Lake and Lime Popsicles

Our Sunday was just as fabulous as our Friday and Saturday! 
After breakfast we packed up and headed to Aunt Teresa's lake house. I was very impressed with how well Anna Kate and Drew are swimming with their puddle jumper floaties.  They kicked their little feet and swam all over the pool! Anna Kate would turn herself over and float on her back with her little feet kicked up out of the water.  They also enjoyed jumping in (to me) from the edge.  They had a blast! The thing we need to work on now is getting them to keep their mouth closed. I feel confident they probably drank half a gallon of pool water!  After swimming, we went back to the house and had a picnic on the back patio. Sarah and Matthew, Aunt Teresa's niece and nephew from California, were there and Anna Kate and Drew really enjoyed swimming and playing with Sarah.

 Since I was swimming with them, I didn't get any pictures but this was the scene about 10 minutes after we got in the car to head home.  It was about 2 hours past their nap time and they were out!

After dinner, they got to have a favorite!  Lime popsicles with Daddy!!  As soon as they hear the wrapper, they come running. Especially Anna Kate.  They LOVE them.  

Anna Kate is notorious for taking big bites off of the popsicle.  Then she will say "cold" and shiver.

Drew getting a lick in. He has to be fast when his sister is around.

 Anna had to get closer to the action. Good times with Daddy!

Swimming, Guitar Center, and Watermelon

What could be better, right?
Aunt Ashley and Nanny Norma and Uncle Papaw (Jerry) have been filling in for Mamaw Katherine and Papaw Hubert the last few weeks while they are working for the elections. AK & D have been enjoying spending some extra time with some of their favorites. They have been on several outings with Aunt Ashley and they think it has all be pretty great! Last week they had a lunch date with Grandaddy and this week they went to the pool Meredith and Hudson.  So fun!

 I was out running errands for work and was able to stop by and see how their play date was going.  This was their first time really trying out their puddle jumpers and I think they were a success! They are able to hold themselves up and even try to kick their feet and sort of swim!

Drew was liking the pole on the stairs.  We joked that he was like his cousin Hayes and wants to be a fireman that slides down the fire pole!

We had a garage sale today so Anna Kate and Drew got to spend the morning with their Daddy.  After breakfast, he and Kris loaded them up and went to Guitar Center.  He said that Anna Kate loved it as much as Drew did when he took him by himself a few months ago. John Clay is so very happy that they love that place as much as he does.  After Guitar Center they stopped at Humdinger (a little drive-in with wonderfully greasy food) for lunch. When I got home they were napping and when I went to their room to get them up, they asked for Daddy.  I guess they had fun with him! I'm glad they did but they could have been just a little excited to see me! :) John Clay's band played tonight so we headed to DotDot and Grandaddy's house for dinner.  Nanny Norma and Uncle Papaw were there too!  We had dinner, went for a golf cart ride, a mower ride, played on the swings and slide, had a bath, and read some books. We call that a good day!

 Waiting for dessert on the deck.  We had watermelon. I would venture to say it is one of Drew's favorites (Anna Kate likes it pretty well too). (I told them to look at me and say "cheese" and this is what I got. Stinkers!)

 Stealing some of Nanny Norma's watermelon even though she had a bowl full.

Drew ate his bowl, some of Anna Kate's, and some of Grandaddy's. After he was done, he poured his juice all over the deck. That boy is a mess!

Happy Campers!

We went camping in the mountains this weekend and had a great time!  We packed up and left Saturday morning after breakfast.  Our camp site was right on the river and as soon as we pulled in, Drew and Anna Kate went straight for the water.  They had a lot of fun wading  the water, exploring the camp site, watching the tubers, eating all kids of junk food, and hanging out with Uncle Aaron, Megan, Kris, and Paula.  Papaw Hubert and Mamaw Katherine stopped by about 5:00 and picked Anna & Drew up and brought them home. I didn't think it would be a very restful night trying to get them to sleep in a tent so Mamaw & Papaw spent the night with them here at out house.  Sunday, us "big kids" went tubing so Drew and Anna Kate went to DotDot and Grandaddy's house for the day.  Aunt Ashley came over to play with them too!  We picked them up right after dinner and although they were happy to see us, I don't think they missed us too much!

 Drew and Anna got out of the car and went straight to the water and got in. We didn't even have a chance to put their swim diapers and swim suits on them. They loved it!

 They liked the running water and all the rocks.

 Drew throwing rocks. He was all wet because he stepped on a rock wrong and fell and went under. Oops!  He recovered quickly and wasn't scared afterward.

 Looking at the fish with Megan.

 Helping Kris set up the tents.  He is so helpful!

 Welcoming committee!  They would both go running and stand at the edge of the river and wave and say "hi" to all the tubers as they went by. Drew even blew kisses to a few of them!

 Just hanging out on the rocks with Uncle Aaron.

 Drew really loved the water and Anna Kate really loved the snacks!

 Our version of lunch.  They were so dirty and ate nothing nutritious for lunch.  I had to just let go of trying to get them clean (which was hard!) and be happy that they at least ate something.

Sunday Kris and John Clay got up and made us breakfast before we packed up and went tubing. 

It was such a fun weekend and hopefully, we can do again in the future!  And maybe Drew and Anna Kate can spend the night too next time.

Time flies!

Time flies.  I guess we were having lots of fun this past week because it was pointed out to me yesterday that it has been a week since I last blogged.  This past week has been rainy (yay for that.... John Clay's mowing business is greatly appreciative!), hot, and humid.  We have just been trying to keep up with Anna Kate and Drew and their limitless energy.  I wish they could share some with me!  They especially get crazy at night right before bed and get this big burst of energy.  It is quite comical and even though they are going 100 miles an hour, they pretty much always go straight to sleep when we put them in bed.
Here are some pictures from our past week.

