Our Summer Recap

I've been thinking about where I should start or what I should write for my first family blog post. Even though it is now October, it seems like summer was just a few weeks ago (I guess because it was still in the 90s/100 two weeks ago), so I thought it would be fun to remember what we did this summer. We had a great, busy summer that kicked off, as it does every year, with celebrating Jeremy's birthday on May 22. The kids always know the weekend after Daddy's birthday means the pools will be open the following weekend and boy do our kids love the water! Speaking of water, just after Daddy's birthday Reece took his swim lessons from the great Miss Suzy, the same woman who taught our fish Jadon to swim. Reece did great this year and after two weeks with Miss Suzy he was jumping in and swimming across the pool like a fish. 

Reece jumps in the last day of swim class.

Swim lessons were fun too because Mommy and Kailey went to a park down the street and played by ourselves while Reece was at his lessons. A few times Daddy got to go with us as well, so that was nice. It was already heating up in Texas so we couldn't play at the playground for long, but a couple of times we went back after his lesson because they had a little wading pool that they both loved to play in. Jadon was still finishing up his first grade year in public school, so he wasn't with us. 

On June 23rd we celebrated our little Reece Bear's 4th birthday. I can't believe you are already 4 Reece. It seems like yesterday they handed you to us in the delivery room while "I Can Only Imagine" was playing in the background, and a few days later we were bringing you home from the hospital. God has truly blessed us with such a special little boy. You are our little bundle of energy, who loves to jump, run, bounce, and play kung fu all day long. But you also have the sweetest heart and love to help out around the house, and I love how you call us your "love persons." I also truly enjoy how you like to join me in the kitchen and help me cook sometimes, especially when you help me make mashed potatoes. These are the moments that make our life special!!


On your actual birthay we went to a splash party our church had with water bounce houses and lots of other fun stuff, and then we had lunch at Chuck E Cheese with just Mommy and Daddy and your brother and sister. Since it is one of your favorite places, you had a lot of fun. Then the next day we had a party at our house for your birthday, even though it was a little warm, but you know that's how Texas is. We had a bounce house, water toys, a slip and slide, and lots of boys. It made for a fun time for everyone, especially our little bear.

 






Reece and Mommy take a photo after eating our pizza at Chuck E Cheese.

Reece had a great time at Chuck E Cheese and even got to meet the big mouse himself!

Reece blows the candle out on his cake. He wanted Mickey, Special Agent Ozo and Boz all on the same cake.

The whole family takes a break from the bounce house fun.

We also stayed busy in June with vacation Bible schools for both the boys, and then Jadon had a week-long Cub Scout day camp. Even though it was extremely hot, he absolutely loved it! And luckily Daddy was able to go all but one day to help chaperone, which we were very happy about. Jadon learned archery, how to shoot a BB gun, tried to get his swimming badge, learned a lot about animals and nature, and did lots more fun outdoor stuff.

Daddy and Jadon pose in front of a race car they got to get in during camp.



Jadon shows Reece how to carry the flags to their next event at camp during family day. (Above left.) Jadon gets ready for archery. (Top right)



Jadon leads his den to the next event at camp. He was the flag bearer that day.



The rest of the summer was pretty much spent at Hawaiin Falls Waterpark, which is about a mile from our house. However, since we didn't take a vacation this summer we decided to take a tour of all the Hawaiin Falls in the area since we could get in with our passes and the kids loved it. 

Mommy and Kailey at the Roanoke Hawaiin Falls.

Kailey enjoys a lounge chair before heading off the kiddy area in Roanoke.



One of my favorite photos. Reece and Kailey pose in a little waterfall at the Colony Hawaiian Falls.

We went to Roanoke first, then The Colony, and then Garland. Each of them was different and unique in their own way, but I think we all liked the one in Garland the best, although we still love our Mansfield waterpark.  It really made it seem like our summer was plenty busy even without any traveling.  

Kailey enjoys the wavepool at the waterpark in Garland.



Kailey went to give Reece company because he was in time out and couldn't be in the pool.





Kailey was trying to go under one of the little fountains at the Mansfield park. That was her favorite place to hang out.



We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this summer too. We didn't really go anywhere this year because, well...let's just say that funds were a little low, so we had to get creative.  Since we have season passes to Hawaiin Falls waterpark we decided to just go to the waterpark in The Colony without the children. It turned out to be very nice and relaxing to just "get away" (well we did have a hotel) from the regular grind of things and just enjoy being with each other. Also, we met at a newspaper in Lewisville, but they also had a paper in The Colony and I used to cover city government there all the time, so it was kind of fun going down memory lane and recalling my single days when I first started dating Jeremy. I can't believe its been 10 years since we promised to spend our life together and I can honestly say I am more in love with him now than when we first got married. He continues to surprise and amaze me every day. He is a great daddy and a great husband. He truly is a gift from God and many answered prayers.

