Beach Party Playdate

Ah, summertime, when the living is easy and fun is on the agenda! It was time once again for our beach party playdate. Though we generally have our annual playdate in August, just before the start of school, I knew we had to have it early to include Angie, Sarah and Leah. I look forward to this playdate all year. It's just FUN! We have lots of water, sand, sun and food. Everyone brings food to share and we eat, talk, and watch the kids have a ball. We couldn't wait for our friends to arrive, don their swimsuits and join the party!
Sweet little friends. I can't say how much these girls mean to me. They are truly Maura's first friends, the girls who taught her about friendship and relationships. We are truly feeling the empty space left by Sarah's move. We miss our friends so much!

Charlotte came to enjoy the party. She's the daughter of my friend Megan and we're glad she'll be part of our children's lives. Tristan and Alex enjoyed the slip and slide so much. Neither truly understood the concept of the slip and slide, standing at the top and trying to eek their way down to the bottom. Tristan eventually figured it out--and took some of the skin off his belly in the process!

We had a huge crowd at the party. Some, like Sarah and Lainey were Beach party playdate veterns. It was Caroline's first beach party experience and she had a great time. Below: Megan was especially fond of the lunch! The kids had a great time, but I think we adults had even more fun visiting with each other. We just don't get enough opportunities to do this!

Addia, Caleb and Carter had an awesome time.

Sweet Annabel, Bennett's girl, was stylin'! So cute! Below: We looked over to see all the kids attempting to fit onto the teeter totter at the same time. I observered six at a time! They were just having too much fun!

Umm, I guess they were thirsty? Yep, they're lapping water from the sprinkler. Glad my child isn't the only weird one!

Below: Our group is shrinking rapidly. Last year, right about this time, we were taking goodbye photos with Amy just before her move. Angie has been a true friend and she is already greatly missed. It's not often that you find true friends in your lifetime, and I truly have a friend in Angie. Good luck, good friend! Kansas is lucky to get you!!

Where was Boo-boo throughout the party, you may ask? Sleeping. He slept through almost the whole party and ate his way through the rest! He knows how to have a good time at a party!!

I'm already looking forward to our Beach party next year! Can't wait! I'll be picking up clearance items starting now!

Summer Fun

Though we gallavanted about the country all summer, we did have the opportunity for some fun while we were home. Our time with our precious friends Angie, Chris, Sarah and Leah was drawing to a close and we attempted to get the girls together as much as possible before their big move. Maura couldn't have been more happy when I proposed a "girls day" at Sarah's house. We left the boys behind for some good times in Sarah's backyard. Sweet friends! These girls have been "besties" since Maura was about four months old. Rather, Angie and I developed an almost instantaneous friendship the day we bonded over diapers in the church nursery and our friendship has grown and developed over the past few years. I think of Angie very much like a sister and her presence here will be greatly missed. It has actually taken me quite a few days to write this blog post because this has been such a painful adjustment to make this summer. We will miss you dear friends!

The girls had tons of fun playing on the big water bouncy house and doing all sorts of gymnastics before drying off and coming inside to play. Lily and Dawn then joined us and the three amigos were back together. I love how well these three play together--years of practice!

It wasn't long ago that we took a similar photo on the staircase at our home before we moved to Georgia. I hope and pray that these girls find themselves together again in just a few years. I know that it won't be long before Angie and Chris feel the pull of their "Old Kentucky Home" and they'll be ready for a move back!

Below: A few days later, we went to a local pottery painting studio to make some custom creations. While we waited outside for it to open, Bennett was able to enjoy his very first quarter ride. He LOVED it. He smiled hugely the whole time the horses moved, then squealed when the ride stopped. I think I have a little adrenaline junkie on my hands!

We went to the studio in hopes of painting our customary year plates that I have from each year of the children's lives, but they didn't have the right size plates. Instead, Maura chose to paint a duck and Tristan a Lighting McQueen(what else?). Brent "helped" by painting an area on Maura's duck that she didn't want painted. She was NOT happy.

