)

…or shine

Playing at the park with friends

(Yes, Mikayla decided that Bryce needed help smiling.  Thankfully, he didn’t mind the help.)

Riding our tricycle

and our BRAND NEW bicycle!!   We have also been escaping the unseasonably hot temps by just hanging out inside and coloring. 

It has been a great summer so far.  We have had a lot of fun memories made with family and friends.  I promise to post pictures of those adventures soon!

A little late…

So, I know I am a little late with this post, but I was having to wait for pictures from family members, and well, I have been enjoying summer vacation with the kids some!

Mikayla graduated from Preschool on Thursday, May 20th.  They had a great little program that they presented to their families.  I just sat their so happy for my sweet girl, but also a little sad.  She is growing up so fast and I just feel like my years with her are just flying by.  I love watching her grow up and develop into a little person, but I just wish it would happen a little bit more slowly.

          My sister, Laura, made this cute little graduation announcement that we gave out to our family.  I thought it was a fun way to commemorate the day.  The picture was taken by a company that came to Mikayla’s preschool.  I thought she looked so precious! This is Mikayla as she came down the aisle of the Sanctuary for her program.  As you can see, she was so incredibly happy to have her family their to support her.

I know these aren’t the best pictures, but I thought I would still post them for my own documentation. Mikayla with her family right after her graduation.  As you can see, Gavin was just about done after having to sit for nearly 1 1/2 hours.

After her ceremony, I had our family come back to our house for a little dessert.  And yes, I did decorate Mikayla’s cake to match her dress.  I am a little OCD like that sometimes. :)

Mommy and Mikayla.  I just love this little girl!

She’s all done!

Mikayla is all done with preschool.  Today was her last day.  Tomorrow we will have her graduation.  I can hardly believe that she will start Kindergarten next year.  She is growing up so fast – it practically takes my breath away.  This is a picture of my little Mikayla, at two years old, on her first day of preschool.  I love how purely excited she looks.  I remember how confident she was.  She got out of the car, gave me one little look of brief apprehension, then turned around and walked into school.  She has always been so sure of herself. 

This is a picture of Mikayla, my big five year old, on her very last day of preschool.  She is still the same confident and sweet little girl that she was on that very first day. The hard her end of year party today.  They started out the party with some yummy food. And then they set up some water games outside and just let the kids run wild.  If you notice, Gavin is there in the background.  They were kind enough to let him in on the fun, too.

Mikayla had a lot of fun playing with her friends.  Here she is with one of her friends, Ruth.  They are soaking some water balls to throw at people. This is Mikayla with Kylie, another one of her little friends.  The girls had fun warming up by making some chalk drawings on the driveway.

I also thought I would share a pic of our teachers’ gifts for the year.  I saw this on the TipJunkie website and thought it was a great idea.  I was really pleased with how they turned out.

Tomorrow evening, is Mikayla’s preschool graduation.  I’ll be sure to pack lots of Kleenex and take lots of pictures to share! :)

Mother’s Day Tea

Today, Mikayla’s preschool class hosted a Mother’s Day Tea Party.  I had such a great time with her!

Despite the look in this picture, she was actually happy to see me.  This was at the end of the event and, as you can see, she was less than thrilled that I was leaving so that she could finish out her school day. (She ended up being glad in the end, though – mommy knows best!) 

When we arrived, her teacher took a picture of us (see, she is happy!) and then we went and decorated a picture frame together.  They printed out the pictures during the event and we were able to take them home with us afterwards.   I think it turned out pretty cute!   She also made me this beautiful jewelry box.  On the side of the box, are flowers made with their finger prints.  I just love it!

 

They also took the time to write these little blurbs about us.  Some of them were so funny!  I thought Mikayla’s was so sweet.  I am a little bothered, though, that she thinks I have brown hair! ;) 

After I picked Mikayla up from school, we went to lunch at Steak and Shake.  After that we went to WalMart and picked out some flowers for us to plant together.  That is on the agenda for tomorrow, so I will have to share that with you at a later time. 

I love these special events and times that I get to share with my children.  They are so precious to me and I love them so much!