Summer, week 3

Monday: I actually had to set the alarm clock this morning, because the girls had cheer camp to attend!  We went and picked up Raegan, who I'm watching when her mom works, and then headed up near Winder to cheer camp.  Sydney woke up c-r-a-n-k-y, saying she didn't feel well.  I couldn't tell if it was real or fake, and I honestly felt a bit guilty leaving her at camp... but, once she saw the fun gym with all the cool equipment, she chippered-up rather nicely.  Raegan, Parker, and I watched them for about 30 minutes before heading to a nearby park.  We met up with our friends Kristin, Savannah, and Ryker again.  They played and played for a couple of hours... it was HOT!!!  We had a picnic in the shade and then ventured out where the sign said "path ends in 600 feet, open meadow ahead".  It was a cool place to get some pictures!  We then headed back to pick up the girls, and we got to see the last 30 minutes of their camp.  They were jumping on the trampoline at this point, and then practiced their group cheer at the end (O.M.G... Taylor and the cheer... it was SO cute!).  We headed home, and the babysitter came over so I could run (holy 91 degree heat) and go to the grocery store (Stephen flew to Arkansas for the day).  We hung out the rest of the evening, staying cool in the AC, warming up leftovers, trying to get Parker to go on the potty (no such luck!) and playing upstairs quite nicely.  It was a good, napless day, so I'm hoping everyone gets a restful night's sleep!

This was Sydney right before dropping her off.  

This boy sweats so much, he doesn't need hairspray to make his hair stand straight up!  Just sweat!

Taylor at the end of the camp session today!

Tuesday: Today was day 2 of cheer camp!  We picked up Raegan again and headed toward Winder.  After dropping the girls off, Raegan, Parker and I headed to Great Clips to get Parker a good haircut.  Then, we went to the Winder Airport to see some airplanes.  We got to see an airplane taxi in, park, two men get out, have their car driven right up to the airplane, them get in the car and leave.  Must be nice, eh?  Then, we went to the library, and lucky for us, story time started within about 10 minutes!  A lady read to them, played games, and blew bubbles.  Then, we went to lunch, then headed back to the little town of Auburn (where the cheer camp actually is).  It's a really small town that the locals have made really cute.  We tried to go to the park, but it was closed down for construction.  We walked up the block and found a police station.  I decided to take the kids by to see if we'd happen to run into an officer.  We didn't, so I asked the lady behind the desk if any officers were available to say hi.  Two policemen walked through the door (hubba, hubba!) and were so sweet, giving high fives and posing for a picture.  Raegan and Parker were so excited.  Then, they have this random train car parked by the railroad tracks that is open for people to go in.  After all this excitement, we headed back to cheer camp to get Sydney and Taylor.  We headed back home and played inside the rest of the day, while it stormed outside!

Haircut.  No tears!

Super Parker! ( I have no idea who this super hero is.  Better get on that.)

bubbles!

This is how we found Taylor when we got to camp.  Apparently, Sydney had said something that had made her mad and she didn't budge for the last 30 minutes!

Fudgsicle on an 87 degree day... bath not optional.

Wednesday: Today was the last day of cheer camp!  Raegan didn't come play today, so the three kids and I headed out early.  We dropped the girls off and Parker and I headed to Harbins Park to run.  It wasn't too hot, but it was muggy.  Parker played on the playground for a bit, and then we ran a couple of errands before running back home.  Since Stephen was in town, I made Parker lunch and then he took a good, long nap.  I went back to pick the girls up and I got to watch their performance.  It was adorable!  I realized I need to sign my kiddos up for gymnastics (consistently) because they really enjoy it.  We came back home, and I took a 2 hour nap.  I got up in time to get ready to go to church for our summertime small groups.  They do small groups differently in the summer, where it's a potluck dinner and we do a group lesson where we sit in smaller tables of 6-8 people to talk.  It's nice, because you don't have to commit to every Wednesday, since everyone has different summer plans.  We didn't get home until late, and we all hit the hay!