  

 The other exciting thing we did in August was taking the boys to Six Flags, which was both a good thing and not-so-good thing. It was good because Jadon had earned a free ticket by reading so much in a short amount of time. But it was bad because we had to use it by the middle of August, which by the time we realized it we only had a two-week window to go. So the only day we could go when Daddy was off ended up being 107 that day. The great part about it though was that there were no lines!! And it really didn't feel too bad with all of the misters. We just had to keep drinking a lot of water and stay wet. 

This was the first year that Reece was actually tall enough to go on some of the bigger rollercoaster, since with his tennis shoes on he was exactly 42 inches. He had no fear about anything and even rode the Shockwave 5 times in a row. (We didn't even get off because there was nobody waiting in line.)

Reece and Mommy on Reece's first rollercoaster. It was what used to be called the Tony Hawk.

Mommy and Reece take the first ride on the Shockwave.

Daddy's turn.

Jadon's big accomplishment this year was that he made it to 48 inches, so he was able to ride some of the really big boy rides. He didn't want to ride the new Texas Giant, and at first he didn't want to ride the Titan, but by the end of the day he started asking about and said he might want to do it. So all of a sudden he said he wanted to do it, so off we went. It was so sweet though because he had to hold Mommy's hand the whole time. It is a pretty scary rollercoaster for a 6 year old!! He ended up riding it 3 times though, so I think he liked it!

Of course we didn't just ride rollercoasters all day. We enjoyed a lot of the other rides, especially the river rapids. We got nice and wet, which helped us stay cool.

 

Mommy and the boys went on the Yosemite Sam boat ride too. They loved it because they said it was like being in a cartoon.

The best part about the day was that we got to with Papaw, and he was riding all of the rides with us.

Papaw with our boys.

All of us(missing Kailey of course) toward the end of our big day.

The last big event of our summer was celebrating our precious little, or not-so-little, Jadon's 7th birthday!! I still can't believe our baby is 7. I don't care how hold you get Jadon, I still see you as my little baby/toddler boy when I look at you. And amazingly, you still have the biggest, sweetest heart. You can't even stand the thought of something getting hurt. When you were little you couldn't even stand watching a movie that looked like an animal would get hurt. Now it has turned into protecting real animals, even lizzards that get in our house. (You get frantic if you see one of the cats start chasing a lizard that has gotten into our house, so I have to catch the little thing and get him outside, but only if the dog isn't out there because you don't want Bandit to get the lizard either. Haha!) You also love to draw, read books with mysteries, play spy, or pretend any number of things. I just love your imagination and I hope you never lose that alltogether.

So it was way too hot to celebrate your birthday outside, and since you really only have a couple of good friends, we decided to forgo the traditional kid party and just have family and your cousin Seth and best friend Ethan go to Main Event. You guys had a blast playing laser tag with Daddy and Papaw, bowling with all of us, and playing lots of video games. Then you and your friend Ethan had a sleepover. All in all, I'd say you had a great birthday.

Mommy and Daddy with their big 7 year old

Jadon and his best friend Ethan play a video game together.

Jadon tries out his fancy bowling moves.

Jadon had a cake shaped like Scooby-Doo with  Phineas and Ferb on it also.

Mmmm....cake!!

Best buddies

The last thing I want to say is just how much our precious little girl has changed over the summer. I was looking at pictures at the beginning of the summer and look at pictures in September and it is just crazy.  

Here she is in June.

 

Here she is at a park taken last month I think.


 Not only has her hair grown so much and she has really gotten taller, her personality is just in full bloom. I look at you now Kailey and see are changing into a little girl. You are my funny little girl, who is challenging at times with her growing strong will to be independent and do what she wants to do. But you are also a such a blessing because you make us laugh and you find such amazing ways to communicate. You are making sure you are totally a part of this family now, and I love that! Just this week you have started learning a few new words a day! I can hardly keep up. My favorites are bite, eat, dog, cat, excuse me (scooze me), prayer, amen, ball, beads, blocks, choo-choo, help, Jadon (ya-yan), Reece (EEEECE!), ball, pumpkin (umpin) up now, play, cup, drink, eat...I could go on. It's just funny because about a month or two ago, you only had a short list. Now your list just keeps growing. 


One last funny thing you've been doing as Halloween is getting closer and you are seeing lots of ghosts and pumpkins is making a funny scary noise. Everytime you see a scary ghost or something you say "Aahahaaa" in a scary way (I don't know how to write that noise.) Anyway, it always makes your brothers laugh so hard. 


Okay I just thought of one other last thing I have been amazed about as you are getting closer to 2. (You are 21 months as I write this.) I find it so interesting that you love to dance and move to music constantly. Just the other day I put you in a onesie that had a tutu skirt on it and as soon as I did you started dancing and spinning around. In fact, a lot of clothes I put you in, especially those iwith skirts or dresses, seem to make you want to spin around. Oh how much fun I am having with you! 

Kristina