Already? (Beware, its a marathon post!)

As I sit here to type, I am having a hard time believing that it is already mid-July! Half of our summer is nearly over, but it feels as though it just began! The 4th of July has passed us by, Luke finished up his last day of summer preschool this past Thursday (we decided to do the short 4 week session just to keep him in a nice routine. He loved it!) and now we are already looking ahead to Ellie's 2nd birthday in just a few short weeks! Crazy!

So before things get REALLY carried away, I thought I had better get caught up to speed. :) We spent our 4th of July this year as we have for many years past...in the company of good friends! My dear friend Laura lives within walking distance to the stadium where we have watched the fireworks each year for as far back as I can remember. Instead of hauling all of our kiddos INTO the stadium this year, Laura graciously opened her home to a brood of us. :) We ate yummy food while all of the kids played; and as the sun set, we settled into our lawn chairs to watch the fireworks. Both Ellie and Luke LOVED them again this year! No fear in this family! Ellie snuggled up into my lap for most of the show and I giggled with her as she'd 'ooh and ahhh' over the colors. :) Good times. Here are some photos of the day...

Hanging out at home before the big festivities...



My babies and I...

A replica of an older photo...you can see how much the kids have grown!

Luke made a new little friend!


All dressed up :)



Luke playing soccer with his buddy Hudson

Us girls (Sarah & Laura)

The Fam.


As I peeked through my July photos, I came across this one....the first time I got to paint Ellie's little toes! :) A BIG deal to me! I was so excited to pretty up those piggies of hers! Its always just kinda been my 'thing' with the girls in the family. From the time Taryn would hold still for me, it was always my little bonding time with her to paint her toes. :) The tradition carried on with Megan when she was tiny (though she wouldn't dare let me come NEAR her toes with polish these days!) and even now, its something I look forward to doing when the girls come to visit. So finally being able to paint Ellie's....well....honestly...it almost made me cry! :) LOL! I just LOVE having a little girl!



So with Luke's summer preschool completed until late August, I have been busy making plans for playdates, trips to the beach and lots of time at the pool! I'm gonna need to keep these kids busy, that's for sure! I'll be braving a Daddy-less beach trip for the first time in a few days with two other friends and thier kids. While I'm a *little* nervous about doing it solo, I know that the kids will have a GREAT time and it will be a blast! You know I'll have pictures of that (although it might take me two months to post 'em! *giggle*)

AND, the BIG news for me is that Ty and I will be going camping for 3 days (without the kids) at the end of the month to our favorite little niche in the world up near Sequoia! Most of you recall that we used to venture there every summer for awhile, and that we actually got engaged there! This trip will be our first time back there since *I believe* 2003? Oh my goodness!! I can HARDLY wait! I have actually been dreaming about it...literally! I have been LONGING to go for some time now, but with the kids still young, it hasn't really been possible. The altitude it too high (7400 at base camp), the terrain a little rough, and the nights too cold for tots. Maybe in a year or so! But WE can go! :) Thanks to the cooperative efforts of Meemaw and Grandma & Grandpa to watch the kids. :) I am sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!

So I think that about sums it up for now. But wait! There's more! As I was looking back to make sure I didn't miss any photos, I found these from Luke's end of the school year picnic in June (yeah, there's me being a bad blogger again!). They are much too cute to forget to post! He has made some wonderful friends at school! These are his three best friends there!
Meet Aiden...the sweetest boy you'll ever come across!

Meet Jesse...a church and preschool friend! He'll be coming to the beach with us this week!

Meet Lindsay...she LOVES "Yuke"! They were incredibly adorable together this day! Holding hands everywhere they went and just being so sweet!


Her mom and I joked that maybe they'll get married someday! :)


And this last one is of the stepping stone we made to place in the school garden. Each student can make one if they'd like and leave it for 'the next generation'. :) It's kinda a tradtion. We made a cute little frog! :)


So that REALLY is it, folks. How's that for a post?!