All that cheering wore her out!

Thursday: We left town around lunchtime today, after a morning of packing up and getting ready.  We headed down to south GA for a long weekend!  Stephen had to go down to Jacksonville for work on Friday, so we made it a family affair and went down to Waycross to see Stephen's family.  Around 5:30 PM, we got to Stephen's dad's house, and he cooked us a feast.  We then headed over to Stephen's cousin's house.  They just had a new baby, and they have a little girl who is a week younger than Parker, so the kids got to play.  It was fun, and the kids were able to blow of some steam after that long drive!

Parker pushing his baby.

He loved baby Aubree!  

Prince(ss?) Ariel.

Parker and Addie Grace!

Friday: We woke up early and headed down to Jacksonville!  Stephen dropped me and the three kiddos off at a children's museum, while he went to his meeting.  We stayed for about 2.5 hours, which was a perfect amount of time.  There was a lot to do- an indoor playground, (pretend) firetruck/ambulance/police car, indoor basketball, a radio/DJ booth, a puppet show, a grocery store, etc.- but 2.5 hours was about max.  Anyways, the kids had fun, and when Stephen picked us up, we went to a seafood place for lunch on Jacksonville Beach.  Then, we walked out to the pier overlooking the beach and ocean.  That water was calling my name!  Unfortunately, my bathing suit was back in Waycross!  :(  That night, we went back to Stephen's cousin's house and we ordered pizza.

He'd pick up a fruit and look at each one.  I caught this funny look, which made me laugh :)

Oh, so healthy!  Too bad it doesn't happen all the time in real life.

It was hot!

Saturday: We woke up and headed to a nearby park this morning.  It wasn't the biggest hit, as Sydney fell off the balance beam and got a huge bruise on her thigh, and the gnats were out. of. control.  Yuck. So, back to the house we went!  After lunch, Parker went down for a nap and I took the girls to the mall for a couple of hours.  Then, we headed over to another one of Stephen's cousin's house and went swimming!  As fearful as I am of the pool with the three kids, thankfully, everything went well. The kids had a blast.  We grilled out, hung out, and got home really late (again!).

Jumping to cousin Logan!

Giving Addie Grace some kisses.

Sunday: We woke up, packed up, and headed home!  Homeward bound!  The 5 hour drive was long, with the kids asking every 20 minutes how much longer until we got home.  But, we finally got home around 2:30.  Stephen and I crammed in a bunch of things that had to be done- grocery store, lawn mowed, deep cleaning of house, dinner cooked, kids bathed.  It is so good to be home!

Summer, Week 2

Monday:  Today, we woke up early and had to take our car to the shop.  Once we got home, we met our friend Kristin and her little girl and boy at a nearby park.  We packed a picnic lunch, so we were able to play and stay through lunchtime.  They came back to our house for a little while to play some more.  When they left, Parker went down for a nap, and the girls and I went across the street to our neighbor's house to play.  Their little boy is 3-1/2 (and he has a baby brother) and the girls like playing with him and all his thousands of toys.  Literally.  We left their house to go pick up our car, and that night, we went to church for Vacation Bible Camp!  I am leading a group this year, and both Sydney and Taylor are able to participate.  Parker came with us, too, because Stephen had a late conference call for work.  We didn't get home until 8:45, so it was a late night for the kiddos!

Selfies on the long ride to the car shop!

Sydney got up on stage to recite a bible verse!

Tuesday:  Stephen left town Tuesday around lunch time, so I got to run at the park in the morning, and then the kiddos and I stayed home all day!  We played outside in the morning, did some "school" while Parker napped (I got them some workbooks to work through this summer).  We went to Chick Fil A for dinner and then headed to VBC again.

"shooting" the lizard.

Sydney wanted Parker to have a mohawk.

The 4 girls in my group!

Part of my VBC group.  I think I'm the only one looking!

