Destin 2014

We made it back from Destin yesterday.  We had such a great vacation.  We went with my cousins and a couple from our church and their two kids.  Our beach house was great and I love having the water right outside our door.  The kids played great together which meant the adults were able to sit back and relax and enjoy our trip.  We had perfect weather and spent so much time in the water and sun.  I did get very sick one night but I was determined not to miss out on the fun so I loaded up on medicine and pushed thru.  I am so glad I did because that turned out to be one of my favorite days.  We went to Crab Island on a boat and rode jet skis, floated around, paddle boarded and looked for hermit crabs.  My kids loved it there.  Caden spent most of the trip with his goggles on diving in the water to see what he could find.  Jimmy and I decided he could easily be a beach bum.  He loved everything about the trip. He even surprised everyone by wanting to do a sort of bungy jumping thing that swings you back and forth.  I was extremely nervous about him doing it but he loved it!  Caden is our daredevil for sure.  He has told me he wants to sky dive when he turns 18 and now I actually believe he will.  Paige was on a mission to find as many shells and crabs as she could.  She was trilled to have another girl to play with and Reese was super sweet and took her under her wing.  Every night the kids were building forts, or making up games or something else to entertain themselves.  I had big plans to read some books I brought but honestly I just relaxed and enjoyed our family and friends.  I can't say enough about our trip.  I have sooo many pictures that I plan on making into a book but for now I just tried to get the highlights of the trip on here.  We are already planning for next year! 

Camps 2014

This past week both of the kids attended camp.  Caden was able to go to Winshape at a local church and Paige attended a Frozen themed dance camp at her dance studio.  It was perfect timing for them to have something to do this week since I was busy working and getting ready to go on vacation.  

Paige's camp was only half a day but she had a great time.  I think right now every girl around has seen Frozen at least 20 times.  So when Paige found out her camp had that theme she was pumped.  They spent the week singing songs from the movie, making Frozen themed crafts, eating snacks and learning a dance.  Today the parents were able to watch all the girls perform a dance set to all the songs in the movie.  It was adorable and I was pretty impressed that they were able to teach the girls such a long dance in such a short time.  I guess it helped that the moves went with the songs and probably every girl in there has the movie memorized.  There were over 60 girls in the camp.  They said it was there biggest one ever.  Lol. 

This was Caden's first year to attend the Winshape camp and all I can say is he loved it!  He came home everyday excited and telling me all about what he did and learned.  Overall it was a great camp that combined fun and learning about your relationship with Christ.  I was able to go to family day today and he was so excited to show me everything.  I wish they had had this camp when I was a kid.  Everything looked so fun.  I was so happy Caden had such a good week.  I can really tell he listened and really got what they talked about this week.  It opened the door for many conversations about the Bible and our relationship with Jesus this week.  He will be going back next year for sure!

Now we are packed and headed to Destin in the morning.  We are looking forward to some relaxation and family time!

Summer Happenings

While it seems my life is busier and busier everyday for me, things have really slowed down for my kids this summer.  At first it was hard and I heard lots of "I'm bored" and "what can we do?" out of the kids.  Last summer I really tried to have things planned like swimming lessons and camps but for the most part this summer we are spending lots of time at home.  Which means I am working and the kids are entertaining themselves.  The last week or two I have seen a major change.  They are playing much better together creating their own games to play and I am actually able to get some work done! It has also helped having Tami live so close to us.  Several times the last few weeks Jimmy or I have been able to take them swimming at her house.  This is the first summer we have not taken swimming lessons, but having such easy access to a pool has replaced them.  Just last summer I would say Caden was barely able to swim and I would have called Paige a non swimmer.  Lol. But this summer Caden has just taken off.  Diving, treading water, you name it he can do it.  Paige can technically swim but treading water is still a little shaky.  I make her wear a life jacket to jump off the diving board or if one of us is not in the pool.  But I think by the end if the summer she will be doing great too.   I have decided I would move to a new house for a pool!  Lol

Zoo Day

Saturday Amy and I took the kids to the zoo to see their new bug exhibit.  I was a little bummed that you had to pay extra to get in to see the giant animatronic bugs, but I did think it was really neat and the kids loved it.  They had giant bugs and it was set up to make you feel like you were small with giant items around you like a giant picnic.  Reminded me a little of Honey I Shrunk The Kids.  Lol. Each bug did something different and there was interesting facts posted near each one.  Caden was really into the facts about each bug.  After that we went to see some real bugs in the new bug area at the zoo.  We really enjoyed seeing  some bugs I had never seen before.  We even got to see some ants in action cutting and carrying leaves down into their ant hill.  I thought it was really cool and so did the kids.  Since I have a membership we were able to get into the zoo an hour early and see some of the zoo keepers getting the animals and their habitats ready for the day.  They were very nice answering the kids questions and talking to them.  We had a great time and we can't wait to go back!