FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND PART II

So we rallied even though we were so tired and got the house and ourselves ready for the party and several more families to come! The boys had smoked a boston butt overnight and all day and we had lots of sides and then different appetizers and cocktails.  We had lots of glow sticks beads and chalk for the kids and they were content to run in and out and play tag outside.  It was a loud scene with so many little ones but so much fun!

Hanging with Walker man before the party really kicked into gear.

Swiped up Elle to try and get a family picture. 

Jay and Kenny

Walker thinks if you turn the selfie camera on him that it is going to be snap chat which is so funny.  So he was making funny faces and we played along.

So the club was having all this fun stuff at the clubhouse for kids.  Face painting, jumpies, food, hot air balloon rides.  And Kenny and Jason had mentioned to the girls staying at the house and Elle that they would go get their faces painted.  We started to not mention it and just see if they would forget but we were worried at some point in the night that they would realize they never made good on the promise and with their exhaustion a meltdown could be the result.  So the guys decided to take all the kids over to the clubhouse.  Some of the Daddies were a little hesitant because they had 2-3 kids and would of preferred to just hang and relax at the house.  But peer pressure from all the Moms and the other dads gave in and every Dad and all but Walker and another baby friend of ours Ann Elise ended up going! Oh and sweet Ray who is Elle's age and didn't want to go.  First thought we gathered them all on the steps for a group pic.  We even worked to get Stella in at the top!

All

All the sweet kids! We have lots of versions of this picture where you can see Collier on the second row and you can see Stella at the top but I used this one because Walker was looking up at the camera! I love all their hair bows and red white and blue.  

So after the craziness of the group picture all the dads and kids loaded up in the back of the pick up truck and in the truck to head over to the event.  The moms were practically pushing them out the door.  The kids were excited to ride in the bed of the truck and we made them swear that they would drive two miles an hour.

All ready to go have fun with the daddies!

Kenny did great and took some of the cutest pics! They all waited in line for the face paint first and that took a while but eventually all the kids got their faces painted.  It was the same wonderfully talented lady who I had at Elle's birthday party.  Elle chose to be a tiger like her friends which was very drastic but still very pretty! After everyone got their face painted they went and played on the jumpies. Kenny also described a table full of glow rings, sticks, wands and all sorts of stuff that the kids could take anything they wanted.  That was heaven to! They were all very excited they made the decision to go over there and stayed much longer than we girls thought they would! It got close to the time they were supposed to start fireworks so we started calling them to be are they would be back at the house in time.s

I love this picture so much! It was a perfect summer evening!

Getting her face painted.

The finished product. See the table of glow stuff in the background!

While the boys were with the kids the girls got the main dinner ready and had the most fun drinking and talking and playing with the two babies that were left.  We also took advantage of sweet five year old Ray and had him take some pictures of the girls.  Walker got a little cranky so I changed him into his pajamas thinking I would put him down soon and he would not see the fireworks.  I had not planned on him being awake for them.  But somehow he got a second wind and Kenny and I were so so excited to have him with us!

Walker and Ann Elise.  Pretty sure there was a love connection that night.

My sweet baby Walker.  He was so much fun this weekend.

Trying to get a group shot that everyone likes when a five year old is taking the picture!

Outtake.  Please look at Walker observing us being silly!

Still trying for a cute group pic!

Enjoying some corn on the cob!

The boys finally rolled up about a half hour before the fireworks were supposed to start.  We were anxiously awaiting their arrival and someone said "Oh I think I saw a ton of flashing lights and glow sticks outside." We go out there and it was such a sight! The boys had the kids chanting "Daddies are the coolest!" and they all had this crazy face paint and were just covered in glow stuff and waving glow sticks.  It was hilarious.  Some of the kids face paint had started melting off from sweating in the jumpies and playing so hard.  Elle's remained perfect though. The guys were absolutely starving so we were glad we had set up the food so they could eat quickly before we made our way out to the green for the firework show.

Family pic after Kenny and Elle came home.  I had changed Walker into his pajamas but changed him back into his john john now that we decided to take him to watch the fireworks with him.  We were worried he would die of heat.

A close up of Elle's face paint.  It really was impressive.  

