Bang Boom Drip Drop

The fourth was a wash out this year.  Pretty much anything we had planned either got postponed or all together canceled.

I did however get the kiddos outside for some festive pictures {thank goodness for the covered porch-new to this year} and we also made it to my Aunt and Uncle's annual cook out post naps.  Not too bad for a soggy fourth.

I woke the bigs with star bangled pinwheels and wished them a hearty "Happy 4th of July".  By their reactions, you would have thought they each had won a shopping spree to a toy store. Plus it gave them a good excuse to come outside with me for a couple festive pictures.  I waited to present Lucy with her mini American flag after breakfast in hopes that she would be full.  No such luck.  Naturally, she just wanted to gnaw on it.

And although that covered porch worked in my little Americans favor, I was dripping by the time it was over.

Getting a picture of little Miss Independence is becoming more of a challenge.  She is either crawling away or chewing on something or in this case, both...

There was a very brief intermission in the rain once we arrived at the cook out.  Of course, all my kiddos wanted to do was jump in the pool as fast they could.  It didn't take long for them to realize that the rain had dropped the temperature to that of an ice bucket.  Jack shivered, but tried to push through it,  Maggie sported purple lips, and Lucy didn't complain, but I knew she had to be miserable.

I tried to keep Lucy poolside, but she would have nothing of it.  If the bigs were in, you better believe that's where she wanted to be too.

I did, however, make Lu sit it out as long as she would allow.  I just had to enjoy her festive suit one last time.  I almost had to grease her up to get that thing on her.  My how baby girl has grown in the last two months.

And try as I may, I can not get enough of Maggie in her goggles.  Is that hilariously adorable, or what?

But, as odd as it may seem, this may be my favorite picture...Jack floating around the pool doing the back stroke, Maggie swimming like a fish, and Lucy right in the middle of it all.

Happy 4th from our little firecrackers to yours.  God Bless America!

A Couple Of Firsts

We've had a couple of "firsts" around here this week.  And believe it or not they weren't the littlest sister's. Actually big time firsts for Jack and Maggie.  Summer just keeps the excitement coming.

We started the week with Maggie's very first drop off playdate.  With non other than her "best fwrend", Elise.  We scheduled this back in June and since then Maggie has had nothing but intense anticipation.  I'm pretty sure she's told everyone from the check out girl at Target to the lifeguard at the pool, that "Elise is coming to my house to play".

The playdate did not disappoint.  The girls had a lovely time together.  I, for one, got to experience the polar difference in boy playdates vs girl playdates.  {not even fair all you momma's of only girls and bless you momma's of all boys}

And although, I adored observing the gentle play of two girly girls, my favorite part was watching Magpie perfect her hosting skills.  "Elise this is where my snacks are...do you want one?", "Elise this is where your shoes go in my house", "Elise this is where my potty is...do you need me to help you?", "Elise here is a stool to wash your hands and you can use my new soap", and on and on until I'm sure Elise wanted to scream, "enough already".  Okay, maybe not, I like to think Elise liked her dear friend showing her the ropes and I was certainly proud of Mags.  

Elise did seem to have a wonderful time at our house minus the addition of boys {Jack had a playdate too}.  Poor little gal looked like a deer in headlights when those two wild things came whipping through a room.  Elise is from an all girl family.  Maggie, on the other hand, didn't even flinch.  I had to evacuate the boys a couple times to prevent a panic attack on Elise's end.

Other than that the girls had an adorably precious playdate complete with tea parties, cooking in the kitchen, princesses, art, and the sandbox.

Our other "first" only two days in to July, was the Movie Theatre.  As odd as it sounds this was a first for both of the bigs.  A definite first for Maggie and for Jack too, if you don't count that time two or three years ago when Grammy took him to a 3D movie that he refused to wear the glasses for.  He watched a blurry screen and had absolutely no clue what was going on.  We have chosen to void that experience.

Since then, Jack has wanted nothing to do with the big screen until this week.  Surprisingly this was his idea.  Another addition to his summer list.  I vow to stamp "Finalized" upon completion on next summer's list.

We caught a matinee of Monsters University.  A first for me in that we were the first movie goers to arrive.  The doors were still locked.

Luckily it gave me the chance to catch a quick picture of the cutest audience members before we bought our admission.  Maggie was in charge of the tickets as I wrangled the camera, spilled juice cups in my purse, and the ever bouncy Jack.

Once inside the kiddos ordered up two kids snack packs and we made our way to the theatre {a trail of popcorn in our wake}.  Jack pocketed his bounce for the duration of the movie and unexpectedly Maggie sat through the entire show in her own seat.  I hardly heard a peep from her after the previews were over. During those, I got, "is this the movie?" and "is it over?" about 22 times.

The movie was super cute and I was super thankful for a little adult humor to get me through.  The kids most definitely enjoyed it.

I can hardly believe that it is already July, but I'm thinking we've started it out right.  More summer fun to come...

Camp Week

The bigs just completed their first camp week of the summer.  One might think that meant a relaxing week for me.  Not exactly.  I spent the days just trying to recover from our most recent jaunt out of town.  Geez, that was a doozie.

But, thankfully I have recovered and just in the knick of time for Jack and Maggie's last day "performances".

