Summer Fun!

I know, I know...I'm WAY behind on my posts! Let's just say I've been a little busy! I think I have finally got things under control enough that I hope to catch everyone up on what has been going on in our lives over the past few months.



I thought I would start by catching you up on our summer vacation. It was a very busy one! When I look back, I think I was a bit crazy taking my baby boy on such long trips! I really don't know how we survived our adventures. Between the constant stops for me to feed Garrett, the explosive diapers, and the potty breaks for Ryleigh, I don't know how we actually arrived at any of our destinations! Here are a few pics from our wild summer!



We made our yearly trip to Springfield for July 4th. We spent almost 2 weeks showing off our kiddos! We stayed with Brian's parents, and we had a great time. Ryleigh got lots of good "cousin" time in this trip. She loved playing with Taylor and spending the night at her Aunt Terri's. Everyone loved sweet Garrett! He got lots of good loving from his Mema and Aunt Terri. He also loved playing with his sister and cousins as well. Here is a picture of Taylor and Ryleigh making sure he was getting enough attention.






We had a wonderful cook out and watched the fireworks on the 4th. Ryleigh was so excited because she wasn't scared this year! She did plug her ears the whole time, but at least she didn't sit in my lap and cry! Garrett did great during the fireworks as well. He didn't seem to mind the noise, and he even caught a little cat nap during the show.

My little Firecrackers!

Here are the kids coloring! They loved doing puzzles and playing outside. Ryleigh even learned to ride a tricycle while we were there. We drove down to Branson one day to see the sights and we had a great time. We were so happy to spend some time with our Missouri family!

Ryleigh was also able to attend her first year of VBS this summer! She absolutely loved it! She still wears her t-shirt weekly and ask me when it will be time to go back. I think she has worn my i-pod out listening to her VBS songs! Here she is with two of her best buddies!

This summer, Brian's conference took us to South Padre! Yes, it was an extremely LONG car ride with a newborn. And the best way I can describe the experience is...INTERESTING! When we first arrived, we quickly realized our hotel was not the greatest. Let's just call it a roach motel. That is a nice description. It was filthy with cigerette burns in the bedding. I didn't want to touch anything, much less let my kids. I was pretty upset and by the end of the day, we decided to find another hotel. We had to "eat" the bill for it, but I just couldn't stay there one night. We ended up at another hotel. It was nicer and closer to the beach. Well, we ended up moving rooms two times in less than 12 hours at that hotel. And to top it off, on our last night there, I was awakened to a ROACH crawling on my FACE! Needless to say, I was ready to get off that island!!! I think the only good thing that happened while we were there was that Brian's conference went great, and we got to visit with some friends one evening.

Here is Garrett in his swimsuit! He wasn't very happy about it!

This picture of Brian and Ryleigh was about the most excitement we had at the beach. Once she got off his shoulder she started crying. She wouldn't get in the water and she didn't like the sand. I think we spend a whopping 5 minutes on the beach after the 10 min. walk through the deep sand with all our beach gear! Love it!

I think both the kids enjoyed the pool...so did daddy!

From Padre, we went to San Antonio and took the kids to Sea World. We had a great time! We split the trip into two segments. We went from 6:00 to close on the first day, and then went from opening to 1:00 the next day. We were able to see all the shows and play in the water, but we missed the miserable heat! It was a great mini vacation. Garrett did awesome! He rode in the stoller like a champ! Here are a few pics from our trip!

Ryleigh was so ready to play in the water!

She loved the kid rides! She even rode a roller coaster with her dad!

Ready for some Sea Lion fun!
So that is our summer in a flash! When we weren't traveling, we were at home taking in every second before football started back in August. We just love our family summers!