Ode To Summer

I can't believe another summer has come and gone. It seems like it goes by faster and faster every year, so to honor it I thought I would recap some of the highlights of another really great summer. First Emmy and Charles-Allen both started sleeping in their beds all night long. Wheeew! Thought it would never happen. So to bribe them, I mean celebrate, we got them both bikes and they learned to ride them.


Look at my little man ride. He's only 3 and so proud of himself!

Emmy's too busy posing to ride. She has her priorities straight. Such a girl!Here's Al Al, she would rather eat the wheel. That's much more fun to a 1 year old.Other than riding bikes all summer we went to Myrtle Beach 4 different times. It was so much fun every time we went, but I must admit we love being able to have Cory and Kristen and their kids with us. So that was probably our favorite trip to Myrtle Beach. And who can forget a week in the oppressive heat at Camp Singletary with Neal's wonderful family. We only went home to Topsail Beach once this year. I wish we had gone more, but we had a blast with Heidi and Madi and Kristen and the kids, and we literally stayed all day.


Myrtle Beach at Broadway at the Beach.
We also went to Williamsburg, Virginia and to Water Country USA. This was the only trip that Ally didn't go on and we really missed her.Here the kids are in the pool in Virginia and this is the first time they ever used "sloppers". You know the webbed feet that you put on to swim faster, sloppers. Everyone knows what sloppers are.Emmy had the biggest summer. She lost a tooth. Started 2nd grade and she hadn't even turned 7 yet. This was the first year I didn't cry on her first day. Go Me! She also had her hair cut shorter than it's ever been since she was about 6 months old and went to the Jonas Brothers Concert with her best friend Elise.

Okay, I know I've posted this pic. before, but seriously it cracks me up! I don't think I will ever get tired of it. I got one word for ya, "boys". What in the world are they thinking?

Ally also had a big summer. She had her first birthday and learned to walk and say her first word which of course was "da da". She is the first one of our kids not to say ma ma first. How sad for me.

Yeah Ally! What a big girl.

All together now, "Boys! What are they thinking?"

So all in all we had a fabulous summer. We celebrated birthdays of many family and friends, got to spend time together at the beach, went to a wedding and basically enjoyed be parents of 3 terrific kids. We are so blessed. Now for my final accomplishment and the reason I haven't posted in over a month. We managed to also find time to get pregnant with our fourth child. We are so excited. I have always wanted to have 4 kids. However, I would have liked to have had a little more space between #s 3 and 4, but I'll take it. We are expecting the baby on or hopefully before April 19. Charles-Allen is telling everyone, "My mommy is pregnant for a boy" so we're going to let him live the dream as long as he can. I'm 13 weeks so it shouldn't be long before we can find out if he's right or not. Keep your fingers crossed.

Just to show you how different Neal and I feel about summer I found some quotes that totally sum us.

Neal: On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.*Erma Bombode*

Amanda: A life without love is like a year without summer.*Swedish Proverb*

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.*John Lubbock