7 Quick Takes - Swimming, Kissing, Stitching

Linking up with Kelly and co

---1---

On Saturday most of us took one last dip in Jibbe's pool... 

The infamous rock that the kids love and moms worry that kids are going to slip down

Lee even got in the pool (mostly because I couldn't)

A has really warmed up to the pool and M still isn't a huge pool fan

I couldn't convince her to dive of it 

A is so so so so so big 

---2---

The big girls headed to the beach on Sunday so most of the week it was just A and C...

This is A's version of giving C a kiss (the only person he will kiss)

It looks like he's going to lick an ice cream cone

And then he's super proud of himself and he moves so fast I can't get a clear picture

---3---

A was treated to not one but two of Papa's big machines sitting in the yard... 

(yes it looks like a car lot sometimes)

Papa was fixing some rain drainage issues and A was very excited to have a front row seat :  )

---4---

Just to prove my point about how big A is... 

I'm glad he'll actually sit with C... I can even set her in his arms for a second 

Happy 4th of July!

---5---

In the big girls absence I found myself with a little extra morning and evening time on my hands... 

So I finished all the cross stitching on M's (yes I'm that behind) stocking. Onto backstitching which doesn't seem like it should take forever and forever and hopefully it won't. I've got A's waiting in the wings and I've got time to decide what I want to do for C

---6---

A mirage on the way home from the beach?

This oasis of a playground was stumbled upon on the way back from the beach... A and C were troopers because they ended up being in the car for about 5 hours round trip. The big girls were antsy to get home but when C piped up after about 4 hours of not eating I knew we'd have to stop. And we did right at this park on the outskirts of Goldsboro. I'm going to have to save this one for future beach trips when little legs need to get some energy out or babies need feeding in the parking lot while the big kids play on the playground 

---7---

Thursdays during the summer = sweltering swim meet

This girl just got upgraded to 6 and under 

Because she swam her lap by herself

She'll swim on an outside lane next week just in case but.... 

Let's discuss just how excited she is!

Mom, why do you always have to take my picture? 

C survived the swim meet too. And so did M who has come to realize that swim meet = snack time

Onward and upward, Happy Weekend!

The First Days of Schools...

Tis the season, right? 

I could have (and maybe should have) broken this post into 3 individual ones... one per kid but preschool started (accidentally I'm told) a week early so 2 first days in one week = justified : ) 

I labeled all E's stuff the night before. She didn't go shopping with me this year for supplies because that's #complicated and she's a bit #picky. I did make legit attempts to find her a Rey or Leia folder but after spending waaaay to much time I realized it wasn't going to happen. 

Same headphones and bookbag (but she threw a tearful fit over the size or lack thereof this morning because folder + reading book + lunchbox = #supersized)

Waffles which can only mean one thing - BAKING POWDER not baking soda #mixedthemupbefore actually #twice

 Supplies

Waffles

1st grade

No teeth

Pippy longstockings

Everyone's looking but E was in a shadow #takingkidspicprobs

Hey there is a whole another person visible this year!

Then it was R and M's turn to try their hand at the first day of school thing... 

New shoes and R's pencil box but I still owe Mrs. Wanda about 75% of R's supplies #thankgoodnessitsjustprek

I could probably write an entire post on how these bookbags show the personalities of the little girls who wear them

Their breakfast pick... Pumpkin muffins! #gonnabuy10casesthisyear

Pre-K!

Except not looking : ) 

But this time she is!

#cannotpleasethemall #itoldhershecouldnotholdA

She is so cute and she happens to know it

2 yr old class

So excited to have her own bookbag

Probably one of the best kid pics I've taken in a while

So ready to go

Nervous but ready!

Some things worth remembering from the first week...

E,R - Bantering in the van

Me - R, wouldn't you like to hear about E's first day?

R - Nooo (like the heck no, kind of no. Like of course I don't, kind of no)

Me - Okaaay

Me - So you used one folder for homework and what did you use your glitter folder for?

E - Poultry

Me - What did you say?

E - Poultry!

Me - Poultry?

E - POULTRY!

Me - So you have a folder for chickens?

E - I guess soooo...

(thanks to a wise parent in the class, we discovered it is a POETRY folder - just for the record)

Also, R and her BFF/the one she's getting married to (according to her) were coordinating on the first day. He was in a yellow shirt and I PROMISE you his mother and I did not plan it. It was sweet especially since this is their last year together #lovebirds

A Babymoon to Remember

Maybe we'll remember it because it's the first one we've taken and it took four babies for us to take one. Or maybe we'll remember it because we went from the coast of the state to the mountains of the state in less than 24 hours. I'm not sure but it was a quick but nice getaway nonetheless.

So we left off about here...

Day Trip to the Beach

We got home a bit of a sandy mess and then my mind was changing gears from beach to packing the girls up for Grammy's and Jibbe's. Divided the girls were conquered cared for : ) M was easy because she stayed with Jibbe so if I forgot anything all her stuff was a quick drive back to our house. E and R stayed with Grammy and Grandpa Joe and they had a big agenda of stuff they were doing so I think I went overboard on the packing and somehow they ended up with 4 pairs of shoes for 2 days but... whatever!

From the coast to this view. 

We listened to the Screwtape Letters on the drive up which was super interesting in general but considering the van is usually filled with laugher and screams and yelling and whining and singing being able to pause the book and talk about a chapter was novel. 

Yes I wear those sunglasses entirely too much : ) 

We walked down to the golf course - down about 250 steps that is and then trekked back up. Lee promised we could walk some of the course the next day which brings back memories of walking the golf course when we went to Jamaica on our honeymoon. 

Dinner with a mountain view.

After the welcome reception - did I mention this was actually a work trip that involved Lee coming and no kids coming so that still totally qualifies as a baby moon, right? - we had dinner on the terrace. The weather was great. The food was awesome. It took the waitress FOREVER to get our check but we were taking bets on the tab for a group of 10 or 12 was so we made it interesting. A guy proposed. It was an exciting dinner. 

Lunch the next day was AWESOME.

The next day I had a long morning session which gave Lee AMPLE amounts of time to read - which is his favorite thing to do with his free time these days. Then we grabbed lunch. I had to go meet a customer that afternoon so again he was in uninterrupted reading mode - which is probably the real reason he wanted to go on this trip : ) though he has had a pretty insane summer so it was a well-deserved break. 

We did take our walk on the golf course and watching the guys play and try and find their shots was really quite amusing. If we didn't have a huge impending hospital bill come October and we had more than a couple hundred dollars to burn it would have been nice to hit the spa BUT... we didn't which was probably for the best. 

Then we headed to dinner which was not nearly as great as the night before but that one would have been hard to beat. 

There was a silent auction and Lee couldn't resist adding to our whirlygig collection 

We were up early (but at our normal time) the next day to shoot to Grammy's pick up the E and R, 

Pick out shoes for school with our long hair

Then Papa headed back to the ranch to retrieve M since I had one last business item to wrap up. 

All in all we had a great time. We cannot thank Grammy and Grandpa Joe and Jibbe enough for making it logistically possible. I did hear M had lots of fun swinging on Sunday and she was probably treated to an extended spa experience each night at bath time. E and R got to go to Pullen Park which is a big time favorite for them. The butterfly house disappointed abit only because there were not many butterflies around but they have been talking about Wee Willy Winky ever since their visit