End of Summer

Even though it doesn't necessarily feel like it, summer is over and we're begging for those cooler temps to come our way and stay for a while. We've been spending much more time outside, especially in the evenings. We love to eat an early dinner and then head outside to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having.

Here's what the rest of our summer looked like...

Mimi stayed with us for a few days after the drive back from VA.

 

We were VERY sad to send her off to the airport. It's just never long enough!

 

We spent a morning showing my mom around GG & Goomba's new place here on the island.

 Love, love, love this! Layla awaiting a smooch from her Goomba. ;)

 GG got out lots of fun new things for the kids to play with.

 Eli had the best playmate!

Everyone came over to cook out on Labor Day. Goomba never hesitates to get right down on the floor with the kids. I love that about him!

 

 Eli is still an excellent helper, and loves to feed his 'sister baby.'

 We've spent countless hours at the park.

 And Layla learned to drive...yikes!

 One of the great things about being a second child, is being able to enjoy these fun toys a little sooner!

We hardly ever have time for pictures before church these days, but I did get this one of my beautiful girl one Sunday.

 

Again, lots of outside time! This girl is happy as can be out in the fresh air.

She loves to play with a ball!

 Somebody is on the move! She's trying so hard to be everywhere her brother is.

 Oh the tongues!

 We cleaned out the playroom last weekend and baby proofed the area. Layla is loving it!

She loves to stand. She locks her knees when you try to sit her back down to play.

 

That's all for now...very ready for some Fall activities soon! Eli has been counting down the days until our favorite pumpkin patch opens.



My Little Cubbie

Eli started AWANA's last week at First Baptist, and our little Cubbie is loving it! Last night he got his vest, and was seriously SO proud. He's doing great at practicing his memory verses during the week, and I love the lessons that he's learning through this program.

Last night was bring a friend night, and he brought his favorite neighborhood friend, Lakin. I'm excited about all that our little guy is being able to experience this year.

Week in Virginia - August

Our month of fun continued on well into September! We had several visitors come to stay with us, and then the kids and I were off to spend another week in Virginia at my mom's house. This was only possible because of some seriously amazing family members volunteering to help get us there! There was no way I could do the 8 hour car trip by myself, so the trip was made possible by my cousin Elizabeth and her friend Alexa, and my mom (we'll just refer to her as super Mimi).

On Friday morning, Elizabeth and Alexa flew into Hilton Head airport via private plane (rough way to travel, I know!). They spent the weekend here visiting, and then we got up before the sun on Sunday morning and made the trip back to Virginia together. I drove for all of 30 minutes, and Aunt Liz drove the rest. The first half of the trip was pretty miserable for Layla, but from then on it was up hill.

The kids loved having built in playmates for the weekend! I, too, enjoyed the extra helping hands! Aunt Liz was definitely a second mother to my kids for the week plus that we were together.

Our time in Virginia was great, though I really missed having my hubby there. Thankfully I had many willing to help out with the kids when needed. Layla was having a bit of an off week, and really just wanted to be in my arms most of the time. I think it was a combination of teething and just being away from home, because she's been back to her happy self since then.

We spent most of our time just hanging out with family. We had 4 big family meals/get togethers and that was just what I needed! Missing all of the family functions is still hard, so it was good to catch a few birthday and 'just because' dinners.

Sunday night my mom had everyone over for dinner and to see us.

 My mom picked up this Dora kitchen at a yard sale, and it was/still is a huge hit for my kiddos! Eli insisted that Uncle Bob play kitchen with him.

These two are like two peas in a pod. Showing off their firefly catches of the night. Uncle Patrick is constant entertainment, and comes up with the best stuff for them to 'play.' Needless to say, the first words out of Eli's mouth every morning where, "is Uncle Patrick here yet?!"

 We spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house. Notice Layla's 'don't go too far' look on her face!

 Ohh the thing's Eli gets away with at Mimi's house...like puddle jumping!

