Wooden Playground!

One day last week after Joel got home from work, 

we headed to the wooden playground in Soddy Daisy,

and we had the whole place to ourselves!

We made a summer fun list at the end of May,

and this is one of the things that hadn’t been checked off yet.

We still have a few more things to go!

Meet the Teacher!

Last Friday we got to go meet Lydia’s teacher.  She is very sweet!

She had Amazing Grace playing in the background.

Heather helped us carry in all our supplies.  

Lydia’s classroom is just a few doors down from Heather’s.

They’re both excited about that!

Anna Kate wore her bee shirt for Buzz and Rhea Central.

She’s looking forward to going to school with Lydia next year!

First Day of School!

Back to School Feast!

We had our annual back to school feast on Saturday night. Joel grilled up some chicken and veggies. It was delicious!

Lydia got some Rhea Central paraphernalia, and Anna Kate got a brand new workbook so we can play school together this year.

After dinner we had a nice little campfire and yummy s’mores.

And now it’s almost time to pick up Lydia from her first day of second grade! Can’t wait to hear how it went!

Cousins!

My Boys!

I got to sneak in a little date with my boys one Friday for lunch while Lydia was at school and Anna Kate was at her Gramma's house.  We went to one of my all-time favorites, Zaxby's!

Aren't they both just the cutest?!

Mother's Day Tea!

Our church held it's first Mother's Day tea this year.

The girls and I loved getting all fancied up and sipping tea together!

And we got to enjoy it with some other lovely ladies as well!

Anna Kate has recently learned how to write her name. Look how good she is!

Lydia got her name drawn and won a tree of chocolate eggs!

She was thrilled!  Surprisingly, the girls have only eaten about halfway down the tree. Even more surprisingly, I haven't even eaten one of those eggs! Better not start now, or I'd probably finish off the tree. Haha!

Strawberry Shirts!

The girls and I got matching t-shirts for the Strawberry Festival a few weeks back.

Anna Kate and I visited the craft booths that were set up early one day while Lydia was at school, and I guess Joel must have been at home with Steven.

And here we all are, ready for the big parade!

The boys weren't interested in watching the parade or getting in on the matching t-shirt action, if you can believe it!

Painting with Daddy!

Steven got to hang out and watch his daddy paint while I was somewhere with the girls.

I had left Steven taking a nap but came home to find him set up like this.

They both loved it.

Before you know it, he'll be painting right alongside him!

Secret Playground!

On our second day of summer break, last Thursday, we decided to go on a morning adventure to our "secret playground." We like to call it that because it's kind of hidden away, and no one else seems to know about it!  We're almost always there by ourselves. Perfect! Oh, and it's on the lake!  

Sometimes we eat a picnic lunch on this dock and feed our crumbs to the fish.

We bought this bike for Anna Kate when she was 2 I think, but even when I was buying it, I thought to myself, we better get the one with boy colors, because our next baby will probably use it more and he'll probably be a boy! Ding, ding, ding! I was right! 

We took a few laps around the walking track.

We found a big turtle and saved it from being squished on the road.

Then we played on the playground and swang on the swings.

Steven and I went down the slide. He looks thrilled. Ha.

A good time was had by all!

Cousin Pile Up!

We've been enjoying hanging out with the Shibleys a lot more now that school is out for the summer!  My girls loooove being with their cousins!

Knoxville!

On Saturday Steven and I took a little trip up to Knoxville for a baby shower for one of my good friends from college.

We had a splendid time together, besides the fact that he cried almost the entire way to Knoxville!

I had to just crank up the radio and tune him out.

As soon as I pulled him out of his carseat, he was as happy as could be!

I always enjoy getting together with these girls, even if it is a rare occurrence these days.

We sure had some fun times together back at TWC!

Suzy (in the middle) is expecting a baby boy at the end of July. So excited for her! She was one of my first friends in college, besides Ashley. The two of us went to BCM (a Bible study group) together every Wednesday night as nervous little freshmen. I can't believe that was almost 16 years ago!!! Ahh!

Anyways, I had a great time.

At the restaurant, Steven was as good as gold and better!

Then he slept the whole way home and never made a peep!

Fun Day!

This past Saturday was Fun Day at camp!

It was Lydia's third Fun Day to attend, and she did indeed have a fun day!

She's pictured here with one of my old camp counselor's daughters. I believe I also worked alongside her for a few summers when I was just starting out as a junior counselor. Anyways, it was fun for these girls to be together at camp!

And here are all the cousins that got to go to Fun Day together, with a bonus Anna Kate squeezed in the middle.  She had a fun day hanging out with her dad and a few of the younger cousins.

Steven and I were hanging out in Knoxville with some of my college friends, but that's news for another day!

Summer!

Joel comes home from work for lunch most days.

Last Wednesday, he came in with a turtle!

It was the first day of our summer break, so Lydia decided to name it Summer.

We made it a nice little home and kept it for a few days, but it stunk!

Plus, I was afraid we might kill it.

So a few days later we let it go down near our creek.

I hope the girls enjoyed it, because that's probably the closest they'll ever be getting to having a pet.  (Or at least I hope it is!)  Haha!

Sunday School!

Crab Trunks!

Steven first visited the camp pool last year when he was 12 days old!

That's quite a big baby I cooked up!

He wore a pair of crab swim trunks, given to him by his Gramma. 

Today, we had our first pool party of the season, and Steven wore the same swim trunks!

Man, oh man, he's grown a lot in 10 months!

Pizza Hut!

We have a little tradition of going to Pizza Hut every Saturday for lunch. 

It's a pretty tasty tradition.