While we waited for the fireworks to start the kids did sparklers which was a lot of fun and made for fun pictures.  

Elle and me having fun with the sparklers.

All the kids with their sparklers.

Walker was mesmerized by the sparkler.

The fireworks ran a little late but did not disappoint.  It was a beautiful show.

Daddy and Walker watching the show.

One last family pic for the weekend.

Once the fireworks were over we all went back inside and the house was crazy with people packing up and a lot of really tired and hot kids.  Maybe a few meltdowns to.  I put Walker to bed as soon as we came inside and then helped clean up. It was another fun party and I hope a tradition that never dies. On Monday, the actual Fourth of July we came home to Starkville that morning and watched movie after movie while Kenny played in a golf tournament.  It was a great end to a perfect weekend!

Jammies and glow sticks!

FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND PART I

I am still recovering from our slam packed busy busy Fourth of July long weekend! As I write this, it is Tuesday (which is completely throwing me off) and me and the kids are still in pajamas and I am ready to go back to bed because I am still so tired! But we had the most fun and made some wonderful memories with our family and friends!

We kicked off the weekend off on Friday morning when I took the kids to the pool to meet up with friends and swim all morning.  At the beginning of the summer I was scared to bring both Elle and Walker to the pool by myself but now I have gotten used to it and I feel more comfortable. We have been having lots of fun.  Walker still doesn't have much to do with the big pool but enjoys the baby pools and the toys we bring and the people watching.

I snapped this picture when we were on the way to the pool.  

Walker had his hand on her leg the entire way. They just adore each other.

Walker enjoying his lunch on the ground after he kept standing up in his chair at the table.  

Friday evening and night Kenny was signed up to play in the Country Club's night golf tournament.  This is always a really fun event because the wives ride with the husbands and you decorate your cart with glowsticks and it ends up being a pretty late and wild night.  We have always been out of town but we happy to participate this year! We met our friends for dinner at the clubhouse before heading out at dusk to start the tournament. It was a lot of fun but we did try to take it easy because we knew we had a lot going on for the weekend.  

Kenny practicing on a hole on the way to clubhouse.  

We put flags on our cart which I kind of wish we could keep all the time!

The girls hanging out in our glow sticks and cart lights.

The boys!

The next morning Kenny left the house early to meet up with friends to play a round of golf at Old Waverly.  Me and the kids stayed behind so that I could pack up.  Our plans were to stay out at Old Waverly at Margaret's parents house all weekend with another family the Ryders and Jay and Margaret of course.  We have our annual Fourth of July party at their house every year because you can see their fireworks from the green they live on.  But this was the first year we stayed all weekend. So once I got us all packed we went straight to the Old Waverly pool to swim and meet up with Margaret, the Ryders and our friends the Walters too!

A two night stay requires all this! A lot of it was groceries but still.

Walker hanging out in the shade.

The baby pool was drained and being painted so we sat 

on the top step to splash and play most of the day.

Our crew hanging in the pool!

Missy loving on Walker and sharing her fries!

After the pool we headed to Margaret's parents house so Walker could nap and the girls could have some quiet time before the sitter arrived to give baths and let the parents go out to dinner.  Missy and Jack and their kids weren't staying with us at the house but came back to have dinner with us at the restaurant at the Old Waverly club house that night.

Walker sitting with Daddy after he woke up from his nap.

This piano was so hard to resist for them.  We would let them play it 

and then have to make them stop because our heads would be hurting.

Elle and Cathryn are the same age but go to different schools.  

They were fast friends and had the best time the entire weekend.

Walker loved the piano too.

The girls after dinner trying to get some of the patriotic flag in our picture. Dinner was so incredibly fun.  The food was great and it felt like we laughed the entire time.

The next morning was Sunday and that night was the Fourth of July party where lots more people were coming. We were all kind of tired.  The grown ups were tired from staying out late for dinner and the kids were tired from their slumber party and staying up later for the,  So most of the morning was spent just laying around and playing. We all made breakfast, drank coffee and just fellowshipped.

