4th kick off

4th at the Fays is always a favorite of ours. We've been celebrating for 9 years this annual tradition around the 4th. Miller and Allie are a few months apart and were friends in the womb--then stroller friends.  This group of friends Landon and I hung out with during our single and young married season of life.

Now, there are busy kids galore running around the lawn and filling up the once quiet get togethers...mostly girls. Here Sadie the puppy is trying to get the girls swinging on the hammock--nipping their toes and chasing them around & around. It was quite the entertainment for all the squealing girls.

There was lots of firecracker jumping on the trampoline.

And, a ticking/wrestling game could be found here and there.

Street fireworks are always included in the evening. Miller is over the moon in love with street fireworks. Mr, Shane had a few that looked like army tanks. You could feel the excitement radiating from the kids over the anticipation of the show.

 

Eliza Kate loved hanging out with all the girls at the cookout. She loves older girls. Allie was so sweet to share her princess chair for the show.

The girls had lots of squeals over the loud popping sounds and lights. They were covering their ears

 

Miller is always game for some sparkler action. He taught Eliza Kate how to hold her own firey stick. She was seriously studying his form for sparkler success. Eliza Kate is eager to follow big brother's lead, so she is now our sparkler queen.

The kids are all off their normal schedules. It was a week of 10:00pm bedtimes for Miller & on this night 10:00 pm for our little miss independence. I'm hoping to get back on our normal bedtime routine this week, but with another 4th celebration looming, I'm thinking we're in for more late bedtimes...eek!

To add to all the pre-fourth fun, we grilled out at Grandmama & Poppy's house on Sunday afternoon after some very long naps recovering from the events of the weekend. The table was all dressed up in patriotic red, whites & blues. The kids had a big time taking apart the Uncle Sam top hat centerpieces to get their little hands on the festive windmills.

After dusting off the Escalade in the garage, they sent those sparkly windmills spinning on their own patriotic parade. A few passer byers even waved at all of  their 4th of July cuteness. Hooray for the red, white & blue!

slip and slide & a spendy

Nightime VBS kept Miller up late...very late.  He was up burning the night time oil and settling in under the sheets at about 10:00 pm every night of our Colossal Coaster week. We turned it into an even later spend the night party on Thursday evening ,hosting Grant for an overnighter into Friday night.  It was one marathon playdate, but these boys play really well together.
We rolled out the slip and slide on the rolling slant in our backyard. Nothing makes a slide more fun than a hill for maximum sliding capability. When you have a little sister in your house, she tends to join you on all of your backyard adventures whether you like it or not:)

Grant plunged right into the wade pool at the end of the slide. There's really no other way to spend a hot summer day in the south than to be drenched in water.

It was hours of fun...4 hours to be exact. Our water bill will be very  interesting this month with all of our weekend sliding action. The giggles and outdoor fun that this colorful piece of plastic provided will be well worth the wasted water.

The laughing and screaming was so loud that it attracted our next door neighbor to join in. Miller loves a party, so the more the merrier in his book. They started announcing their running slides like it was a swim meet with rules,  first and last names, false start lingo & scores using an imaginary microphone. Hilarious. We picnicked on peanut butter & nutella---and then they were off for another round on the slide.

 

Riding the wave of summer & loving to share it with such great buds. Feeling blessed and very tired in this summer season.

VBS recap

Kingdom Rock had us combing our stash of dress up clothes prepping for such a royal affair as we anticipated this year's theme at Vacation Bible School.
Grandmama and I led a group of third grade Lords & Ladies at this year's VBS at her church. We're going on 3 years strong as a team effort teaching a homeroom. This was Miller's first year as a Kindergartener particpating in all of the elementary action. He just so happened to have a friend in his classroom to enjoy the week with. Since we taught a group, Eliza Kate partipated in the the preschool VBS and had a royal good time. Our royal princess came home exhausted from her 8-1pm daily schedule each day. We skipped out on swim team for a week to jazz up our routine & enjoy a structured day again.

Here's the classroom door we decorated. I wish I had my better camera on that morning--this will have to do! It's not so easy crafting a castle from butcher paper. This is how we looked greeting our royal court every morning welcoming them into Kingdom Rock.

