Summer Lovin' Part 2

Well I am in deep depression today because it is the last day before school starts.  I know every season has its fun parts and I look forward to a lot of those things but saying goodbye to summer is so very hard for me.  I love everything about summer!  Vacations, the beach, not having a bedtime for the kids, sleeping in, and just having absolutely NO schedule at all.  I live for that and seeing it end just really has me in the dumps.  I know after today life kicks into overdrive with school, baton, soccer, and church.  The days will be busier and full of activities and I do love all of that but it just takes a week or two to get back in the full swing.  At the end of June I did my first post highlighting all the fun we were having at the first part of summer so this is going to highlight the second half of the summer. Of course we started July out celebrating the 4th but we have been having so much fun since then too!  We had our big San Diego vacation in July which was a lot of fun, and I had a birthday in there too.  I can't believe just how fast the month flew by! It always does!

animals of all kinds flock to her

 Courtney and I are only one day apart!  Our moms worked together for years and we joke that we became friends in the hospital nursery.   We had a blast celebrating our birthdays with our friends.  We all went to Greenville to Breakout.  This is one of those places where you are locked in a room and have one hour to solve the mystery to escape.  We were in the casino room and unfortunately we did not break out!  We were so close!  It was so much fun though and we had a blast that night!  We will definitely be doing it again.

Cohen has been so lucky this summer to get to spend time with her best friends.  Here she is with her friend Josi and her cousin Halleigh.  They were at the movies watching "The Secret Life of Pets".

Brock made All-Stars this summer so we got to watch him play.  He isn't much for taking pictures, (teenage boys are the opposite of teenage girls I guess).   His team not only won the district but also were state runner's up.   Brock & Paula left the airport from our San Diego vacation for another week in a hotel in Warner Robins.  Those FC boys were great!

July 9
While Cohen & I watched Brock play in one of his games, Kelly took Bryce and Kate to Gainesville for an air show.   Bryce absolutely LOVES airplanes.  Every other word is "AIRPANE".   I think he was in heaven!

Later that evening we all met up at Nana's and headed out to eat for my birthday.  Sug & Pop were going to be gone on their big Alaska trip so we decided to celebrate together a few days early.  We all ate downtown at Ted's Most Best and really enjoyed it.  It was a little hot but the big sandbox for the kids was a hit.  Bryce was making friends for sure.  The food was good and we definitely want to make it back there soon.   After dinner we went back to Nana's for birthday donuts!!  One of my favorite things is the bavarian cream donut at Dunkin' Donuts.  YUM!

We continued to log in as much swim time with our friends as possible.  Kate loves going to Ronnie & Tonya's pool and wants to catch a frog every time she goes.  I'm pretty sure she got one every time we were there!

Right before our trip we had to get haircuts for Kate and Bryce.  Well Bryce has not been on his best behavior when it comes to hair cuts with Annie.  This time however was much much better!  They had a little chat beforehand and as you can see Bryce was hamming it up.  I was so glad to finally get a hair cut without the entire place thinking he was being tortured.

 My Mama and I took the girls to the American Girl Boutique one day.  We had lunch at the bistro and let the girls shop.  Cohen had been saving her money for a while and got to buy Lea Clark, the girl of the year.  Kate had no interest in getting a new doll but went straight to the pets and picked out a little dog to take home.  She said she "already had a baby".   That was a very smart choice but she also has a lot of animals at home too!  We have about every kind they make!

Later that night we got to eat supper with Suzy.  IT was Bible school week at church so we ate good before heading out to VBS.

Here was a picture of the VBS group on the last night.  We had a good turnout with all the kids!

I was the crew leader of the rising kindergarteners and they were one sweet bunch!

Summer nights are the best!  They are so relaxing, no certain bed time and just enjoying the long daylight hours.  One of our favorite things is going out on the lake with the Harbin's.  On our last lake night, we all headed to the "big rock" that is a popular spot to jump off.  There is a rope to help you climb up and then you can jump in.  Well we decided to give it a try.  The climb up was more scary than the jump!  Jumping from rock to rock with only a rope to hold was definitely not the easiest thing.  Especially when you look back and down knowing a fall would definitely be trouble.  Once your up the easy way down is jumping and it is much higher once your up there!  Either way we jumped and made it!  It was a lot of fun and other than a little earache that night we were good! Lol!!

Cohen had the best time going to camp meeting with her BF Josie.  She LOVES camp meeting and now looks forward to it each summer.  She was there for 3 days with Josie and her family and loved it.  I am so glad she can do these fun things with her friends and love it more that we are close friends with Josie's family too!  Its special seeing your children grow up with your friends' children too!

At the end of July we hated it but it was time to do our back to school shopping for school supplies.  We actually love our shopping trip just not the thought of summer ending and school starting.   These kids have been school shopping now for 4 years!

Cohen recently had a baton clinic and I was trying to entertain Bryce while we waited for her.  Before the door was shut he kept waving at her and calling out "hey Coco".  When we shut the door he knew she was on the other side and was trying to get a peek at her...under the door.  I thought it was so funny and cute.  Of course I think everything he does is cute.

And now here we are at our last week before school.  The kids were with Suzy over the weekend while we were still on our trip.  She did send me these pictures of them all ready for bed and again all ready for church.

This week has been back to it for me.  I have enjoyed my last few days with my kids and tried to remember all the fun that does come with school.  I will have some one on one time with this little fella!  He's turning into quite the shopping helper.

Cohen and Josie had one last sleepover of the summer and were writing songs.  Here Cohen is singing one she wrote for Bryce.  She wanted him to sit and listen and well you know how well that goes.  This is the split second  he was watching and listening.

Suzy told me that she and Kate had gotten into playing Candyland.  Kate loves to play but the problem is she hates to lose.  She has tried to start stacking the deck so she gets to draw all the good cards like the cinnamon card.  You have to watch this one!  She wants to start over anytime she gets a bad card...hmmmm.

Meanwhile these two peas in a pod will sit and laugh together at everything!  I love it!

 Dear summer, please hurry back because I love you so!  Praying for a great school year for my sweet kiddos, and looking forward to the fun that comes with it!