Around lunch we got the kids dressed and let the guys take the kids to eat lunch at Murphy's at the clubhouse.  We had hoped the kids would be able to play and run around outside some but it was so hot. Walker was a bit of a handful at lunch because it was time for his nap but I think they still had some fun. We were all able to shower and start straightening up for the party while they were gone. After they got back we put Walker down for the nap and had the girls lay down to watch a movie to get some energy for the everyone coming over that night!

Being lazy on Sunday morning.

Walker cuddling with Mr. Jay.

Sharing a snack.

Playing fetch/catch with Stella.

Elizabeth was so sweet to Walker all weekend. She is 9 so she was big enough to carry him around on her hip.  She entertained him and kept him happy! I loved it!

Getting some cuddles from sister.

Getting ready to head out for lunch. 

Enjoying the delicious vanilla ice cream they have there before heading home to rest.

Stay tuned for Part II! The Fourth of July party!

FAMILY BEACH VACATION PART 4

We've now been home from the beach and just wrapped a slam packed Fourth of July Weekend but I still have one more beach post to get out! So here we go!

One of the mornings Elle and CeCe woke up to make everyone breakfast. This is a beach tradition and pretty much any time CeCe is with us tradition.  They always make bacon and pancakes. Elle has learned to crack the eggs, measure and stir over the times they have made them together.  

Getting ready to crack the eggs! In our pajamas of course!

Stirring and mixing!

She also learned to flip on this trip and was loving the home's kitty spatula.

Walker mixing breakfast with a little play time!

My pictures may be out of order but at this point oh well! We all went out for breakfast to one of our favorite places in Sea Grove, Cowgirl Kitchen.

I had to note in this picture that I was trying to get Walker to smile for my picture and Kenny came walking out and this was the result! Walker just lit up and started calling DaDa's name!

We had another morning at the pool.  It was cloudy while we were there which was around two hours.  It was literally the only time it was cloudy and not beautiful for us the entire week.  So we were okay with the clouds for that short amount of time.  Walker actually let Kenny take him in the pool and he tolerated it. So that was progress.

Hanging out in the pool with Daddy.

Walker offering anyone a beer that he helped himself to from that box in the background.

Once again we were so happy to have Lacey with us.  We were able to make grown up only dinner plans and go to dinner at George's.  We have eaten lunch there many times but have never made it to dinner because we don't go to a lot of dinners out right now.  It was positively relish and a beautiful evening so we took lots of pictures.  Lacey and the kids had a great night too.  We ordered them pizza and they watched Finding Nemo so they are just as happy!

Squinting in the sun trying to get a cute pic.

Selfie!

Pic of the girls enjoying some wine all in blue I might add!

Moved out of the sun and tried again.

Outtake.  Kenny is not amused.

And then it was Friday and we spent our last day at the beach.  Walker had another rock star day and skipped his nap and it was a perfect day on the beach.

Walker just loved playing in the sand and his big bucket of water!

Elle was a little low energy this day but was perfectly content to just lay in her beach chair.

I loved watching them play together at the beach all week.

That afternoon Elle and Kenny went for a lunch date together to have cheeseburgers at Pickles while I packed.  They did a little shopping too of course.  

I hope she always wants to go on dates with her Daddy.

That evening we let my mom put Walker to bed and we took Elle into Seaside for dinner, playing in the amphitheater and the Friday night movie which was The Lego Movie.  We have been waiting for Elle to be old enough to stay up for the Friday night movie and last year she was but it poured right at start time so her and Kenny had to come home.  This year I was worried she was too tired but she stayed awake and was into the movie the entire time! She was so tired on the cart ride home she wasn't making any sense when she was talking to me and Kenny and was slurring her words.  We were cracking up!

We went and ordered pizzas from Bud and Alley's pizza to take to the amphitheater while we played and there is a beach access right there so Elle wanted to go say bye to the beach.

The movie screen all blown up and ready for the movie.

We actually managed to make it on the road early and with Lacey squeezed in the back to entertain Walker we actually made good time and it was the easiest ride home from the beach we have ever had.  The final reason that Lacey will be going again with us next year.  Like I said, this year's vacation was wonderful and I am so happy to have spent this magical week with Kenny and my family.  Until next year! Love ya Seaside!