The Descendants and Lick

Ashley has been SUPER into watching this new TV movie on Disney Channel called The Descendants. It's about the children of the Disney Villains. It's very creative and Ashley is obsessed with the songs. Above is a photo of the kiddos watching The Descendants on my bed. 

Last weekend we went to the Pearl Market for some yummy ice cream at a local store called Lick. We still had some gift card money left over and decided to treat ourselves. The kids brought their scooters downtown and scooted around. Ashley also had some money that was burning in her pocket, and went to the local bookstore, The Twig, and bought herself a new book for her summer reading program. 

Scooting around the Pearl

Me and the kiddos!

All of us

Growing Up

Cutie Patootie

So on Friday, I took this photo of Corey on the way to work. I turned back to look at him and had a "Mom Moment" of "oh my goodness, when did this little guy get so LONG?" His legs look so skinny and long and his head is further up against the back of the car seat and his face looks thinner with less baby fat. I seriously felt like he grew up overnight. I remember when Ashley started thinning out and her face started maturing and now it's happening with Corey, my baby!  The thing I notice the most with both of my kids as babies is that little roll of baby fat on their wrist, and it's gone now. :(

But they both still have baby soft skin and I will snuggle them and cuddle them until they won't let me anymore. (Although, I hope that doesn't ever happen...)  I am looking forward to the next phase with both of them as school-age children, but it is certainly bittersweet slowly saying goodbye to the "baby era".

The 4th of July

Continued...Camden, ME trip recap

The day began with a lovely breakfast and a pilates class instructed by Chloe, who recently obtained her Pilates Instructor certificate. I definitely had a rough time with the push ups. I have the worst upper arm strength. It was a great way to get in a quick workout especially since I had been eating like a king!

Side Plank

Breath and Stretch

Chloe the Pilates Instructor

Work it, work it.

After the pilates workout, I headed back to the house to hang out and the kids played. Paul met up with his cousins over at Curtis Island and they hiked a bit and swung on a giant swing. Paul got some cool video on the GoPro of them all swinging on the swing. Below is a link to his YouTube video.

https://youtu.be/tE1-6aSk2NA

Swinging on Curtis Island

Later that day, we enjoyed a delicious July 4th picnic out on the lawn. We even had a tiny dance party. :) The weather cooperated which was perfect. There was a tiny breeze so that kept the bugs away.

4th of July Picnic

1000 piece puzzle- DONE

Freshly whipped cream is a perfect treat!

Aunt Missy's 60th birthday was on July 4th. The whole family put together a scrapbook full of notes and photos. In order to get the scrapbook, both Teresa and Ashley created a scavenger hunt for Aunt Missy. It was the sweetest thing to watch Aunt Missy going to each little place in the house and outside to find clues that the girls had hidden. Super creative and Aunt Missy loved it! She loved the scrapbook as well.

Happy Birthday Aunt Missy

Yay!

After the cookout and dessert, we all spent some time relaxing and gearing up for the big Lip Sync Battle! Claire Osburn (Tyler's girlfriend) and I thought that it would be fun to have a lip sync competition - especially with all the talent and goofy personalities in the family.  Claire and I were the MC's.  About 8-10 people competed in the battle. The songs ranged from classic ballads, to alternative rock, to 80s standards. I even competed singing a "Christmas" classic - Jingle Bells, but with a twist! LOL! After everyone performed, some family members acted as judges and determined that there was a tie between Aunt Missy, Paul and me. We had to do a tie breaker song, which wound up being Single Ladies by Beyonce. Paul won 1st place, I was 2nd, and Aunt Missy was 3rd. It was such a fun time! Definitely a highlight of the trip for me!

Aunt Missy performing My Heart will Go On

Me performing Jingle Bells? by Barbra Streisand

Paul performed I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Ashley even competed! She did Built for This by Becky G

Our sweet boy, Corey performed Immortals by Fall Out Boy

Everyone who competed taking a bow

The Tie Breaker song, Single Ladies

After the competition, we ate some leftovers, listened to music and built a bonfire. It was getting chilly, and dusk was upon us. We began heading down to the dock to watch the fireworks. It was such a stellar view. We were so close to where they were setting them off.  It was an awesome fireworks show. After the fireworks, everyone got some sparklers and ran around with them outside on the lawn. Corey got a little frightened of the fire and the neighbors were setting off fireworks so made a quick exit to the house.  We headed to bed after looking at the moon for a bit. Happy 4th!!!

Ashley getting her sparkler from Aunt Cheryl

Free Tea Day

All I've got to say is YUM!

