More Summer Fun!

It's been a while since I last posted. We've been pretty busy getting our classrooms ready for school and HAVING FUN before summer ends. John and I took Addison to Alabama Adventures the other day. We had the best time! Addison rode everything that she could ride considering her size. She loved the water park and amazed us by going down the larger slide in the baby part of the park completely by herself. She would get out of the water, walk the 30 feet or so around to the stairs, go up the concrete stairs, and then down the slide while we waited to catch her. Too cute! John was very sweet to watch her so I could ride some rides and water slides by myself. (I am such a kid!) It was a blast, and I hope we can go back before summer is over. Today (Wednesday), we went over to cousin Riley's house for a play date. The girls had so much fun playing on the swing set, having tea parties, playing at the water table, and riding on the ride-on toys. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera...

I had to put these pictures on here because my baby is looking so much like a little girl! (She kind of looks like a puppy, too, the way she chews on things). I just can't believe she's almost 2.

Here are some pictures of our early birthday celebration for Addison. John's parents bought a kitchen for Addison and wanted to give it to her early so she would have some time to play with it before school starts. John painted another piece to go with it. (One that Julie didn't need and gave to us). It looks really cute and gives Addison more space to store food, etc. She loves her kitchen and the new food and dishes to go with it. She loves to make "coppee" (coffee) for her daddy. She makes soup for me. Thank you, Grandma and Paw Paw for the sweet birthday gift! Addi will enjoy it for many years to come.

Okay, as an animal lover myself (and owner of pet rats), it just warms my heart to see my little girl loving on a baby rat. The video was taken at the reptile show which is held monthly at UAB. We had the best time looking at turtles, snakes, baby rats and mice, geckos, chameleons, and many other animals. It was a wonderful experience for Addi!

One day last week, I was making cupcakes. I showed Addison an egg and we had a talk about how baby chicks come out of eggs. She was fascinated because she loves anything that's a baby! I gave her an egg of her own to hold while I cooked. You'll see in the video how she just couldn't wait for that baby chick to come out. I had to break the news to her that the eggs we cook with don't have baby chicks in them.

After playing with her egg for about 15 minutes or so, Addi accidentally dropped it. Thankfully, she wasn't upset. In fact, she thought it was pretty yucky!

lots of celebrations!

The last few weeks or so, we've had lots of things to celebrate! Here are some of them:

1. Addison has begun potty training. Her daddy bought her some panties, which she is trying on in the picture below. She is doing very well with potty training, but does have some accidents. Her daddy also bought her (and her cousin, Eme) a potty watch to remind Addi (and ME) to take her to the potty every 30 minutes. She is such a big girl that she even tries to dump the contents of her potty into the toilet for us. She is hysterical! We are very proud of Addison for taking the initiative to start potty training, though it is probably going to be another year before she is fully potty trained. Fine with us! She's still a baby to us!

2. Addison celebrated her 15th birthday. Just kidding! Seriously, though! How old are we??? These pictures crack me up. She was trying on bracelets and talking on her cell phone.

3. We celebrated John's birthday! Addison enjoyed watching him open presents. She even gave him a big birthday kiss. We took John and his mom to Brio to eat lunch. The food was DELICIOUS as always!

4. We celebrated John's and Randy's birthdays together! They are 2 weeks apart. Mom, Julie, Tucker, Eme, Randy, Grayson, and Weston came over. Unfortunately, Tanya and Braden couldn't come because they had to go to a going away party for Braden's best friend (sad!). The kids had the best time playing together. They swam and slid over and over! It was funny because Addi and Eme switched personalities...Addison (who is normally focused on something "serious" and not quite as social as Eme) was the social butterfly! She welcomed everyone to her home and played with the boys non stop. She squealed and laughed and showed off. Eme, on the other hand, after swimming with Addi for a while, got really "into" playing with rocks. She filled the sand table with rocks, filled a work glove with rocks, etc. She worked very hard in her new environment! John made mango daiquiris for everyone and grilled delicious food! The kids all fought over the corn (go figure- none of them eat it, really) because it was on the cob. Mom made a strawberry cake for John (his favorite) with a fisherman and a pond on top. Randy's cake had a "Star Wars" theme. It was the most fun!!!!!!!! I am so thankful that Randy, Julie, and I have children who are close together in age!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Riley!

Today, we celebrated Riley's 2nd birthday- an "under the sea" party. (Riley is Addison's 2nd cousin). It was adorable! Lauren and Brian (Riley's parents) had everything looking just perfect. There were lots of little pools, riding toys, and a new swing set for the kids to play on. The cupcakes looked like little fish, and there were actual "live" fish on each table. (We called them "Dorothy" since Addi loves Elmo). The party favors were sand buckets full of Riley's favorite things. It was such a fun party!