Wednesday:  Our babysitter came over this morning so I could go to the park and run.  Our friend Raegan came over today, too, to play.  We did a bunch of stuff... rode jeeps, rode bikes, went on a walk, did school, board games, played outside in the water, did a craft, etc.  We ate dinner and then we all headed to VBC again!

Visiting the neighbors.

Thursday:  This morning, I took the kids to go pick some strawberries.  It was a little muddy from yesterday's rain, and the kids weren't really into it... and the strawberries were a little scattered, since the season is about to end.  BUT, we did it!  We got a gallon of lovely strawberries.  The kids cheered up when we got some homemade strawberry ice cream and went to a nearby park.  When we got home, Parker went down for a nap and the girls did more school stuff.  They're really excited about it!  We went to VBC again that night.

Friday:  Today was the day of no rest!  I did the grocery shopping (something Stephen has done oh-so-faithfully for the last few years, since he could work from home on Fridays.  Now, it's all me!) first thing in the AM.  I got home, fed the kids lunch, and we drove into Marietta to go visit my BFF's new house and her and her boys.  The kids played for a couple of hours and had fun!  Though my 2- and 4-year-olds were starting to get cranky, and it was getting close to traffic-time, so we headed out about 3:30.  I thought traffic would be fine, but it took us 1.5 hours to get home :(  The good thing is that those certain 2- and 4-year-olds had a good nap!  We whipped up a quick dinner at 5:00, ate, left at 5:30 to get to VBC at 5:45 (the last night!).  We wrapped it up, and the girls and I stayed late to help clean the church up and get it back together for Sunday.  Then, we headed to Chili's for a very late night snack with some friends.  We didn't get home until 11 PM- my girls have never been out this late before!  Luckily, Stephen had kept Parker, so he was sound asleep.  It was a late night and I was absolutely exhausted... I think I can chalk it up to the first week of summer and getting used to being on the go all day long, and also going to VBC every night and keeping up with and entertaining a group of eight 4-10 year olds.  Whew!

The girls made their own lunch. Suh-weet!

At Ashley's house!  This is Landon and Sydney.

they were O-U-T!

Alexandra and Lindsey, the two best role models!

The kiddos made the slide show!

Heading to Chili's!

Taylor was sad Friday night before bed, so I slept with her.  Stephen took this picture in the morning.  Poor Taylor!

Saturday: The girls and I totally slept in this morning! (well, "slept in" means 8 AM... wow, I'm old!)  Sydney actually stayed asleep until almost 9:30.  Stephen took the girls to do the Home Depot Kids workshop, where they built a little truck.  Parker and I went to the park and I pushed him in the jogging stroller, then he played on the playground.  We played the day away, and I did some house cleaning (no more maids!  This is all me now!)  Around 4, our friends, Monica and Tim, picked me, Stephen and Sydney up and we headed over to the Gwinnett Arena to see Third Day in concert!  (Parker and Taylor stayed with the babysitter)  We met more friends for dinner at Tin Lizzies, and then we headed to the concert.  It was a great concert- there were several other performers (Matt Maher, Colton Dixon, Josh Wilson, Brandon Heath) and then Third Day rocked it out.  We got home after 11, and poor Sydney was just exhausted.  It was her first concert, and it was fun!

Sunday: We woke up, went to church, and we ended up having a really fun/busy day outside.  Our neighbor is completely re-landscaping their backyard, so they've had a BobCat and other fun boy equipment out there for a couple of weeks.  The kids played on those, got to ride on the BobCat, we helped them a little in their yard, they helped sow our ground to plant some grass seeds.  I also got our garden ready and planted some seeds.  Our kids and their little boy played on our jumpy house.  We were outside for probably 7 hours straight.  We were so dirty!  We grilled out, took a good, long shower, and called it a night.  Let's just say we should all sleep well tonight!!

The VBC kids got to sing a song in front of the adults at church!