Drew decided he needed to wear his Mamaw's flip flops the other night.  He didn't make it very far.

 My beautiful girl.

 And my handsome man!

 Aunt Ashley stayed with them last Friday while I was work (and she will be for the next 2 weeks as well!). Drew & Anna think this is pretty great!  They were playing with her phone and she said they were just looking at each other saying "Hi... Hi... Hi... Hi" back and forth in this picture.

 Silly boy!

 Happy Fourth of July (a couple of weeks late!). I didn't get any good pictures of them on the 4th for our calendar next year so Sunday was going to be picture day.  We ended up still not getting one so I guess we will try again some other time.

Just a little uncooperative. Tassi better bring all of her tricks for their 2 year pictures!

 They were hiding behind the wall then jumping out like I was doing while we were trying to get a picture.

 Silly boy. Aunt Ashley thought it would be funny to put gel in their hair.  So no worries, that isn't their new style.

This pictures is sweet but hilarious to me. It is like the goat is posing also.

We have some exciting things coming up so be sure to stay tuned!

Bathtub crayons...

...Are the best things ever!!  Since they have came into our lives, bath time is a lot less stressful, much calmer, and I stay much dryer. And they love to color so its a win-win, really!

In the dark

We spent 26 hours in the dark on Thursday and Friday.  Well, perhaps I should rephrase... We spent 26 hours away from our house that was in the dark after a crazy wind storm blew through Thursday evening.  I'm pretty sure I drove in front of the storm the entire way home from work on Thursday and made it home just in time.  About 10 minutes after I got here, our power went out.  We have lived in this house for over 5 years and this is the first time our power has ever gone out so I guess we were due.  Of course, this was a bit upsetting to my little ones.  The two who do not like for the TV to  be off immediately started pointing to the TV and saying "Uh oh" and pointing up and yelling for "ights" with quite an urgency.  They did calm down after a few minutes and then we waited.  After being out for about 30 minutes, we started exploring our options.  After being in the dark for about an hour it started getting hot, so we packed our bags and headed to DotDot and Grandaddy's for the night.  As soon as we walked into their house, Anna Kate pointed to the ceiling and yelled "ights!".  Our power was still out Friday morning so Drew and Anna spent the day with their Mamaw and Papaw at their house.  By the time I got off of work Friday afternoon, we were still without power so we packed another bag and off to DotDot and Grandaddy's we went again.  Just before started to get settled in for our second sleepover I got a message from our neighbor saying the power was back on!  So, after baths we headed home.  By the time we got here the power had been on for a couple of hours and luckily the house was pretty cool.  We ended up losing a few things in our refrigerator and freezer but nothing too major.  Drew and Anna Kate were little troopers and didn't seem to be bothered at all by the change up in our routine!
John Clay's band played tonight so we went back to DotDot and Grandaddy's to have our traditional Sunday lunch with Aunt Ashley a day early.  Drew and Anna Kate were fresh off of an almost 3.5 hour nap and were "sitting on go".  We had dinner, went for a ride on the mower, did some dancing to the radio, took a bath, and Drew and Anna Kate put on a show after their bath. They definitely were good for some laughs tonight!

 Anna Kate has been wanting to sit in Aunt Ashley's seat to eat this past week so we did the next best thing and put her next to Aunt Ashley's seat. 

 Sitting at the table to eat like a big boy.

 While sitting on the counter, she snatched an entire slice of tomato (a "moe". Potatoes are "toes") and stuck it in her mouth.  That girl sure does love "moes".

 Anna Kate "hiding".  She usually giggles loudly while she "hides" too. She has a way to go before she will be a hide-and-seek champ.

 Drying hair after their bath.

 Little cutie!

 After we dried their hair I told Anna Kate to go look for Aunt Ashley.  This was how she looked for her.  Crazy girl!

 Grandaddy says Drew is his little buddy.  I think the feeling is mutual!

 I think DotDot must have added a little something in their milk because they got all crazy after they had were finished.  Drew ran circles around the living room, jumped, fell, screamed... you get the point.  He wore me out just watching him!

 Stopping very briefly to watch the race cars on TV.

Pushing their boundaries.  Grandaddy says they are not allowed to get on the hearth.  He gave in a little and allowed them to sit on it but they were not allowed to put their feet up on it.  Drew had a hard time not taking it a little further so he inched his way up and Granaddy had to get on to him. Below is the video of what happened next.  I'm not sure if Anna Kate was helping Grandaddy scold Drew or if she was yelling at him for yelling at her brother.  Either way, it was hysterical!

Apologies for the poor quality and loud laughing. We were all in tears we were laughing so hard!

4th of July

Our 4th of July was pretty low key but we had fun none-the-less. It is still h.o.t. here so outside time was limited.
We started the day off with a birthday party for Raylan.

 Saying hello to Mamaw.

 Raylan and Anna Kate checking each other out.

 Lunch! They looked like such big kids sitting at the table with their friends.

 Playing with the balloons with Sarah (Aunt Teresa's niece from California).  See Anna Kate's bag of chips?  She ate the entire bag and I'm pretty sure that besides some cupcake and ice cream that is all she ate for lunch!

Pool! I barely caught him in time to change his clothes before he hopped in.

Cake and ice cream.  He was quite sticky by the time he was finished. 

  Nursing her cupcake. I think she really only liked the icing but carried around a handful of the cake part forever before I finally wrestled it away from her.

We were all  hot and sticky after the party so we went home to get cleaned up and take a nap. John Clay and I were even able to sneak in a nap and I'm not going to lie, it was pretty nice.

Our evening was low key.  We watched some fireworks on TV and let them stay up a little later than normal since our neighbors were shooting off fireworks.  Anna Kate was so tired, she finally asked to go to bed about 9:45!