Week 2 of VBS was at our home church. Collosal Coaster was the theme of the week. Grant joined us for the nightime session. Each day, there was a different crazy dress up theme. Here they are on hats & shades day. Miller sported his "rapper goggles".

These two  BFF's really enjoyed seeing eachother each night. Here they're riding the trolley into Bible school. With such a big campus, you feel sometimes like you're riding into Disney World on the trolley:)

swim meet grand finale

Our June can pretty much be summarized up in two words : swim team. It's really all we formally signed up for besides VBS this summer. I loved the structure of our summer swim mornings & the fact that the kids got their exercise in for the day. This was Miller's first official go at being a Dolphin swimmer, so we stuck to only competing at all the home meets. He was absolutely comfortable swimming the length of our pool where his morning lessons were. I think it's safe to say that he was most excited about the prospect of running around with "the boys of summer"--our neighborhood kindergarten crew. Winning ribbons was also a huge motivator. I loved watching the joy of competition finally click with Miller when he commented early on in the season, "You mean it's a race in the pool?"

So here are those aforementioned "boys of summer" working out their pre meet jitters on the playground in their finest speedo attire. We swam against River Forest on our final meet. Our hood is undefeated this season--woot!

Our very own daddy got roped into MCing the final meet. He's like a magnet to a microphone everywhere he goes. Miller was so proud of his daddy the announcer. The most comedic part about this assignment was that this was the first meet Landon's ever attended in his life. He knows nothing about the sport & there he was ad libbing and acting like he knew what was going on.. Who knew he had a radio sounding voice in there.

We kept watching for event 12 to roll around. Miller was swimming the breastroke and kept looking at his sharpie scratched notes on his arm as a reference. He was competing with his little K classmate from Timber Ridge first semester, Emily. Can you spot the cutie blond all blurred out in the background?

Remember Marshall from the end of the year party? They're just as crazy together at the pool this summer. They cannot keep their hands to themselves while waiting for their heat to swim.

There's my guy on the block...waiting for the ref's whistle and the bullhorn signal. See his long skinny legs?

"Swimmers take your mark" --he heard his daddy's voice call out:) And, this is how he so awkwardly plunges into the lane. I'm hoping his graceful dive is mastered next season.

It was neck and neck until the very end. Miller pulled ahead and won another first place in his heat. He was all smiles when he knew he touched the wall first.

He ran to daddy with the microphone to celebrate a small victory. A visit to the concession stand for sour skittles was all the reward he needed. Saying goodbye to the summer swim season for now with wonderful memories. Looking forward to the 7 & 8's season, next year already.

swim girl

Our little missy just wrapped up her precompetitive swim season this week. She practiced in the wee hours of the morning {just past daybreak} for six weeks.  Eliza Kate learned to swim to the stairs, hold on to the side, blow bubbles, jump off the side of the pool & jump off the block to waiting hands. This little swimmer conquered her initial fears {screaming & all} the first two lessons to figuring out she actually enjoyed the water. Those first two mornings were rough with Eliza Kate waking up first thing saying "No Coach Bef" {Beth} It was a season of firsts for our girly--including wearing a fashionable rash guard in the water for warmth on those chilly mornings. Bonding with the coaches & seeing her girlfriends from the neighborhood helped her to realize this daily ritual wasn't so bad. Emery aborted the mission of the middle spot in the above picture op. :) I promise Claire & Ek like eachother:)

There were around 12 kids in her swimming group every morning. They practiced for half an hour before the boys launched their way into the pool. There's something about the repetitiveness of practicing every morning for short half hour intervals that clicked with our girl. She was given the opportunity of everyday to really grow as a beginning swimmer.

Eliza Kate was absolutely precious tip-toeing her way very carefully on the block to the edge. She crept forward inch by inch and finally worked up the confidence to jump her way into the water. The first few lessons Coach Grace jumped with her holding her hand to ease her fears.

This little dolphin follows directions immediately from her coaches and is concerned with doing the right thing. She takes instructions seriously--I love that about her. No goofing off for our little lady & it's just altogether so refreshing to have a rule follower.

Off she goes!

