Music Camp and TN Birthday

So, Kate went with Allie and Doc to TN for music camp.  She had a great time and learned to play the piano and tried violin and xylophone.

  We went up there for her performance and had Kate-O and Granddaddy join us for the performance. 

We were so proud of her and her participation and learning all these songs!  Granddaddy and Kate-O also brought some birthday presents for Kate, and we got to enjoy a little party.  

We had cupcakes,

which Kate and Caleb both enjoyed...

until they were gone!

Kate had lots of fun opening her presents

and then enjoyed playing with them before her performance.

The next day, we had doc's pancakes and then Kate and Caleb had a blast playing in the box

 and doing sommersaults before we went home.

 It was a quick but fun trip!

Family Reunion

The weekend after July 4 we had our family reunion in TX.  The kids did great on the drive!  We stopped twice and didn't have any complaining.  Kate even met a cowboy! 

They kids had a blast playing outside in the TX heat...and Caleb decided that he likes sand!

 Kate got to do some arts and crafts with Allie.

 Caleb enjoyed a new game on the porch outside with Doc.

 He even read himself a (very animated) bedtime story. 

The next day, we spent a lot of time outside again. 

We all walked down to the playground. 

Kate had fun on the trapeze showing off her gymnastics skills.

 Caleb played on the slide and swings. 

After lunch and nap, we walked down to the "petting zoo."  No one was there to help us but we saw goats and chickens. 

Then Caleb got to play baseketball with daddy. 

They played in the sand some more. That night, the kids watched Nemo (I think Caleb dreamed about the sharks because he woke up crying in the middle of the night).  After goodbyes, Kate went home with Allie and Doc for music camp the next week!

July 4th Celebration

Last year, I thought Caleb was too young to go to July 4th celebration.  So, David took Kate by herself.  (Seems so strange to see Caleb with a paci in his mouth now!  We took it away a few weeks after this)

This year, we all went.  Kate, of course, had fun with the jumpy things. 

She even tried her hand at the spinny, take-you-down thingy.  She was a pretty smart girl and came up with her own method of success (i.e., not being knocked out!). 

We also got to spend a little time with this pretty girl and her mama! 

When we got back to our spot, Caleb had been playing with Mrs. Melissa and Daddy.  He was having a blast. 

We decided to go get a Sno Biz to cool off before fireworks. 

Kate enjoyed hers and Caleb shared with Mama and Daddy. 

I think he was a fan.  He was NOT, however, a fan of the fireworks!  He kept his head buried (after I got him to calm down) the whole time, refusing to even look at the fireworks. 

He loves them now and wants to watch the "lights" on video a lot.  Kate enjoyed them but didn't stop talking the ENTIRE fireworks show. 

I'm trying to decide if it was entertaining or not!  We had a great time.

Boat Ride

In June, we prepared to welcome the new interns at work.  To do this, we, of course, had a party; this party was at the yatch club. 

It was hot but nice to be out near the water. 

The kids had a blast running around and playing with other kids and the ducks.

  After eating, we got to go out on the boat.  We took a nice little long ride. 

Caleb enjoyed it but was ready to be out of his puddle jumper by the time we got back.  '

Kate actually fell asleep. 

She had a small fever when we got home but was better the next day (thankfully, since she had camp the next week!). 

We are blessed to have fun little activities like this associated with work. And thankful for kids who enjoy it and enjoy being with other people.

Trip to Grandparents

Over Memorial Day Weekend we made the trip to see David's family.  There are a LOT of people to see when we go and Caleb had previously not been a great car trip taker.  Bonus was that the night before we left, he woke up with a stomach bug.  However, he did great!

 And we had a wonderful visit.  One of the favorite things for the kids was the "water slide." 

Granddaddy set up a little slide and had it go into a kiddie pool.  They had a blast!  We also got to go to the Balloon glow with Grandmommie. 

We didn't really do it well.  We got there 2 minutes before the glow, it lasted about 10 minutes

 and then we (literally) spent 1.5 hours standing in line to get back to our car.  Kate fell asleep but Caleb was a trooper and stayed awake the whole time. 

Kate and Caleb enjoyed reading with Grammy and granddaddy a lot over the weekend. 

Then Sunday after church, we went to lunch and PetSmart with Grandmother.  The kids had such fun looking at all of the different pets. 

We left the next day and Caleb slept 4 out of the 5 hours home.  He did great! 

Kate stayed up there for the next two weeks for some Nana time, visiting and going to Kate-o's VBS.  We were glad when she got back!  It was the beginning of a BUSY summer!