See Jack {mid-late July}

This is an ongoing series of videos that I am sharing so that our extended family can keep up with how Jack is growing and changing in these early years.

See Jack getting his cars lined up.

{mid July}

See Jack play at the Splash Pad and master the water slide.

{mid July}


See Jack climb up on a bar-height chair at Aunt Emily's house.
{late July}


See Jack at the Splash Pad with his daddy.
{late July}


See Jack play with water in his high chair. The kid loves water.
{late July}

Monday Funday

Things have been so crazy lately that we haven't had a chance to take Jack to the local Splash Pad in Scottsboro. After seeing how much he loved the fountains at Bridge Street in Huntsville, I thought Monday would be a great opportunity to introduce him to the Splash Pad.

 

I hate that Daniel didn't get to be a part of this first experience for Jack, but it was nice to have a local activity to take my mind off of the fact that Daniel is gone for the week. Of course, Jack had an absolute blast. I had to drag him away when it was time to go.

Labor Day Weekend

On Friday our long-time friends, the Wheeler's, came down to our place to spend part of the weekend with us. We were really excited because we haven't seen them in over 5 years. Gwynn and Chuck were our first "couple" friends to make after we were newly married and in Cookeville. We are so thankful that we have been able to keep in touch with them and now that we live a little closer, we are hoping to see them more often.

Much has changed since we left Cookeville 7 years ago... they have three kids now and we have a dog and a baby on the way. 

Originally we had planned to go camping but due to the fact that it has been HOT and I am pregnant and finding a place to camp on Labor Day was proving difficult, we decided to invite them to our place to have some fun.

Friday night they arrived late and put the kids straight to bed. In the meanwhile, we adults stayed up way past our bedtime {1:30-ish} visiting.

The next morning, after breakfast, we loaded the kids and canoe up and went to Goosepond for some paddling on the Tennessee River. Daniel and Chuck took all three kids out for a short spin. Then Abi {age two} came back to shore to hang out with Gwynn and I while we visited. The older kids and guys took a longer spin. 

Finally when they came back, Abi decided she wanted to go again. Zoe {age 6?} stayed on shore to swim while Eli {age 7?} went for another ride. The guys made it out past the dock when all of a sudden the canoe flipped over! Gwynn and I were watching and ran out on the dock to collect kids so that Daniel and Chuck could bring the canoe in. Amazingly neither kid panicked and the life jackets kept them afloat. 

The rest of the day, we hung out, grilled burgers and enjoyed each others company.

Sunday we slept in and visited some more, followed by a quick devo, then Daniel and Chuck took the kids out one at a time on our four wheeler. I think the kids {and Chuck} were in heaven :) After riding around the yard, we decided to go into town to grab lunch and then to the Scottsboro Splash Pad for the kids to play.

On the way to Scottsboro it started raining but the kids still wanted to go to the Splash Pad, so we figured it didn't matter since they would be getting wet anyways. The adults hung out in the pavilion while the kids played.

We had a fun, very kid friendly weekend. It is good for us to see that our future can definitely be one of us introducing kids to activities that we love.

July 4th is...

eating good food.

 spending time with family.

 doing something fun.

watching fireworks.

 playing in the water.

We don't always get to spend every holiday with family, but now that we are closer, it is getting easier. My sister, her husband and my niece came down to spend the holiday weekend with us.

Saturday we took Izzy to the Splash Pad in Scottsboro and then came home and I threw BBQ chicken, corn on the cob and zucchini slices on the grill. I also whipped up a Blueberry Strawberry Trifle that was delish.

Sunday we got up and went to Chattanooga. We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom and then headed over to the Tennessee Aquarium. It was my first visit to an aquarium {#98 on my life list} and I enjoyed all of the exhibits. We probably walked about 3 miles and Izzy was pretty worn out by the time we got to the second half. But she was a trooper. My favorite exhibit was the penguins. I think Izzy was enamored with the touch tanks. After the aquarium we stopped at Ben & Jerrys for some ice cream to cool off {we tried the Bonaroo buzz flavor and LOVED it}.

That night we threw burgers on the grill and then spent some time drawing with chalk on the driveway. Since Izzy took a late nap, she got to stay up to see fireworks for the first time. Daniel and Robert set off some smaller ones. I think they mostly scared Izzy. Sophie cowered in the house.

I love living in the country. Almost every other house on our street was shooting off their own fireworks and one house had a humongous display of fireworks that rivaled some of the shows I have watched growing up.

Monday morning we went back to the Splash Pad – Izzy was a bit braver this time. Then finished up with lunch at Sonic. 

Angela, Robert and Izzy left after lunch and Daniel and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon. We considered heading into town to watch fireworks, but it rained, so we were content to lay in our hammock and enjoy the rain and cooler air.