What We've Been Up To...

We have been so busy the last couple of weeks that I just realized that I need to catch y'all up with what we've been up to. This summer has been fun, crazy and busy! My parents, sister and nephews came for a visit last weekend and we had a ball. I guess we were having so much fun that we forgot to take pictures because we have NONE! They kept Olivia for us so Hays and I could celebrate our 7th (yep, you read it right) anniversary. We had a nice lunch out and then much needed massages. Thanks mom, dad and Amie for keeping the girl so we could have some childless time.

The last two weeks I have been building a house with Habitat. It has been such a blessing to be able to participate in building a home for someone in just 2 weeks. It has been HOT.... can I just say that again, HOT! and a lot of hard work but so worth it. I have missed being with my girl so much though.

We have also had a few summer fun days. We have gotten yogurt and played in the splash park there several times, gone to the children's museum, fed the geese at the reservoir and played at the "real" splash park.  Whew...we LOVE summer time!

Playing at the splash park. She LOVES it and runs around like she's a big girl.

Playing scrabble at the children's museum. Olivia wasn't too impressed. Maybe next time.

These are two best buds. I saw Lilly share her treat with Olivia this afternoon. Yes, Olivia ate it!!

Who said this girl could grow into a toddler so quickly?? NOT this momma!!!

Oh, and we've been eating lots of ice cream and Popsicles.

Mmmm Mmmm good!!

Surprise! This is our new best friend....not really. He's a friendly snake that will hopefully only come around while we aren't outside playing.

Backyard Fun

It is so HOT already and it is only June! We are in for a very long summer. To stay cool we decided to break out the kiddy pool on Saturday. It is actually more like a wading pool with sprinklers around the edge with a dolphin and slide attached to it. Looks like a good investment for the summer afternoons. Olivia had a blast.

She is always looking so darn excited with that mouth wide open. Gotta love her!

She plays with the oddest things in the oddest places. Hairbrush in the baby pool???

Just hangin...

She wasn't very fond of the slide. We'll work up to that, girl.

We have a busy two weeks ahead. I am helping Habitat build a house again this summer with the Junior League of Jackson. Not a good project to choose with record highs being made. I'll survive and a family will have a brand new house. Yippee!! I'm excited! Don't worry, the girl isn't going with me. She will be in great hands spending the days with our cousin, Sydney.

Beach Trip: Numero Dos (warning:picture overload)

This year we celebrated Memorial Day by going to the beach with Hays' family which included Gigi, Papa, Matt, Amberly, Wil Franklin, and Sydney. We had such a nice and relaxing time. Of course, time at the beach goes way too fast and we never want to come home. We are soooo thankful for the men and women that have served and are serving our country.  We are thankful we are able to celebrate this holiday. Without them we would not be free. 

This is one girl that LOVES the beach.

My two loves.

I was really surprised but she loved playing in the sand and waves.

Some reading time with Gigi.

These two cuties had some kind of time in the bath tub. I think they have a love/hate relationship.

We spent one morning at the zoo. It is a fantastic zoo and I would highly recommend going if you are ever at Orange Beach. We payed an extra dollar to go in and pet the baby goat and lamb.

I'm not sure what Wil Franklin thought about those animals. 

Hays and the kids were able to pet the kangaroos and even hold them. I think they reminded Olivia of Lilly because she kept rubbing their backs.

All in all a good second trip to the beach for the year. Onto looking forward to the third!

First Battle Wound

Yep....that's a black eye alright! I went running while Hays gave Olivia a bath tonight and this is what I came home to. Poor baby has a very black, very swollen eye. She likes to stand up in the bath tub and wave the wash cloth around and I think, has learned her lesson. She fell face first while playing her little game and hit her face on the side of the tub. Looks like, from this picture, she got over it pretty quickly!

Out for the Summer

One of my best friends, Kari, is a teacher and we have decided that once a week during the summer we are going to have "fun days" where we got somewhere to entertain the kiddos. Today, in celebration of her first day of summer break, we took the kids to the zoo. The Jackson Zoo is by far not the best I've ever been to but it was still a lot of fun. It has tons of shade and the kids actually liked looking at the animals. Next week...the splash park! Yippee for summer!

Can't handle the cuteness going on here. :)

The zoo really pooped them out!

Happy Hump Day!!

This girl LOVES being outside and LOVES popsicles!!!

First Camping Trip as 3

This weekend we ventured out for our first real camping trip as three. Yes, at first I thought we were crazy but we had to bite the bullet at some point. If you have been reading this blog before our bundle of joy came along you would know that Hays and I are big campers and hikers. We LOVE to be outdoors and have been out west several times to hike and Hays has even gone back country hiking in Alaska. So, we couldn't think of a better time to see if Olivia inherited the genes.

We went with our good friends Kari and Jeremy which also brought along Emerson, who is 3 months older than Olivia. We didn't want to venture to far, just in case there needed to be a middle of the night escape to our own beds (you just never know with young ones), so we stayed the night at Jeremy's farm in Canton. Perfect, not too far but also not in our own backyard.

The kids had a BLAST and slept better than in their own beds. We set up camp, built a fire, the kids played in dirt and we cooked hot dogs and smores. Olivia must have known she was in for a treat because she talked NONstop until way past her bedtime. I finally put her in the tent around 9:30 and she didn't make a peep all night. I think we might have a camper on our hands. YIPPEE!!

Our first night in a tent as a family of three.

My OCDness of being clean went out the window quickly. The girl LOVED playing in the dirt and of course, eating the dirt. This dress and shoes and hair bow are officially discolored.

Our two little campers. I foresee many more camping trips for these two.

I gave her a little monkey bath and put her in her jammies and she was out like a light. Slept like a rock all night and we even had to wake her the next morning when it was time for us to leave. 

What great memories we made this weekend. Wouldn't trade them for the world!