Fun Day!

Last summer my friend Kristin and I surprised our kids with a Fun Day in downtown Atlanta. Since that day, our kids have been asking what we were going to do this summer for a Fun Day. The summer was crazy busy and we almost missed out on Fun Day but we made it happen this last week of summer. I woke my kids up early singing that it was Fun Day. They all woke up super excited but their behavior getting ready almost cost them their fun day. When we got to Kristin's they seemed to be having a similar morning so we just laughed it off and headed towards Helen with smiles on our faces. Our girls decided that Fun Day had to be something that we had never done before. Kristin and I finally settled on tubing down the river. 

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to. When we paid the girl at the checkout she said, "You guys are brave!" As we were boarding the bus to take us to the drop off spot, a man in line said the same thing. We looked at each other as if to say "Are we crazy?". One of the sweet workers on the bus helped us get all eight of us in to the river in our tubes and took our picture. Our tubes had bottoms which ended up being the best thing because that water was cold! Kristin and I each attached our tubes to our babies, the girls were attached and our middle boys were attached.

This picture makes me laugh because Hayes is still dry. He kept reaching over his tube in to the water and I kept telling him he was going to flip in to the water but he didn't listen. Right after this picture he toppled right over. His face was hilarious when he popped up out of the water. Like I said, the water was cold so it was a big shock.

The girls did great. We kept joking that Maddy was meant to be a river guide. She did a lot of work. Because there has not been much rain this summer, the river was a little low and we got stuck on rocks quite often. Every time I looked, Maddy was working hard to get them off a rock by using the push stick or climbing out and pulling them around the rocks. Reese was just sitting back and letting Maddy do the work.

We tried to stay together but we would get separated occasionally.

The boys were so cute on their tubes. They did great too but needed a little more help and wanted to be close to us.

There was a stop we could make and play on these water slides. The kids had a lot of fun doing this but I don't think we would do that again.

We ended up having so much fun and I am so glad that is what we chose for our Fun Day. Next time we would definitely buy (or bring) a push stick for each set of tubes and wear some type of water shoes. Other than that it was such a fun, exciting day and we can't wait to take the daddies back next time!

Golf Camp

Several months ago we had been talking about having Sam go to golf camp over the summer. He likes playing baseball but I am not sure he loves it. We wanted him to experience other sports while he is so young and thought this would be a great opportunity for him. Soon after we made that decision, our neighbor shows up at our house with a set of kid size golf clubs that had been his sons. It was perfect timing and just what help Sam decide he did want to go to camp. I signed him up soon after that and we talked and talked about it. We saw a dri-fit type golf polo shirt at Target and he wanted it for camp. He was excited...until it was actually time to go. My little home-body mama's boy cried when it was actually time for me to leave him at camp. 

I left him there quickly and came back when it was over two hours later. He seemed to be doing well and enjoying himself. The woman who was the instructor pulled me to the side when it was over and said he cried a lot that morning and said she hoped he was better the next day.

Well, the next day he was not happy to be going to camp again. Since I was taking Reese to CFA for breakfast, I promised him a Frosted Lemonade if he would keep it together. We sat there under the tent until his group walked off to go to one of the greens to learn about putting.

My favorite thing they learned was to take your hat off and look a person in the eye when you are greeting them/shaking their hand. It really was so cute to see him do that because in situations where he is being shy he will look at the ground. But doing this made him look so grown up.

Wednesday they got to actually play a few holes. Lance took the day off so he could drive the cart for Sam (it was required that a parent participate). Lance said he was really impressed with how well Sam did. Each morning they talked about things that happened the previous day and on Thursday morning one of the instructors said how well Sam drove the ball during their round.

Thursday was the last day and we had plans to go to White Water after camp. I promised Sam that if he didn't cry this day, I would pick him up early to head to White Water. He was still teary-eyed when I left but was all smiles when I picked him up to leave. He says he does not want to do golf camp again but I think if I throw a friend in the mix next time he will have a blast.

Reese is NINE!

