4th of July with Yaya and Papa

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our country's independence and enjoying time with my mom and dad.

We started the fourth off with an early morning 5K race.

This was the first time Jeremy has participated in a race like this.

He finished the 3.2 miles in less than 30 minutes (I think something like 29:19)

A few people from our church ran, so it was good motivation for him.

It was fun hanging out with friends while we waited for our spouses (and daddies) to cross the finish line.

After his race, we had to walk all the way back to the park and line up for the Fourth of July parade and the American Heritage Girls float.

Maybe I am weird, but I really enjoy walking alongside the float.

My mom bought some bubbles, which were a great hit for us walkers.  I tried to find all the babies I could and blow bubbles at them!

The girls enjoyed squiring people with their water guns.

After a 2 hour nap at home, we took off again for a party at a business partner's house.  The live right on the water and have a dunk tank, water slide, lots of food, kayaks, and dancing to keep everyone occupied.  It was actually a lot of fun.

The kids had a blast in the water while dad threw them down the water slide.

Jeremy took Nicole out on the kayak.

Mom, the kids, and I had fun dancing.

Nicole even caught a fish

After sleeping in a bit on Saturday morning, the kids enjoyed playing with yaya for a while.  Mom put on a puppet show with them, first using a little doggy puppet.

This quickly morphed into a full on painting of Yaya to make her the puppet.

I know this is a memory the children will enjoy.

I'm so thankful that she likes to get down and be silly with them.

I think she may even have more fun than they do ;)

Ramblings of May and June....

There were a few "little" things that I wanted to document from the past two months.

Yes, that is what you think it is....a rainbow loom leash for the poor little lizards on our lanai.  Kind of cute...and kind of creepy.

We went back to the Sunflower Maze again this year.  It is just a spectacular scene, with fun little "old time" games for the kids to play.

 We found another dead end.  Lost again.  Oh No!

Nicole completed her second piano recital.  She has learned so much in one year of piano.  We love her teacher, Mrs. Amanda!

Nicole also made her first batch of brownies completely by herself.  She even took the completed dish out of the oven (after testing to see if it was done)

We went blueberry picking for the first time.  They were delicious

The girls had their leveling up ceremony for AHG.  Hannah is no longer a pathfrinder...she is now a Tenderheart, and working on earning badges already.

 Our two little American Heritage Girls!

At the last minute, I found out that the hurricane hunter aircraft was going to be on display for a few hours.  Since we were learning about hurricanes, and hurricane preparedness, I decided to take the kids.

 We got to talk to the pilots and ask them all sorts of questions about flying into these crazy storms (Nate kept asking about the buttons).

 In the strategy room on a mobile fire services vehicle.  It was neat to see and hear how they use these vehicles for emergency situations.

We pick up on lots of daily schooling in the summer.  This "makes up" for the missed time in the winter when it is beautiful and we just want to be outside.  It is hot and nasty, and unless we are in a pool, we are inside.  Might as well bust out our math now :)

Nathan got his first black eye...and boy was he proud of it!  He was outside playing with a group of 4 year olds and fell down.  It sounds like he fell into another kid's shoe.  I wasn't there, I was at a training, and he was in a little nursery class that took a break outside.  He was fine...and felt pretty tough :)

I got to spend the night with my mamma in Orlando and attend her annual hair show.  Of course, I jumped on the hotel bed for my kiddos :)

 No she's not my sister, yes she is my lovely mamma!

Nicole wanted a picture with me.  I couldn't say no to that!

 We spent a day at Clearwater Marine Aquarium with my aunt and uncle who were visiting.  Nicole was asked to

 Poor little Winter

 They put his tail on for a little physical therapy

 Now everyone else got a chance to hold the tail.

 Watching part of Dolphin Tail with Aunt Julie in the movie display area.

 We had six caterpillars form chrysallis this month.  It was fun to watch the change

 Nicole climbing her tree.

 We spent a nice afternoon painting.  The kids all came up with their own ideas.

 "Bored" by Michele, "Adventurer" by Nicole, "On the Savannah" by Hannah, "Barn" by Hannah, "Elephant" by Nathan, and "Stars" by Nathan.

The other day on our way home from church, Hannah asked over, and over, and over again if we could go to the pool.  Jeremy finally said, "Hannah, if you ask one more time then you won't get to go all week!".  When we got home, she promptly put this shirt on...but she didn't ask again.  Smart Girl!

 We finally painted the school room, and installed this awesome 16 foot white board.  It's two pieces of "shower board" from The Home Depot and cost just $26.

 I have asked Nicole to give Hannah piano lessons this summer.  This was their first lesson.

 Nicole her neighbor friend learned how to start a fire using a magnifying glass.

 Jeremy started the summer off right with a baseball field mowed into the backyard