 Spent an afternoon at a really cool park. Eli was in heaven, and Layla enjoyed lots of swing time.

Eli still loves to 'help' in the kitchen. Especially with his Mimi who lets him help a little more than his mommy does :).

We celebrated Uncle Bob's birthday with dinner at my Grandparent's house, and the best carrot cake EVER!

 On Friday, we left sister at home with Mimi and took Eli to the zoo. It was a pretty hot day, so we went early and tried to beat the Labor Day crowd. We hadn't been to the zoo since Eli was 18 months old, so he really enjoyed it!

 His favorite part definitely being the train ride we took around the zoo. Unfortunately, you only get one train ride with your token, and this was very hard for my train lovin' boy to understand!

 Taking a rest with Aunt Liz in the butterfly garden.

 

We remembered to take Eli's swimsuit for the large splash park this time. It was a great way to cool off on the way out. After he slipped and fell about 5 times, we decided to leave before any bones were broken :).

 

On Saturday night we had one last get together at my Aunt's house, and it was a big seafood dinner!

 I've noticed that I'm in WAY more pictures when Liz is around. She is always good about grabbing the camera and making me stop for pictures.

 

My grandad is always so full of joy when we're in town. I love how excited he gets over his great grandchildren!

And then it was back in the car for another 8 hours...yuck! Layla did much better on the way home, thankfully! She's just like her brother though, in that she isn't much of a car sleeper. She took 3 cat naps and that was enough to get her by. Eli is a great little traveler, except for the fact that he HATED to leave VA, and fussed about it every 10 minutes the whole car ride home. He forgot about it once he got back home to his toys. :)

Week with Cousins - August

I'm still recovering from the month of August. It was an overload of fun, and we were on the go non-stop. The highlight of the month was definitely our week long visit with cousins! Cousins, Aunts and Uncles that we hadn't seen in a very long time, and that Layla had never met before. 12 adults and 10 children (under the age of 7), in one house, made for a seriously fun and crazy week. The kids spent countless hours in the pool, and that was our saving grace! It rained several days, but that certainly didn't stop them from swimming their little hearts out.

So much preparation went into planning for our time together, and I'm so thankful for all of the helping hands that made it all happen. Just the thought of feeding 22 mouths, three times a day for an extended period of time is enough to make anyone's head spin! If it weren't for my detail oriented, extra organized mother in law, I think we all would've lived off of cereal and pb&j's for the week!

 

The highlight for us was definitely being able to finally introduce Layla to the rest of her family. New babies in the family make it that much harder to be so far away from each other.

 Layla meeting her Aunt Becky, Uncle Jason, and cousins Noah(6) & Colin(3).

She then met her Uncle Matt, Aunt Sarah, and cousins McKenzie (turned 7 this month), Maddie (5), & Micah (3). I keep telling Sarah to send Maddie back to live with us...she was SUCH a little helper to me all week.

 

The kids were all SO sweet with the baby, and each spent countless hours by her side. It was so cute watching them all love on her and fight over who's lap she would sit in next.

The kids all played really well together, and we had far less squables than I had anticipated. Now that we have more big kids than babies, there was less to worry about. Nana turned her dining room into a master playroom, and the kids loved it. From mile long train tracks, to doll houses and kitchens, they had plenty to keep them entertained!

Like I said...lots and lots of swimming. :)

And sugar...WAY too much sugar. 

 And a lot of celebrating! We celebrated GG's 80th birthday, McKenzie's 7th birthday, and Luke's 2nd birthday. It's always extra special to be able to celebrate birthday's when we're all together. And I know for sure that there's no other way that GG would've wanted to spend her 80th birthday!

We spent one beautiful morning at the beach together, and that was our last horrah.

 

These 10 children are a constant reminder of how much our family has been blessed. Though we're miles and miles apart, the kids will always have the sweetest memories of their fun times together each year.