Summer Recap

 We kicked off summer this year with camping at Deep Creek, NC. Danny started his new job in the spring so he sat this trip out. We had probably 30 family members and friends. Grant, Drew and I were lucky enough to "camp" in the motorhome with mom and dad.

The creek water for tubing was too cold for Drew. But, Grant rode the creek several times including a few times by himself. I was hanging onto his tube of course. 

Next up was a week of swim school. 

Grant, working on his breast stroke.

Drew, freestyling at 4 years old.

Then our annual trip to the Florida panhandle. We had maybe 2 1/2 days of beautiful weather. Danny, arriving on Tuesday, had one good day.

And then this happened.

 This was not the kind of typical Florida thunderstorm where you just wait it out for an hour or two and then you can head back out to the beach. It rained, pelting rain, for 2 days straight. Almost 20 inches in our area. It was difficult to even go to the grocery store and impossible to shop in the open air malls. 

 

We still had a good time making the best of the situation. We got lots of quality time our family, played lots of Uno, and the kids got to see Despicable Me 2. 

With lots of rain in the forecast through the weekend, we left early and came home on Friday. The rain stopped for a few minutes to get our annual "beach" family picture". This is how we felt. 

It rained a lot at home the entire summer. Danny's grass has never stayed so green through August. Thankfully, we did find some sunny days at the pool.

Minion dives

This may or may not have been the day that Grant managed to get a screw stuck in his foot at the pool. 

We wrapped up summer with a week of golf lessons. 

Grant won longest drive on this day (overnight storm caused trees and leaves down all over the course).

Enjoying our new local splash pad.

Pure bliss.

And of course, it wouldn't be summer without a sticky, sweaty trip to the zoo. At least is wasn't raining though.

August st means back to school for these two. 

First day at his new school. 4 year old pre-K.

Second grade

Oh yeah, I got LASIX and Danny and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary! Luckiest girl in the world, right here...........

Drew's Fourth and Baseball

I managed to crank out the last post in about 10 minutes so here goes another.

The boys had an awesome baseball season. This was Drew's first year for T-ball. He's watched his big brother play for the last 4 years so he was ready.

Well, there was some tears and a pretty decent meltdown at his first couple of games. Not by any other kids on the team except for the coaches son... Drew. You see, his first game fell right at nap time. 1:30pm. There could be no worse time for the very first game of T-ball for thirteen 3-4 year olds. And when Drew realized that he wouldn't get to bat every single inning, he lost it.

Thankfully most games were like this.

Best coach/dad ever

"Watch the ball, Drew!"

He was so proud of his trophy. He asks all of the time "when do I get to play on a baseball team again?" 

Grant's team had an incredible season. They started 8-0 and ended up regular season co-champs. They got knocked out in the semi finals of the tournament.

I love watching him play, and he loves being out there. Doesn't matter that he's not the best on his team. He loves keeping up with the stats, hanging out with his friends, and the fact that his dad coaches his team.

warming up between games

big kid

During our winning streak, one of the kids stated that Danny was the best coach ever. When asked why, he said "because we win every game!" Danny had to explain he only won 2 games last year. This year we just had a great group of boys.

Drew's birthday was in March. We had two ball games scheduled for the same day as his party. His birthday fell on Easter Sunday, and with 2 boys playing ball with their own dad coaching both teams, it left us with little options.

Well, the games got rained out (as well as least half of the other games of the season). We ended up having a nice relaxing Saturday.

And a great 4 year old putt-putt birthday party.

Hole in one!

Drew's best friends are Grant's best friends

be still my heart

Skylanders. See I told you he thinks he's 8.

Remind me next time to get some family pics.

Oh. Here's some! Easter. Drew's birthday.

8 Years

Well, what do you know? I'm back!

Just this week, Drew's teacher was asking for family photos for a class project.  After scavenging the house for a few, I realized... I had zero. Yep, I haven't made a photo book or even developed a few pictures all year. Whoops. I printed out a few to send in, but after searching through the photos on my PC I realized I REALLY need to put some on here.

I'll guess I'll start with Grant's birthday since his next birthday is only about 5 months away. Ah!
His 5 year old birthday party was here.  What a difference 3 years makes.

Boys are silly

 Drew thinks he's 8

Best buds

Skylander and cupcakes cake by Mommy

8 year old

Photo Bomb!

His teeth have already grown in by now.

Remind me next time to get a family pic.

Christmas Highlights

This past Christmas was wonderfully uneventful. I guess that's why it has taken me three months to post about it.

Brunch at Mimi's and Pop's

way too many gifts and dinner at Nana's and O'Dad's

Christmas morning.  So excited!

Christmas morning. It doesn't get any cuter than this. 

The boys were thrilled for their Skylander Giants, Imaginext Dino's and space and dinosaur books from Santa. Drew was so excited to get some Skylanders of his own. And Grant got Hot Head!

This is our only family picture on Christmas Day. It cracks me up. After missing his nap, cameras flashing non-stop all day, and a house full of extended family, Drew had had enough!

NewYear's Eve found us at the Music City Bowl for the VU game. They boys just don't understand how monumental this was for the Commodores. They just think Vanderbilt is always good. Here's a couple of stats... Vanderbilt's eight wins were the most since 1982. SEC wins matched the school record set in 1935. 

The boys hung in there for the whole game and the pre and post tailgate!

"Brrrrr it's cold, but we're winning!"

Who ya' with?! VU!

They won!!!!!! After a an entire day on VU's campus, we rung in the new year at home snuggled in our beds.