Summer's Ending

 It has been H-O-T down here in Florida.  Last summer was a total teaser.  It was a really mild summer last year.  I think this year is making up for last year though.  I am so ready for fall weather.  I know I can't complain though because living in Florida has given us the most amazing weather for the rest of the year.
One of our dear friends gave us some passes to the Tallahassee Museum back in July.  The weather that morning was awful.  It was 9:00 in the morning and we were drenched in sweat.  We ended up leaving a little early because of the heat.  However, the kids had a blast, so that's all that really counts.

 I thought these trees looked really cool.  I looked for alligators but didn't find any.  However, you couldn't pay me money to get into that water.  I can only imagine how many snakes and gators are lurking in those waters.  Blah!

 It was miserably hot but Jenna was just as pleasant as ever.

 Anna inside the church.  She was pretending to give a sermon.

 There was an old train the kids went in that they thought was pretty cool.  I can't even imagine how hot it must have gotten on those old trains.  I'm so glad I was born in a day with air conditioning.

 Last summer we went to the beach once.  This summer we've been three or four times and plan to make one more trip before it starts to cool off.  Every one of our beach trips has been incredible.  It's always really, really breezy and never too hot.  The water feels like a bath.  It's sooo warm.  Daniel is completely obsessed with playing in the sand.  That's pretty much all he does for the six hours we stay there.  We have it down to an art.  We bought a big canopy to keep us all shaded.  We bring a folding table, a high chair and pack-n-play for Jenna, and lots of sand buckets.  It's awesome.

 Always in love with him.

 Those clouds looked wicked but it never rained.

 Here's my little fish.  My big fish, Josh, taught my little Andrew fish how to body surf and they were buddies the whole time.  I loved watching them.

 We went with our friends and all the kids LOVED going on this huge raft together.  They thought they had all died and gone to heaven.

 This is as we were walking to the car.  Daniel had to have just one last dig.

 He's such a cute little man.

A Month of Days

 July is a month of special days.  Fourth of July lasts for several days in our house.  Then, there's Cow Appreciation Day, which is a big deal!  Lastly, there's Pioneer Day, celebrated by the members of our church.  It was a good month.  I've already documented the 4th of July festivities so we'll start with Cow Appreciation Day.  The kids absolutely LOVE this day.  They were so excited to get to go inside of Chick-fil-A and play on the playground.  Luckily, we saw some of our friends there and it made the whole experience more sweet.  We threw our "costumes" together at the very last second in the car.  Next year I will try and make some cute costumes.  Jenna just dressed as herself but the rest of us dressed up like cows.  It was a fun afternoon.

 Pioneer Day turned into Pioneer Week.  I really, really wanted our kids to feel the spirit of the pioneers who sacrificed so much for what they believed.  I looked up tons of stories about the hardships they had to go through and shared them with the kids each night.  We had a family home evening on pioneer life.  Bedtime stories that week were all about the miracles the pioneers experienced.  We even ate a meal that reminded us of pioneer life.  On the actual day, we had the kids dress like the pioneers did and went on a one mile walk.  We wanted them to see what one mile felt like and then explained to them the pioneers walked for more than 1100 miles in cold, hunger, and exhaustion.  I think the kids got a real sense of who the pioneers were, and that was our goal.  It's so important to remember who has gone before us and why we have what we have today.

 My little pioneer buddy.

 I also wanted to document this daily occurrence in our house.  Every night I put Jenna to bed as I rock her to sleep in her room with a bottle.  While I'm doing that, Josh is reading books to the big kids on the couch.  And every night, without fail, Daniel falls asleep mid-story from a long day of playing.  We think it's sweet.  After I put Jenna to bed, I come in and scoop up Daniel in my arms.  I take him to his bed, tuck his covers around his tiny body, brush his hair with my hand, and give him a kiss goodnight.  I love that little boy.

Summer Vacation

Summer time is a favorite of mine.  I love the laid back days, the warm sunshine, the cool pool, eating watermelon and going on vacation.  This year, vacation came to us.  My brother and his fiance, Stephanie, flew in from Utah along with my sister-in-law Amanda and my sweet nephews, David and Jacob.  We had a blast being together.  I love  those guys to death.  It's nice being with family because you don't have to put a front on for them.  You can just relax and they will love you no matter what.  The only bad part of the vacation was having to say goodbye.  I truly wish we were all next door neighbors.

Our vacation actually started off on a bad note.  My sweet little Jenna, who almost never cries, got a really high fever and was super sick.  I thought it was because her teeth were coming in, so I gave her some medicine to relieve the fever and we headed up to Columbus.  It turns out her fever had nothing to do with teething.  She had a bad ear infection and possibly strep throat.  For four days that little lady had a 104 degree temperature.  She was lethargic and fussy and completely opposite of how she normally is.  She wouldn't eat or drink hardly anything.  It was breaking this mama's heart.  

 Once she was on antibiotics, she slowly started to heal.  It took longer than I thought it would though.  I'm very grateful that she's back in good health and smiles at every glance again.

 This was Jenna for five days straight.  Poor thing.

 Okay, back to the vacation story.  I finally got to meet the wonderful Stephanie that I had heard so much about.  I'm always calling my mom for details about everything going on.  It was nice to get to experience it all first hand.  Stephanie is one of the sweetest, most pure-hearted people I've ever met.  I am incredibly excited that she and Greg are getting married.  We cannot wait to celebrate with them in just a few, short months on their big day.  Not only is she sweet, she's also drop down gorgeous!!  This is a really happy time for our family.

