August part 2

Did I mention we have done a lot of traveling this month?   Blakes favorite thing to do was grab bags and walk around the house. 

We made a quick trip to Tifton for the weekend to see friends who were back from a 9 month stay in Australia and for a fantasy football draft.    (Though I have pictures of neither of these events or all the friends there, oops!)  We had a play date the next morning and the kids enjoyed the water and almost sat still for a picture on the couch. 

Austin had his first day of preschool and is in an 'I'm not going to look at the camera. ever' stage.  So here are a few that I captures where hes looking, a little. 

We bought Blake a helmet and have been enjoying a few bike rides with the boys.

Our final trip in August was to the beach for a relaxing extra long weekend.   We went to St. Simone island, rented a house with three other couples and had a blast!!   8 Adults and 7.5 kids, beach within walking distance, pool out back, great weather!  Sign me up for next year! 

The beach was at low tide during the morning, so we had our own river along the sand where the kids could play and splash around.   It was perfect because we didn't have to worry about them running into the ocean or jellyfish! 

And it was deep enough to pull the kids on the boogie boards. 

Suggestion:  When going on a beach vacation, find friends with awesome beach 'stuff' ; tents, chairs, boogie boards, toys.....

Boys got to play a little football  

Bob took Austin on a evening Beach walk. 

And they got to help dad build a sand shark the next day. 

Dad was sleepy after a hard day of football and sand

And back at home again....phew that was a lot of fun packed into the month!  

August Part 1

Well, I guess I should at least make a post for 2013 and it is September, so I'm running out of months.     Here are some of the highlights from a very busy August.  
We did not do a whole lot this summer, so when August came around, we jammed it full of fun times.

We made our annual trip to Chicago-Land to see Bobs family and added some extra trips while we were up North.   We visited my Uncle Steve and family and got to enjoy their wonderful new porch, fancy cooking, and great time with everyone.  Even though all their 'kids' are grown up, they all live close enough to stop by and hang out for dinner.  It was a great cousin convention and I was happy to give them an excuse to all come over to Mom and Dads and hang out.  (Sounds like they don't do that very often, wink, wink)

The next day while the men golfed we went to the Zoo!!!  
Got to see Rhinos (Thank Aunt Meg for warning us about what to do when they start to raise their tails)

Saw the tall Giraffes

Austin has specific instructions from Dad to get a picture of a tiger, so he took this one.  Its way in the back laying down. 

We saw Dinosaurs too! 

We then traveled to Peoria for a reunion with a bunch of guys from Bob fraternity at Bradley.  While the guys were golfing the moms took the kids to lows to build airplanes. 

Little kids decided they needed more iron in their diet. 

While in Peoria, I was also able to meet up with Uncle Jim and my God Child Matt.  We were alone at the park and Austin said he could take our picture,  He did a pretty good job. 

It was a short visit, but I'm glad they were able to meet us!  How did Matt get so tall?  

Bob decided he played enough golf for the week, and switched to some basketball.  This was a favorite past time for this group of guys back at Bradley.   You could ALWAYS find them on the court playing, when they weren't studying of course. 

And here is the group with a few of the kids. 

We went back to Grandma and Grandpas to hang out before heading back to Georgia.   Cartoons in their PJ's...what a treat! 

There were so many other events I didn't get pictures of.  Swimming, Choo Choo Johnny's where they bring your food on a train, Grandmas special make your own ice cream sundaes, Pizza with Uncle Tom and Karen, and I am sure I'm forgetting something else. 

Uncle Chuck came to visit too !

phew.....that was a busy week! 

Um...life has been busy and as my sister posted, Bad blogger, bad blogger.  I know, I know.

I have a lot of post ready in my head that I wanted to fill you all in on, but never got the chance to sit down and actually post picture and write about them.  So I'll just tell you about Thanksgiving.

My whole family only gets together once a year.  We have been switching the 'host' house and this year we went to North Carolina to my sisters new house.   My brother and his girlfriend from California were there, my parents drove down from Maryland, and the boys and I drove from Georgia.   As always, we had a great time catching up and its getting more and more fun watching Lily and Austin.  But the most fun was that my brother got engaged!!!   So excited to add Kate to our family and now our family will all get together twice in 2013!  for a wedding in California and Thanksgiving.

So sit back and enjoy the pictures from our trip.

Here is a shot of all of us together.  

 

Family shot

 

We went to quite a few parks while there.  Luckily the weather was pretty nice.

 

We also went to an awesome children's museum called Marbles.  There was so much to do!!

Austin got to drive a boat (safety first - he made me wear the life vest when I was sitting in there with him)

 

 

 

Lily hanging in the pirate ship

 

Playing with Big Legos!

 

Got to use a real saw! 

 

Decorating a turkey

 

There was a lot of music that week as well as .....

 

 

...a lot of dancing!

 

Grandpa got to meet Blake for the first time!

 

Can I go to the park with the big kids please?

 

Lily and Austin heading out to yet another museum and park.

 

We have our hats and cant wait to play again!!

 

 

You'd think this shot was after the park, but its actually on the way there....They were playing hard all week and really enjoyed each other.

 

Sticking your tongue out helps with balance

 

Cousins = Friends

 

We had a great time and can't wait for blake to be old enough to join in on the fun.