We're just glad we've been able to have to have so many fun family experiences this summer. We're treasuring every moment!!

Ten Beautiful Years

Ten years! How is that even possible?? I guess it's true what they say-time flies when you're having fun! Ten short years ago I married my best friend. It was truly one of the best decisions that I've ever made. We have had so many adventures over the past ten years from overseas vacations, to buying our first home, two mobilizations, and our biggest adventure of all, parenthood. We've had our ups and downs, like every couple, but through it all we've loved each other, laughed at our mishaps, and smiled at adversity. God has richly blessed our marriage, and I pray that we'll celebrate sixty more years together! Although we plan on taking a longer ten year anniversary trip together, our summer was so jam packed that we couldn't squeeze it in! Instead, we chose to head to Louisville for a Bed and Breakfast overnight together. Grammy and Pappap volunteered for kid duty, so we really enjoyed our kid free evening. I wanted to bring a cake along to remember our wedding night ten years ago when we sat in a bed and breakfast and enjoyed our wedding cake. We could barely manage to eat it after our delicious dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, but I managed to find room for chocolate!

We loved our Bed and Breakfast, nestled in Old Louisville. It was previously owned by the DuPont family, so it was a beautiful Victorian Mansion. We enjoyed walking the streets of Old Louisville at night, reliving a beautiful bygone era. There are portions of the area that are still lit by gas lanterns. It was fabulous!

The next morning, we headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum to hang out with the likes of Babe Ruth and Ken Griffey Jr. I haven't been to this Museum since I was a little girl, so it was fun to go back as an adult to see how the bats are made.

Of course we couldn't miss the opportunity to pose with the giant bat! I realized later that this was the only photo taken of both of us on our special anniversary trip!

We walked over to the history museum for a few minutes to browse their awesome gift shop and I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a photo of Admiral Brent and Mona Julie.

We had a wonderful time on our little anniversary trip and it was a much needed chance to get away and relax together as a couple. We planned to take a cruise this October over Fall Break, but it was not meant to be. Instead, Brent will be heading off to Afghanistan in October and I will attempt to serve as both mother and father to our sweet children. It will be another chapter of our lives, one that I hope will draw us closer together as a family and make us appreciate each other even more. Please be in prayer for our family as we pass through this difficult portion of our lives. Happy Anniversary, my love! I can't imagine spending my life with anyone but you!

Cars 2

It was the movie event of the summer...at least for Tristan. Ever since last year, when Tristan saw the preview for Cars 2, he has talked about going. Almost on a weekly basis, he has asked when the movie is coming out. I'm not sure when I've seen him more excited about something, other than his birthday! We put the movie on our summer To Do list and it was just a matter of time before we set our movie date. One Saturday movie we headed out to the Movie Tavern, where they serve food and drinks while you watch the movie. Tristan and Maura were just a little excited!
We found life sized posters of Lightning and Matar and it was as if Tristan was in the presence of royalty. On our way out of the movie, on of the employees actually gave some movie posters to my Cars lovin' little man and he insisted on affixing them to the storm door. We looked like an advertisement for Cars 2!

I loved watching the wonder on my childrens' faces as they experienced this monumental occasion. It was Bennett's first movie and he was truly engaged for the first half of the movie, then eventually fell asleep on my chest. Little sweet man!

Tristan could not be bothered to pose for a photo while Lightning McQueen graced the screen. He loved the movie, and we all enjoyed our morning at the movies. I love watching my children anticipate events and experience them. What a wonderful day of dreammaking! Love, love love my babies!

We had some family photos taken a few weeks ago. I couldn't be happier with them. Kristy Cope has some mad skills! Let me know what you think--more to come because I loved 131 of the 131 photos she took!

Amused at Idlewild

We returned from our trip to Outer Banks on a Saturday. Obviously, we still hadn't gotten our fill of being in the car for extended periods of time because we hopped right back into the car on Wednesday for another road trip. This time, we travelled to Pennsylvania with Grammy, Aunt Lorie and Alexandra for a visit to our grandparents. While there, we simple COULD NOT miss the opportunity to visit Idlewild Park!