 Stephanie taught Anna some fun games in the pool and instantly became Anna's new BFF.

 Oh, that face.

 I seriously love this boy.  He's really been in a dancing phase lately.  We have this little table that plays music for Jenna.  Daniel loves pushing the button to play the music and then breaks out his dance moves.  He will close his little eyes and dance and ask me, "can you hear that music Mom?"  It's adorable.

 Here's the whole crew on 4th of July.  Group pictures can be hard to capture but are always worth it.

 We did lots of swimming!  Almost every picture on this post is of a kid making a silly face.  It's hilarious.  They were having a great time.

 "Take a picture of me, Mom!!"

 And then there's little Jenna....  I just LOVE her!

 I was telling Josh last night how much fuller our family feels because we have her.  She is such a blessing to us.

 My little niece, Aubrey, is as sweet as can be too.  I love that she and Jenna are just a few months apart.  Aubrey is so darling, and I loved getting to spend time with her.

 While everyone was here, we did A LOT of driving.  It was intense.  Here we are on the way to Tennessee.  We rented a cabin in the mountains to spend a few days together.  We stopped at Waffle House on the way up and had a fun little breakfast.

 Here we are at the cabin.  Prepare yourself for funny face overload.

 The cousins really got along well on this trip.  It was super fun for them to all be together.

 Yes, I am a wonderful parent.  I let my kids play with electric sockets for fun.  Bring me my medal.

 .....Don't worry.  We quickly redirected her.

 We had quite the time trying to make s'mores together.  Let's just say the fire was being stubborn.  I guess the wood wasn't dry enough, and it was tough to keep some good flames going.  On the bright side, Josh got a good workout in.

 There's nothing better for kids than finding some good rocks to throw.  There's nothing worse for parents than when your kids start throwing rocks at your car....

 Jacob's face is priceless.  Haha!

 Poor Josh worked really, really hard so we could roast a few marshmallows.  Thanks Baby!

 Andrew did a great job gathering wood for us.

 Daniel really wanted a picture of his stick.

 Daniel's little facial expressions, with those big brown eyes, get me every time.

 Jenna had her first piece of chocolate and loved it.  Clearly.

 We also took the kids fishing.  We didn't catch anything but had fun trying.

 Jenna was a champ as she ate veggie straws in her high chair.  I think she liked watching us fish.  ;-)

 Here's Dr. Lee giving his first fishing lesson.

 I love this boy!

 And this girl!!

 Cuties!

 We also took the kids on the Alpine Slide.  It was surprisingly way more fun than I thought it would be.  Anna LOVED it.  Andrew was too afraid but had fun watching us.  The little boys played on this cool toy motorcycle while they waited for us to get finished.  They may have had just as much fun as we did.

 Andrew, my future biker.

 The girls were playing together and melting my heart.

 The big kids had so much fun getting in the GIGANTIC hot tub on our patio.  They thought the bubbles were super fun!

 Jenna was super happy that night and let me snap a few fun shots of her.

 She's the sweetest!

 Miss Aubrey was not as excited to get her picture taken that night but certainly was just as cute.

 She looks like a little baby doll.  I love her!

 Granny with all her grand babies.

 Yes, this is the best picture I got....

 We also went down to the beach and had a perfect day.  It was sunny, not too hot, and the water was just right.  We bought a big canopy to keep us shaded and had several umbrellas.  We brought two pack-n-plays for the babies, a table for the food, and plenty of chairs to relax in.  In the picture below, my mom, Greg, and Stephanie were looking at something on a phone under this towel.  It was too funny not to capture.

 The future Mr. and Mrs. Stewart.  She really is the best!

 Two Sleeping Beauties on the beach.  Imagine that.

 We built lots and lots of sand castles.  Daniel was determined and focused and may have had more fun than anyone else.  He LOVES the sand.

 So, last time we went to the beach, I sprayed Josh's back with sunscreen and he sprayed mine.  Little did I know, I made Josh look like Zorro.  He showed me later that night how "good" of a job I did.  Oops....

 

I tried really hard this time around to do a better job, and I did.  

 Back to the cabin, (sorry this is out of order).  On our last day we all went on a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It. Was. BEAUTIFUL!!!  The drive was ridiculous.  I can't even imagine that place in the Fall.  I loved every bit of the scenery.

 The entire hike was almost three miles.  I loved going, but I was super nervous with my little ones.  I made them always hold an adult's hand because there were lots of steep, STEEP drop offs.  I did not like that part at all.  However, the rest of it was just perfect.

 Whoa!!

 Taking a little break.

 Ashley is such a trooper.  She never complained once.  Aubrey was as happy as could be up there.  I really do have the best sister-in-laws ever.

 Jenna and I got to hang out during the hike.  We had a great time!

 Isn't that background beautiful?

 At the end of the hike, there was a gorgeous waterfall.  It rippled down the mountain with big, beautiful boulders all around.

 We got to walk behind the waterfall and feel the cool water splashing us on the face.

 We took our shoes off and let our feet feel the cold mountain water.  The kids didn't seem too bothered by the temperature, but Jenna and I viewed the fun from the dry rocks.

 This is such a Daniel face.  He's just a ball of fun.

 It was a great, memorable day.

Congratulations, you made it to the end of this very long post!  Til next time....