Marveling at just how big she looks coming out of the water. All of this exercise is melting off her toddler baby fat way too fast for this momma to handle. We're gushing with pride over Eliza Kate's growth this season & we're looking forward to two more years of dolphin swim team training for this one. Here's to hoping she'll like it again next summer.

splash pad saturday

The Roswell Sprayground is a standing appointment on our summer bucket list. I usually try to work it unto our June calendar We love packing a picnic and getting there at the opening to enjoy the fountains before it's brimming to the rim with preschoolers. I will say that Miller is slowly outgrowing the novelty of our tradition. Eliza Kate enjoyed herself the most on this jaunt.

He always puts his game face on for an outing with the family though.

Our daring fountain jumper plunged right in without skipping a beat. Oh the joys of getting soaked on a hot, summer day.

And, these pictures make me realize just how big she's looking these days at three years old.

EK kept asking Miller to follow her.."Come this way Miller". "Over here, Miller". And, he did.  They're sticking together a little more on outings like these & it's cute to watch them work that out.

Joy lit up her face! She was having a big time in the water. She even convinced Landon to journey through the tunnel of water with her several times. He's such a good sport.

Cover the fountain with our toes game was an imaginative game. Watching it suddenly explode proved to be hilarious for my pair of fountain jumpers.  

 

All they needed was an hour in the fountains before we picnicked our way into the park. It's days like these that I'm thankful tor the unplugging feeling of summer as a family. Connecting with togetherness and down time is exactly what we need these days before the hustle and bustle of fall.

honoring our dads

Who doesn't like a whole day dedicated to the BIG job of a daddy? Sometimes days go by without an official thank you to the big man of our house. "The one who's in charge" is how Miller likes to label our dad. We hear Miller make comments like..."One day when I'm a daddy, I'll ________ ......." It's so evident that he's soaking up every aspect of fatherhood from Landon. He's really watching & taking mental notes on his future role.
One thing's for sure. On Father's Day, we intentionally made sure to make a BIG deal over the daddy of the family.
 

Our dad helps me mold these two little darlings into well, daaah--lings. It's a team effort {honestly, a tag team effort}. God knew what he was doing in his design. When I wear out, Landon steps in beautifully. In so many ways, he is just the daddy I always wanted for my children. He's not perfect, but he's just absolutely perfect for us. So, we honor you Landon for all the little ways you selflessly serve our family of four. It's never about you, it's always about us.

We were fortnuate to celebrate this day with Poppy--my dad. We hosted them for a cookout with a menu of mini slider hamburgers served on Hawaiian rolls with all the fixens'. To top it all off, we used our old fashioned ice cream maker for the firest time to churn out homemade vanilla ice cream with fresh peaches. This was a novelty that the kids really enjoyed on a cool summer evening on the deck.

The littles were able to hug all over their Poppy on Father's Day. I know he felt special.

 

No  summer weekend is complete these days without plunging down Grandmama & Poppy's waterslide. Short , daring visits seem to satisfy his thrill seeking nature. We all  played together at their pool as the perfect family actvity on Father's Day.

first visit to the dentist

Since we've relocated in the last year, I've been slowly switching over the kid's doctors & dentists. The littles were overdue for their bi-annual teeth cleaning...so I thought summer was the perfect time to cross this off our to-do list. This was Eliza Kate's very first teeth cleaning appointment and she had big brother sitting in the chair right next to hers for security. How reassuring is that?
This office does not encourage parents in the back during the cleaning--so I was glad Miller was by Eliza Kate's side to calm her fears and coach her through her initial visit. I was allowed to watch Miller's first appointment at three years old, so I was a little annoyed that this was the policy. Nothing like a familiar brother face sitting next to you during something not so pleasant.

On this occasion, Miller was an all star big brother.  He prides himself in the role of helper. The waiting room was very quiet, so I could spy on the cutest of conversations in the back. The hygienists covered a wide array of kid friendly topics, swim team, vacations & Halloween costumes. Miller had a lot to say with  a mouth full of equipment leaving a few minutes of air time for his sister to interject her two cents.

 

It's funny how life comes full circle, as they visited my dentist as a child. I snuck back after the appointment for some quick pictures documenting a successful first cleaning appointment. Both kid's were cavity free--I did a small victory dance:)

They left with a bag full of sussies for their teeth which felt like a goody bag to them {minus the candy}. Crossing off a list of firsts for our growing girl.