All you need for a great summer evening...

Looking for a great summer evening? The three things you need are:

Good food

Good friends

Good times

On Saturday evening, we had dinner out on the lake with our friends Casey and Bryan. We had a yummy BBQ spread with all the fixings and enjoyed a boat ride around Lake Allatoona. Bear had a blast tossing his dinner to the fish; I know they were sad for us to leave. We adults were shocked by the behavior of some fellow boaters - flashing body parts was involved - and quickly departed from the cove we chose to enjoy dinner in. After a relaxing ride around the lake we came home and enjoyed playing with Lily and Bear and challenging each other to "Saved By the Bell" trivia. We had a great time - does summertime ever have to end??

Saturday Play Date

On Saturday, we met up with Saunders, Katie and Katie Anne for a lunch playdate at Rotary Park. Lily was so excited - we'd never tried Rotary Park before and she was thrilled to have a new playground to try out. On Friday, she made paper lunch bags for Momma, Daddy, Bear and herself and helped pick out and pack our lunch on Saturday morning. We had a great time eating and playing with friends. Josh and I agreed that we'll have to visit this park again - it's smaller than Dellinger and much more "little kid" friendly. It was fenced in and had lots of shade - we didn't even have to apply sunscreen. They playground equipment is lower to the ground and the kids could play without to much help us! We adults had a great time catching up and talking about the upcoming Georgia and Alabama football seasons! We'll definitely have to have Rotary Park playdates more often!

Is this a hint?

Do you think Bear is telling us he wants a baby sister - or does he just have a little thing for Baby Lucy??

Bubble Bath Fun

What better way to wind down after a long day of playing dolls, taking walks in a stroller, watching Noggin, and sliding and swinging in the backyard than a bubble bath!

We don't get to do bubble baths too often, as both Lily and Bear have sensitive skin that is prone to eczema. When we do them, we do them big! They love the jacuzzi tub in our master bathroom and we spent close to an hour playing in the tub. Now if momma could just find to enjoy one for herself...maybe in a few more years!!

I promise this is the end of beach pictures...

I know I'm posting entirely too many vacation pictures, but this will be the last one. One evening while we were at the beach, we took a few family pictures on the beach...here are a few.

I know I'm partial, but I think Lily and Bear are just the cutest! Josh was such a good sport to take pictures too - I don't think many husbands enjoy family picture days!

And if you can stand to see any more pictures, here's a slideshow of our favorite memories from this year's trip.

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Beach Vacation - Part 2

We were so lucky to get to spend time with our family during our vacation. At one point in the week we had 19 people - in 3 hotel rooms! Josh's 2nd cousin, Alice, came up to spend the long weekend of July 4th with us. She teaches college in Savannah and had a few days off for the holiday. She brought her fancy camera with her and caught so many great pictures that I wanted to share a few of my favorites here! It was so neat to see the memories she captured of our family just being together and enjoying the simple pleasure of each other's company!

Beach Trip 2009 - Part 1

We are back from our annual beach vacation! After a 6 hourish trip home yesterday, we are back at home and getting settled into the real world! Our ten days at the beach went by entirely too fast! The washing machine is now washing, the kids are napping, and I am looking through pictures of our wonderful trip. Each year, we go to Daytona Beach with Josh's extended family. It really is a fun trip, getting to enjoy the beach, spend time with family, and catch up with friends all at once!

Josh, Bear and I made it to Daytona Beach late Wednesday evening. We had an exhausting drive down - Bear cried atleast 4 hours out of the 6 it took to drive. He has never been one to be fussy in his carseat, but boy was he ever on our drive down. I don't know if it was that he was tired but couldn't sleep or if he missed Lily being beside him, but he definitely kept us awake going down.

Thursday, we started our "beach routine". Josh and the guys get up early to go play golf and Carol, Bear and I head out for a morning beach walk. After breakfast it's off to the pool/beach. I love that the kids are at the age where they can spend several hours outside. Other than potty breaks and popsicle runs to the room, we were outside from 9am-1pm. After a quick lunch it was naptime for the kids. They both slept so hard each afternoon, atleast 3 1/2 hours every afternoon. I spent my afternoons reading on our balcony, or if Josh was with them, walking and reading on the beach. I never get to read, but I finished 2 Jody Picolout books while at the beach. We have a slew of favorite Daytona Beach restaraunts, so we made sure to eat out at them in the evenings!

Other highlights of our trip:
*Bear and Lily played putt putt - we only made it through 9 holes, but it was fun! Bear still has his red golf ball, he couldn't bear to let it go!
*Golf Cart ride on the beach - which was great until we ran into a sandstorm
*Krispy Kreme doughnuts and chocolate milk.
*Josh, Bear, Lily and I rode a sky ride at the boardwalk and enjoyed a great view of the ocean. Lily was crushed when she found out she wasn't big enough to ride one of the big bungee cord attractions at the boardwalk.
*4th of July fireworks.

*Lily learned to go under water and float on her back with her swimmies or pool noodles.

Here are a few pictures of us at the pool. I got others to share, but I'll try to split them up in a few posts!

Bear and Daddy playing in the pool

Lily floating on her back

Bear and Leslie Clouse - Josh has grown up at the beach with the Clouse's and used to play with Leslie when she was Bear's age.
Momma and Bear Lily and Bear in the kiddie pool

Brodie in the kiddie pool

Lily ventures in to the big pool

Brodie models his goggles

Mammy and her grandkids

Lily watering my feet