I put off writing this post (it is already August 2nd) because I think I am in denial. I don't know how it is possible that Reese is already nine. I mean, she is halfway through her childhood and that breaks my heart! I don't want these next nine years to go as fast as these first nine have gone. We are starting to see some maturing and growth in her personality. She has moments where she is so helpful and caring. We have great conversations and discuss big things. However, there are still those moments of spice that are well known to our girl. She has great manners outside of the house but we are also working on tact. She is such a sweet friend and has her moments of sweetness with her brothers. She usually aims to please as long as it is a good day. She is so smart and so brave. She will jump in to a challenge head first. It is funny the things she chooses to be brave about though. For instance, she loves Rock n Rollercoaster at WDW and she loves the Mindbender at Six Flags (two rides that go upside down) but she refused to ride Dare Devil this summer at Six Flags. Now that we don't have as much time to go, she is regretting that decision. She still loves art and crafting and of course cheering. She is so excited for this football season to start. She is pumped for fourth grade and has no reservations about it at all.

She was so excited to wake up and be celebrated. She couldn't wait to open her presents. She had been asking for a Fitbit for a while. Lucky for her, right before her birthday, Lance won a new Fitbit at a conference so I got his hand me down because mine broke and Fitbit would not replace it. The warranty was expired on mine so Fitbit gave me a 25% discount code so we used that to buy Reese one. She was so excited and it has been interesting to see her activity each day. We also bought her an Alex Morgan US soccer team jersey. She can't wait to sport that during the Olympics. And she got that cute little Tervis Tumbler that she spied at Target one day.

Wearing her "Birthday Girl" shirt that my mom made her.

After we dropped Sam off at golf camp, we headed to CFA for her favorite breakfast! Once we picked him up we headed to a friend's pool that is so fun. The kids played and played and had a blast.

That evening she wanted to go eat Mexican food and see Finding Dory with Hallie.

The movie was super cute and they loved it!

We had a full day and loved celebrating our favorite girl!

July Fun

It didn't take us long to get back in to the groove of things after returning home from vacation. 

Six Flags fun!

All of the kids had a sleep over in Hayes's room

Lance and I had a date night to celebrate my birthday...it was an interesting night for sure!

We got to meet two of my cousin's sweet babies. They live too far away so when they came home their parents had a get together for everyone. It was so sweet and LOVED getting to snuggle some babies!

Reese went to Sparkles for the first time.

The kids had a dentist appointment...Hayes's first visit!

Another sleep over was had with the kids...this time in the foyer. I really didn't think they would sleep there all night but they did!

Time with friends. Kristin had the boys at her house and I had Maddy and Reese. I totally came out on the top of that deal so I owe her big next time.

We went to see one of Brody's baseball games. We are so proud of him and how well he plays.

We went out on the lake with our friends on their boat. I really didn't know what to expect with the kids but they had a blast! We could have easily stayed out on the lake the whole day.

Sam had four days of golf camp. He is so cute with his clubs on his back. However, he was not thrilled for me to leave him each day. He cried and cried each time I dropped him off. On Wednesday they got to play a few holes and they had to have a caddy so Lance took the day off to hang out with him. After their time on the course was over, we met up at White Water for a family day.

Cheer Camp

Reese was so happy to be home this summer during cheer camp week. She loves everything about it.

She is awesome at jumps.

And has the biggest smile out of everyone on the floor. I love her enthusiasm.

And bonus! One of her coaches was a girl we have known for years. They used to live in the neighborhood across the street from ours at our old house and just recently moved to our area.

She got to be with one of her best friends too!

On the third day of camp she earned the spirit award for all of the fourth grade group. She got that certificate and the bow in her hand. The bow that is in her hair in this picture below, she won when she was at camp before 1st grade.

This is one of Reese's favorite weeks of summer!

3rd of July

The day after we got home from our cruise fell on one of our favorite days of the year. A sweet city nearby does fireworks every year on the 3rd of July and it has become tradition to spend the evening there. This year it fell on a Sunday. The rule is that you are not allowed to put blankets, chairs, etc out in your spot until 4:00 pm. The first year we followed the rules and had a hard time finding a space so each year we go a little earlier and blankets are every where. This year, Anna and I headed out around 1:30 to take our blankets and chairs and again it was packed. Luckily we found a spot in our normal area to set up our stuff. Some one said the blankets started getting put out on the lawn around 10:00 that morning!

Reese spent the day with some friends and I tried to get the boys to nap but I think Hayes was the only one who did. We went out to eat with friends before heading back down to the fireworks. We arrived around 7:00 and ran in to my cousin Celeste and her husband Shane. We got set up and visited with them for a minute before they headed off to hang out with their friends. This year was extra special because Reese had her two best friends together to hang out with. We bought tons of patriotic tattoos and glow-in-the-dark toys (balloons, necklaces, etc). The girls decided to put on mustache tattoos.

The fireworks were great as always and we loved all the time we had together!