All good things come to end...

The last day of vacation is always sad. Thank you, Lord, for a fun week as a family.

We had a clear Thursday, but the rest of the week was full of seaweed... but not a jellyfish in sight!

Good thinking, Julia

Julia mentioned several times this week that she wanted to walk on the pier that we can see from our condo, and we finally went last night for the first time ever. I hadn't been expecting much, but we wound up having a really good time. 

We all saw lots of dolphins, and Matt and I saw some little sharks.

The girls loved these birds (cranes?), especially when they walked the pier right close to us!

We made a new friend who followed us around for an hour or so. He was a nice kid, just lonely and bored from sitting around while his family fished all day.

Hmmm. Is it creepy that we took pictures of a stranger's child?  Let's hope it's not.

I didn't enjoy the part of the pier's floor that looked like this:

Naturally, I made everyone take pictures. Some are better than others. All have some crazy, windy hair happening!

Good idea about the pier, Julia. We'll have to go back.

Back at the Beach

We've been to the condo before, and we love it every time! Old visits are here, here, and here! This is our first visit, though, during the summer. It's been nice to not have to worry about the weather being too chilly, but the tradeoff is so many people are here! Seeing as how I'm selectively social, people aren't typically my thing. :)

This visit has included much time in the lazy river and under the waterfall.

I love the picture below because Julia looks so happy. In reality, she was yelling at Audrey to "get off!" but she kept the smile on her face because she knew I had out my camera!

While the girls and I hung out in the pool yesterday afternoon, Matt grilled. When we returned, we found out he'd also set the table for an outdoor dinner. Yay!  

The girls played their first round of putt-putt this morning. They enjoyed it, despite the heat!

And then, as usual, we made sure to head to Gator Beach. 

 

So far this summer...

We've painted ourselves with shaving cream.

Julia went to a ball game with Matt and caught a ball during batting practice.

We've enjoyed the new city splash pad.

We've rested.

We've rested while curling our hair. :)

First (only??) post in June

Let's go back and talk about the last little bit of school. Julia's zoo field trip was rescheduled (YAY!) but it was rescheduled for the last day of preschool and I hated to miss my last day with my K-4's. I really, really wanted someone to go with Julia and her friends, though, so Matt "volunteered."

 Daddy got a picture of Julia getting of the bus (the highlight of her trip...)

Matt was put in charge of keeping up with these 4 during the trip. The girl on the end is an old friend from preschool who was also in Julia's Kindergarten class. 

Mrs. Mosley passed out animal print sunglasses for the kids. cute, cute!

Shut up and stop whining

I'm tempted to do a whole blog post whining about the root canal that was started on me yesterday but won't be finished until next Thursday. However, I've told myself several times yesterday and today to "shut up and stop whining" so instead I'll count some blessings and post videos. :)

421. Imagining the girls' reactions if they heard the title of this post. "ooooh. Mommy said the 'S' word!
422. Last day of school for Julia! I get my baby back all summer! In fact, thanks to a new Alabama law I get her for an extra week.
423. Julia being excited for her daddy/daughter date to the Mobile Baybears game tonight.
424. The new city splashpad that just opened about 1 mile away from us! Audrey and I plan on checking it out tonight while Julia and Matt are at the game.
425. Matt taking pictures and videos of Audrey's performance last week at preschool graduation. I missed it because I was getting my K-4's in their caps and gowns while Audrey's class performed.

426. Both my girls loved their teachers for the year. Here is Audrey with Ms. Jenny.

427. Sweet notes and gifts from my pre-k's. The girls loved my flowers.

428. A 4 year old with a very active imagination.
429. A summer "to do" list I made for me and the girls! I want plenty of down time, but I don't want to get in a TV rut!
430. Videos of my girlies: Audrey performing "White Flag" on stage at church after her program last weekend.

And then there's Julia performing the song from her graduation program. 

My sweet little Julia graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. She's had a great year, one of new beginnings and lots of learning, and we were thrilled to celebrate with her and her friends!
Pre-ceremony:

Ceremony:

Post Ceremony:

Julia and her teacher -

Julia and her friend, Kaelyn. Matt chaperoned Julia's school trip to the zoo this week, and he came home mentioning how these 2 favored each other. We laughed when they showed up wearing similar dresses.

This little boy, Jared, is Julia's crush. Don't tell her I told you!