A Bunch of Girls

Nate, Julie, Mimi, Papa, and friends recently visited D.C. for the Marine Marathon, so the girls came to visit us. We started our trip with a visit to Pump It Up in Fort  Myers.

It was two large rooms filled with bounce houses, slides, and obstacle courses. Fuzz LOVED it. I don’t know why I was surprised about that. Here she is wanting to go down the slide for the first time, but MAA and AEA were holding her arms. I think we all thought she shouldn’t go down because she was so little, but Fuzz thought otherwise. They let go and she went flying! After that, there was no stopping her!

Totally cool. So much fun for all ages. We’ll definitely go back.

The weather was so beautiful that we had pizza outside in the back of Uncle Jon’s truck.

After church, more cousins came to play.

Play-doh competition…kinda.

We packed up to meet some friends at the park. I was reminded of how much of a blessing my ride is.

The weather was great all week, so we were outside a lot.

We enjoyed our time with these super sweet girls. They are polite, helpful, and fun. (Fuzz is the one covered with the pink towel.)

Sweet Cousins

Dress-up shoes, Bibles, princess wands, and totally adorable!

Kaci & Rea

Visit with Cousins

Boing!

When JMA was away, the girls and I went to celebrate Abigail’s birthday at Boing! I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was super fun to watch. Fuzz was too young, but was all about doing it. As soon as we walked in, Rea said she didn’t want to jump because she didn’t want to wear the required helmet. So the girls and I watched the others (including Mimi & aunt Julie) have a sweaty, fun time!

We convinced Abigail to allow us to go to dinner somewhere other than Chick-fil-a in exchange for milkshakes there afterwards. Fuzz had a couple shakes herself.

Great Ending!

Julie invited us to join them to see Disney on Ice.

A. DOR. ABLE!!!

Going into it, Rea knew princesses and ice were involved, but I’m sure she didn’t know how the two would work together.

I loved watching all the girls take everything in. Rea was enamored by it all and sat attentively the entire time…not a lot of talking or expression, just observing.  (I love watching her… she is so much like me.) We bought really expensive popcorn in those fabulous tubs and took this great group picture once it was over! 

 

Ok, so I realize it doesn’t seem all that amazing of a “grand finale”, but you just had to be there, I guess….. big sisters, little sisters, cousins, friends, girly-ness, live entertainment (gets me every time), DISNEY, expensive salty popcorn, new experiences, etc…..put all this together …makes for a fantastic memory!

Then we concluded our GREAT evening by picking up our very own prince charming…..daddy-o.…from the airport!

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Today in the news…

Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, dies at 56.

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”- Steve Jobs

Rough Start…Great Ending!

JMA went on a business trip to San Francisco for several days last month. While he was gone, I took RJA for her 5 month check-up and she got shots. She felt pretty yucky for about 12 hours…she was being her normal sweet self, but looked like this….

After a bath to bring down her temperature and soak off the band-aids, she snuggles up on my bed and went to sleep.

We took advantage of daddy being gone and planned a trip to Lakeland at the end of the week. We loved watching Aunt Julie and the girls doing school. Reagan helped them do their calendar….

…then her own little seat during journal time. So sweet! So big!

(Sitting back watching all this brought a lot of interesting thoughts about homeschooling. More on this later maybe.)

After school, Aunt Julie had a spontaneous idea to use our new passes to Mosi (Museum of Science & Industry)…so we packed up and went.

AEA and RJA were the only ones on board at first…then the others jumped on.

Since we only had a couple of hours, we chose a small kids section of the museum. We’ll go back a few more times to see the other exhibits. We practiced “less is more” this trip….

Tomorrow I will write about the GRAND FANALE to the week!

Another Summer Trip

We visited a local hands-on kid’s museum before the kids went back to school. (I won an annual pass at a fundraiser for a friend battling cancer.) Here’s a little sampling…

The 3D movie.

Alligator petting.

Tarantula holding.

Goofiness.

Boys creating a roller coaster.

Boys working together again.

Success!

Mimi and magnets.

RJA learning so much.

So brave during a hurricane.

Checking out the touch tank.

Happy day!

One day.

Tonight I was praying with Rea before bedtime.

I was asking God to bring good friends into her life and asking him to help her be a good friend to others.

She whispers…

“And that he won’t make Gramps sick”

As tears began to roll down my cheeks, I proceeded to ask God to heal Gramps.

One day, Rea, one day.

More Goodness

JMA and I recently cleaned the pictures off our phones. Oh my! We really should do it more often because I have the need to sort ALL of them…we’re talking several hundreds…. and when my precious baby girls are involved, not one can be deleted. Well, I came across some favorites from our summer trip to the beach that I felt I had to share. 

On the way up, we stopped at Aunt Kelsey’s for the night. (Uncle Al was in Connecticut interning at ESPN!) We visited, laughed at Kels scold her dog, and ate some really good Italian take out. We just thought our sweet baby was just too cute here…

Getting ready to hit the road here!

Motorcycle ride at the arcade.

She chose this fake green ring with the 563 tickets we won that day.

LOVE me some sweet tea at Lambert’s! (and a sleeping baby!) I was trying to link you to last year’s picture at Lambert’s, but I can’t find it quickly. Oh well.)

Classic picture of grandkids sitting on the swing at Gr.mommy and gr. daddy’s house. (I would love to link you to previous pics on this swing too, but not tonight.)