Summer Overview

We got a little busy as the summer progressed and I let my blog updates slide a bit - sorry. Rather than try to go back and catch up on all the pictures in the past 2 months, I'm just going to give a few highlights (and even that is a lot!). Anyone interested in seeing more can look on facebook - I think I kept my photos pretty up to date on there. July was incredibly busy!
It started out with a minor dental emergency for Kaylin and she ended up needing a tooth pulled. I still don't understand quite what happened, but she came through fine and handled it very well.
We had a fun 4th of July and I made my first cake pops. Those were fun, but harder than I expected them to be. They were worth the effort though - YUM! We ate burgers and hotdogs outside and just spent time together. It was a fun weekend.



We had Maryella's birthday party on the 10th of July - a week before the real day. She wanted a pink princess water party with a pink princess cake covered with flowers. She had thought for a long time about that and was very specific and insistent about it. It was a small party, but so much fun! The little girls who came seemed to have a great time!


The next day, we left for Cape San Blas for our annual beach vacation with my family. It was such a fabulous week!
We played on the beach




played at the pool


played in the house





celebrated birthdays with a cake I made

got to eat out and see old friends.






On our way home, it was Maryella's real birthday and we stopped at McDonald's for the chicken nuggets she had been begging for. We were driving back to Alabama for more vacation time.




When we got back to Alabaster, we stopped at Del Toro for a birthday dinner for Maryella. She wasn't sure about the sombraro thing but was excited about the singing and the flan!

Jeff and I left soon after that for Charleston, SC for our 10th anniversary trip. That was a wonderful time!




While we were gone, my parents kept the girls and treated them to a very fun couple of days! They went to the park

the zoo


and Pump It Up - we made it back just in time to join them for that one!

Then we drove back to Alabama, picked up the girls, and headed up to Tennessee for Papa Tate's memorial service.

After the service, we made a fast trip back to Montgomery, AL for a family wedding that night.

Whew, that was a whirlwind day!

After we got back home to Lake City, Maryella had her 4 yr well check and all was well. She's 35 lbs (50%) and 41 inches (80ish%) - growing right on track!

On August 5-6 we drove over to Jekyll Island for a quick beach trip to finish our summer. We had enough hotel points to get a free night stay, so it worked out perfectly!



And here are a few more random pictures from the summer.
Maryella did her on make-up!


Elianna with a cute hair-do.

A room rearrange we did for the 3 big girls. They now have a separate playroom and bedroom that they share together.





It was a fun and busy summer, filled with memories! Just the way we like it!

July 4th

We had such a terrific 4th! We just hung around the house, swam, cooked out, and just had fun together. It was wonderful!

We got up and Jeff went out to get a new grill that he's been wanting. When he got back home, he put it together while the girls played on the swingset. I rigged up the hose for them to make a water slide and we put an inflatable pool at the bottom. They had a blast! I know they'll be asking to do it again and again! Maryella wasn't too sure about it at first, but ended up loving it too! Elianna enjoyed her bouncy under the beach umbrella with a little fan. At some point, Jeff finished putting together his grill and got some ribs cooking. Mmmmm. Dinner was looking good!

After that, we went inside and ate lunch and then we celebrated my birthday. Jeff had already given me a beautiful necklace with each of the girls' birthstones on it last week. But he had even more surprises up his sleeve. I got two new Willow Tree figurines - an angel holding a star and a mother holding a baby. I also got the Nintendo DS game, Brain Age to play on the girls' DS games. I've been wanting that forever! I got a brain age of only 2 years older than I really am. Apparently the optimum brain age is 20, though. I've got some work to do!

After cake and ice cream, it was nap time. I love that time of day! All was quiet for a few hours, then we let everyone get up and put swimsuits back on to go play in the "big pool". The water was still cold, but not as bad as it used to be. It was 80 degrees. Even Elianna enjoyed it this time. When they all first got up and put on their suits, Maryella had us all in stitches at the way she got herself dressed. I can't even describe it, just see for yourself! And you can't tell from the picture, but she even had her panties on underneath still. That was the only way I was able to convince her to change - to take the panties off and then put the suit back on the right way.

Once we were all swimmed out, the ribs were ready and we sat down to a very delicious supper of BBQ ribs, grilled corn on the cob, mac and cheese and watermelon. My mouth is watering just remembering it! Yum! The watermelon gave me the idea of showing the girls how to make watermelon teeth. If you've never done this - try it sometime! Just be ready to laugh until you cry! It was hilarious! I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. My teeth broke and I ending up looking like a hillbilly in need of a good dentist, lol!


I hope everyone else had a fabulous 4th of July too!