Memommy and her great-grand daughters

This is the way we clean our hands, clean our hands, clean our hands. This is the way we clean our hands after eating cupcakes!

Eme enjoys her cupcake (probably a little messier than Julie would like!)

Total mess! Icing first!

fun in the water

Addison and Riley playing on the swing set

Eme and Addi playing in the house

Aunt Anna, Brandon, and Riley blowing bubbles

Cousin Allen helps Addi slide on the whale

the birthday girl splashing in her pool

fun on the swings

A blessing in disguise, we hope???

Well, we got the sad news today, from our neighbors at the lake, that multiple trees fell (one of which landed on the house) due to a quick but violent storm last night. Mom raced off to the lake to see what needed to be done. John also went so that he could help Mom and be there for moral support. These are some of the pictures he took. Thankfully, no one was there when it happened. What's crazy is that in 17 years, at a house surrounded by trees, we've only had one tree fall and certainly never any burglaries. At first, this made us so upset because the house was broken into a little over a month ago, and now this. But, as I said, this could be a blessing in disguise seeing as the house needed a new roof, ceiling, and deck anyway. Hopefully, insurance will cover everything. I have to say that we will miss the chair in the den tremendously. We've all spent lots of time in that chair- reading magazines, eating snacks, watching movies, sleeping, playing games, holding sleeping babies, cuddling, kids jumping off of it, etc. It sure holds wonderful memories! I'm sure we'll make just as many special memories in the new chair. For now, just pray that the insurance company and builder will make this as easy and smooth as possible for Mom.

Not a great place to park, Mom.

Need I say anything?

When Addi saw this, she said, "Mess, Mama!"

One of Dad's favorite places to hang out...

This looks about like the root ball from the tree that fell in our yard.

This one doesn't do it justice compared to some of the others.

John took this one on top of the roof.

the flattened gazebo

Roger Day comes to the Hoover Library!

We waited all summer for this...Roger Day! Addison just loves Roger Day's music. John bought her a CD when he came to our school. She has another one of his CDs, too. We met Julie, Eme, and her play group there and had the BEST time! The kids danced and clapped! I had as much fun as the kids did. Here are some cute videos from the concert.

After the concert, we headed over to Aldridge Gardens to have lunch with John's family. Jett, Dartmouth, and Addi fed the fish, turtles, and geese. We had a great time! After that, we went to Toys R Us to see what all was on sale. We found some good deals, and Addison had lots of fun playing there with Paw Paw. Can summer just last forever?

Looking Back to Ross Bridge, and HAPPY 4th of JULY!

Happy (late) 4th of July! John and I had a wonderful time at Ross Bridge on July 1st and 2nd. Our dinner at Brock's was delicious- he ate swordfish, and I had veal- one of our favorite meals ever! Mom brought Addison to the hotel the next morning to swim with us. She absolutely loved the pool, and went down the slide (in our laps) over and over and over! The pool has a salt water system, which is so much nicer than chlorine.

The afternoon of July 2nd, we packed up and headed to the lake. Randy, Grayson, and Braden came late that night. Julie, Emerson, and Mom came the following day. We had a great time riding in the new paddle boat that Mom bought! We swam and rode in the big boat.

On July 4th, we headed back to B'ham for a joint birthday party at Mary and David's neighborhood pool. They had lots of delicious food, and it was nice to hang out with our cousins/family.

Later that afternoon, we went back to the lake for barbeque dinner and fireworks. The kids really enjoyed stepping on (and throwing) "poppers" and holding sparklers. Our neighbors had a huge fireworks show, so even Addison got to stay up until after 9:00. Anders drove us crazy barking constantly until the fireworks ended around 11:00.

On Sunday, we all rode in the boat. Addi rode the inner-tube behind the boat and seemed to enjoy it (no smiles, though). She also (after getting warmed up) had fun swimming in the lake in her life jacket. Anders gave us quite the scare when she decided to push her ball across the lake. She was literally about to be hit by boats. John raced after her in the paddle boat as Addi yelled and clapped "Anders, come!" The whole week was a wonderful adventure that we'll always remember!

Happy late Father's Day, Daddy!

fun at the pool

Our little water bug loves the slide!

a pool party with John's side of the family

Addi loves her great-aunt Georgana

hovered around the baby pool

Aunt Laura, Jett, and Jordan in the big pool

just the girls- Addi and Dartmouth

back at the lake...sparklers!

Aunt Tanya and Grayson watch the fireworks

Braden and Uncle Randy take a "Zap" - ha-ha!

Oh my goodness! For the 1st time, no one is crying!

The girls love their Gigi!

Daddy reads to Addi and her cousins.

Braden did some crazy tricks off the pier.

swimming in the lake

fun on the paddle boat

more fun on the paddle boat

Gigi and Addi

sweet Emerson

Happy girl!

Anders, watch out for those boats!

John rescues Anders after a near-death experience.