Maggie spent her camp week at Little Mermaid Dance Camp.  Oh, how she fell in love.  Tutus, jewels, pink, purple, dance shoes, and ribbons for her hair.  They don't come much girlier than Maggie.  We invested in a pair of ballet shoes and I tell you that sweet little Magpie would sleep in them if I let her.  They are the first thing on her feet in the morning and the last thing to come off.

Each day Maggie came home and performed one of her latest steps for me.  Half of which I couldn't quite make out, but I did have a favorite...the "shake your mermaid tail" move.  I tried to imitate it only to be told I needed to "shake my head like this" {insert a head bob} and "do my hands like this" {insert jazz hands}.  Oh, but the head and hands didn't have anything on her little tush shaking back and forth.

So you can imagine my excitement for her end of camp performance.  Five days of intense anxious waiting on my part.

I arrived to this...

Glowing in pink, costumed in her mermaid tail, and elated to see mommy and baby sister...

And then the performance started.  This is about the only movement Maggie did.  She made her way to the seahorse {which apparently was where she was supposed to do some introductory move} and then shyly sauntered back to her position.

And the rest of the 8 minute performance looked like this...

Even the girliest of mermaids get shy and a bit overwhelmed sometimes.  After the performance, I told Maggie how beautiful she looked and complimented her on a great show. She then gave me the biggest hug and most sincere smile ever through teary blue eyes.  Love that little princess of mine.  

After that she came home and excitedly told Daddy all about her dancing show at "little mermaid caiiiimp".  And even showed off a few of her moves as if nothing had ever happened.

Dance or no dance, our littlest Lu got the biggest kick out of the performance.  Maggie's number one fan.  {not to mention Lucy was fascinated by the room full of twirling big girls}

Next it was off to Jack's end of camp presentation.  I am careful not to call it a "performance" per Jack's correction.

And guess what Jack picked...Science camp, of course.  My little genius in the making.  This summer it was Camp Cosmos.  His uniform wasn't nearly as cute as Maggie's but I'm pretty sure he didn't mind a bit.  The space, air, light, and gravity lessons were enough to satisfy my first born's intellectual side.

Jack taught me all about the solar system and showed me several of the models he had made.  I told him, "it must be fun to be so smart" and he nonchalantly replied, "it is".  My modest boy.

Jack's presentation was a rocket launch with his very own camp made rocket.  We headed outside in 90 degree heat for this one.  Somehow he ended up at the back of the line after stepping out a good 6 times to come tell me something very unimportant.

When it was finally Jack's turn I was quite glossy.  But I watched him lovingly as he mounted his rocket and pumped the launcher with all his might.

And then he ran full speed ahead to retrieve his air born rocket ship.  Needless to say he was glowing too with rosy cheeks and pride.

One week of camp down and one more in July to go.  I promised myself to spend as much time as I could with my summer break kiddos this year.  It was a two camp max for each of them.

Next up it's Literature camp for Maggie {or as she likes to call it "book caiiimp"} and Lego camp for Jack.  And then we will sadly start counting down the last days of summer.

Not So Lucky In Kentucky

We took a long weekend trip to Kentucky to visit GG and family.  At the risk of sounding like Debbie Downer in the paragraphs to come, let me preface with...I absolutely loved seeing my family.

Okay, let's just start with the drive up there.  I, bravely and stupidly, drove with the three kids and the dog by myself.  Enough said, huh?  I knew it would be hard, but I for sure thought I could handle it.  Well, we made it.  And that's about all I can say about handling it.

Just to give you a visual...I had to turn around about 20 miles in because we forgot Lucy's lovey, another 50 miles in we were stopped in dead traffic for a good 45 minutes until I took the shoulder of the road for 2 miles to the nearest exit, I lost Cosby {the dog} at lunch in a parking lot-he was graciously returned by another traveler 15 long minutes later, I stepped in gum, I left the stroller at a rest area and had to return to retrieve it,  the DVD headphone batteries died so we all listened to The Lion King and every other Disney movie we own for 9 hours straight, in two separate cities I had to us my "detour" button on the nav because of traffic & construction, it monsooned for nearly an hour of the trip, and I made a whopping 7 stops {with 3 kids and a dog...in case you forgot}.

And that was just the ride up there.

Again, I for sure thought once I arrived all would be well.  And if I'm being honest...it was better.

But...while packing I realized I left all my bathing suits in St Augustine-not good when you are going to the lake. Cosby had a severe allergic reaction to something in my Grandma's yard.  Cha-ching for the vet.  Maggie and I bunked in a bedroom together and that is never a good idea.  I spent many boat rides dock side in nap jail with Lucy. And worst of all, Jack had a playground accident and ended up in the emergency room with a busted head and in turn staples.

Now if you want to take a look at the sunny side {and there was one}, it was indeed beautiful weather, the kids had a blast, Lucy had her first real boat ride, all the cousins were together, and we got to see Uncle Joel before he is deployed again for a year with the Marines.

If I hadn't filled you in on all the details, you may have thought this was the perfect weekend via the pictures.  Thank goodness pictures can't talk.  However, sometimes it's unfortunate that the photographer can.

But, let's end on a happy note.  Hear is some of that sunny side...

Better luck next time, huh?