I have so many childhood memories of Idlewild Park in Ligoneer, PA. I remember taking a field trip there in kindergarten and being terrified of climbing the huge nets while the "big boys" ran up them and shook me. My favorite memories of the park are when my Grandma Carnes used to go with us and set up a huge picnic lunch. She'd accompany us to all the rides, wave at us every time we came around and watch whatever child was a baby at the time when my mom rode rides with us. I miss my Grandma Carnes! Now I love that I'm making memories at the very same park with my children and their grandma. This was our fourth year to go with the kids and our first time to experience it with Lorie and Alex. It was so much fun from start to finish. We started our morning in Storybook forest, which recreates all the nursery rhymes and fairy tales in statue form. Maura's favorite has always been Little Miss Muffet with her huge spider.

I'm so glad that Grammy was there to share all the fun with us. I certainly wouldn't dream of attempting a trip to an amusement park with my children by myself. My mom is a lifesaver. Maura was her little buddy that day and I think she loved experiencing it all with Grammy


I have lots of childhood photos of my poking my head through these very same holes! I wish I had some of those old photos to scan in. Bennett wasn't too sure about poking his head through the hole! My kids loved experiencing all the nursery rhymes and ran from attraction to attraction. Maura thought Jack and Jill falling down was hilarious!
Aunt Lorie and Aunt Nancy were there with us to enjoy the day. We had a four adult to five child ratio, but sometimes it still wasn't enough! Maura and Tristan did not have a stroller and so had to walk through the park and there were times I'd look around in panic to see where they had wondered off to. It almost gave me a heart attack! Tristan, especially, had a habit of just walking away to look at something and just disappearing. I've talked with him about it time and time again and he's completely oblivious.

Hands down, Bennett's favorite thing in the park was this chicken. I think she was supposed to be Henny Penny. He kept poking his finger through the wire, the chicken kept pecking him, and he would squeal with laughter. We were all laughing at him enjoying that chicken. I stuck my fingers through too to see if it was hurting him at all, but it didn't peck too hard!
Below: Lorie is pregnant, so Grammy and I had to do all the riding. We love this little turtle ride and even Bennett is big enough to go on it. He LOVED it!

Cruising around the track with one of my main men. Speaking of cruising, Bennett was one cool character, cruising with his big sister! I allowed him to ride the rides in Kiddie Land that he could go on with Maura. She loved feeling like the big girl and taking care of her baby!

Tristan got to drive cars to his heart's content in Kiddie Land. I loved watching them ride the "big kid" rides that were designed for little riders. It's hard to believe that Maura will be outgrowing Kiddie Land before too long.

Maura even got to take Alex with her on some of the rides I deemed too dangerous for my wiggly third born. Alex loves her "Maa Moo!"

Love the old time carousel. It was built for the Atlantic City boardwalk in 1931 and completely restored. It is so beautiful and the kids love it so much!

Below: This ride gave me a heart attack. I THOUGH the seat belts were tight enough, but my wiggly boy was all over that set. I just knew he was going to fall out into that water(which is only about two feet deep!) I was completely prepared to scale that fence and rescue my baby if the worst happened. I think this was the last ride I allowed him to go on without me! Too nerve wracking!

Despite all the rides and attractions at Idlewild, this is the one thing they always remember. The ball pit. Those balls are probably the same ones they had twenty eight years ago when they first opened Jumping Jungle and I went with my kindergarten class! I tried not to think of that as my kids dove in and swam around. Bennett thought he'd died and gone to ball heaven!


What an awesome and amazing day. We got there when the park opened at 10 and stayed til 6. Not one child had a nap all day, but everyone had an incredible time. I think Bennett and Alex were asleep before we exited the parking lot! So much fun! I'm so glad we get to go to Idlewild when we go up to visit my grandparents. I love making these kinds of memories with my children.