Summer Treats and a Goofy Kiddo

Kids enjoying homemade ice pops

I have been wanting to pick up some ingredients to make homemade ice pops for the kids this summer, but hadn't gotten around to it. Well, I made a shortcut and picked up some organic strawberry, banana and orange juice at Trader Joe's and it worked out just fine. They are yummy and super refreshing. Best of all, the kids love them and it's an inexpensive, healthy and sweet treat.

Below I thought I'd add a silly photo of Corey. He decided that a pharmacy bag would make an excellent hat!

July 3rd

Continuing....Camden, ME Trip Recap

The day began with DELICIOUS blueberry pancakes for breakfast - Yum, yum, double yum! I remembered these delicious pancakes from last year, so this was probably one of my favorite breakfasts while we were there. On top of that, the local Maple Syrup was to die for!

I can still taste the deliciousness!

After breakfast, a group headed out on the Lazy Jack sailboat for a sailing trip. I stayed back with the kiddos to catch up on some laundry and to get ready for the day.  About 30 minutes after Paul left, I got a call from his cell phone. He said that they forgot to bring the polaroid cameras with them and were hoping that I could get Captain Joe to bring me and the kiddos out to meet the boat and hand them off.  It was so fun to go meet them out there. We were going sooo fast in the boat to meet the Lazy Jack. It felt like we were in James Bond movie. We were hopping waves and I could barely breathe because the wind was going up my nostrils. LOL! I don't think I have ever gone that fast on the boat before, but we loved it.  When we pulled up to meet the sailboat, they held their hands out to grab the cameras. I was so nervous it would drop in the water, but we did it! Yay!

Pulling up to meet the Lazy Jack

The hand off was a success!

Camille took this photo while on the sailboat, and I thought that was super cool.

After we got back the kids and I ate lunch. I had one of the most delicious caprese sandwiches. The tomatoes were so juicy and fresh.  The kids both had turkey and cheese sandwiches.  After lunch, we helped decorate for the 4th of July.  The kids loved placing flags all over the lawn.  Then, while Ashley played with Teresa, Paul and I took Corey out on the kayak around the cove. We had so much fun. Corey loved it and Paul got some cute video on the GoPro camera.

Corey hanging with Teddy.

Paul and I kayaking with Corey (his life preserve practically covered his face!)

After kayaking we hung out on the porch, watching the boats and played games.

Playing Chutes and Ladders with Tyler and Claire

After dinner, Aunt Missy busted out some tunes and made a fun little disco in the foyer.  Paul, Corey, Ashley, Vincent, Aunt Missy and me got our groove on for bit, before heading to bed. Super fun day.

Vincent captured me mid dance move.

Date Night In

While the kiddos spent time watching a movie in Ashley's room on a Friday night, Paul and I had a cheap date and picked up a six pack of beer and a $5 puzzle at HEB.  We finished a 500 piece puzzle in 3 hours! It was nice to just put some music on, drink some beers and spend time together.  We had so much fun, that we picked up another puzzle to do next weekend!

The finished product!

July 2nd - Flying Day

Camden, ME vacation recap

Today was the trip to Owls Head Transportation Museum where last year I got over my fear and just went for it and I flew on a biplane!  As a result of the courage Paul and I possessed that day, our sweet Ashley decided she was ready to hop on that plane and enjoy the ride...and this little girl did! I chose to stay back and hang with the group this year and not fly (simply because my mind was too wrapped up in worrying about Ashley! LOL). 

Our group that day wasn't nearly as large as last year since all the flights this year were split between 2 or 3 days instead of an all day affair. The group flying were Paul and Ashley, Cathy and Audrey, Tyler and Claire, Chloe and Sean, and both Aunt Cheryl and Pete went separately but flew in tandem, which was pretty neat. Corey and I hung out with everyone to watch all the flights.  There were a lot of biplane "firsts" this year so it was exciting to cheer for them. Corey also got some fun Aunt Cathy time by playing catch and running around in the gazebo that was there on the tarmac.  There were two antique cars available to ride that day too, which was fun. I believe one was a Cadillac and the other was a Model-T. Such a fun experience!


playing with Pepaw's cane

Mimicking Pepaw..LOL

Ready for some catch with Aunt Cathy...

So proud of her!

 

She did it!

 

After the all the fun flying, we headed to Wasses' for some hot dogs and then headed over to Dorman's for ice cream. I ordered a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and it was huge! They really give you big servings which was fine with me. :)

Teresa, Ashley and sweet Teddy

We headed home and spent some time relaxing on the lawn until our BBQ. We had chicken, fish, steak and veggie kabobs with all the fixings. After dinner, we lit a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.  I definitely had my fair share of marshmallows and so did the kiddos!

Siblings

 

My Paulie and me

 

Corey indulging

Later that evening we waited patiently for the clouds to open so that we could see the full moon.  It was breathtaking and looked beautiful reflecting off the water.