Dancing in Our Seats

We all love to dance and listen to music while we are in the car, and Brooke always wants it louder and louder! I am so responsible, that I don't video my kids while I am driving, but the other day Cory was driving and one of Brooke's favorite songs, "Dark Horse" came on, so I got some of thier car dancing moves.

The Massive Sand Hole Turned Sand Cave

One of my favorites days in Gulf Shores was our last day out on the beach. I had started a decent-sized hole the day before, well, I thought it was a decent-sized hole until Brandon starting getting it deeper and deeper. The girls loved playing in it, so much that they were fighting over it. Cory decided to expand it, so they would all be able to get in it. We made stairs and slides, and it became a huge sand bunker. They had fun in it, and they Adilyn had the idea of putting our blue beach blanket over it to make it a fort. It fit over it perfectly, and even cooler than that, it made the whole thing look blue inside. The pictures came out even cooler! I think the girls look like they are mermaids underwater. I love having them be creative and play in the outdoors!

Gulf Shores - 2014

 First night's walk on the beach

 My little Kacy at sunset

 Some down time watching a show

 She said, "Pigtail buns, Mama!"

 Kacy ALWAYS giggles when we sunscreen her chest and neck

 They were playing "cruise ship" and hiding from monsters

 Fun in the sand!

 Lunch on the porch

 Dinner out at LuLu's

 The sandcastle village

 A beach run!

 Sand angel

 Squats on the beach

 "Modeling shoot"

 All the girls!

 Dinner on the balcony - loved it!

 Daddy and his girls :)

 Brooke LOVED the boogie board!

 Brooke and Brandon playing with Barbies

 Fancy girl!

 Being tickled by Daddy!

We had such a great week at the beach house in Gulf Shores this year. Of course, there were traffic issues, sibling rivalries, but overall it was awesome to be together as a family in such a beautiful place! We stayed around the house for most of the days. We played in the sand, building some amazing sandcastles and a huge hole! The water was great, and there were many days with nice and easy waves which is so much easier for the girls. They could play on their own out there for many days, although they always sad that it wasn't as much fun without us. There were not many sea creatures out to bug us, so that was nice too. It's always nice to be out there waist deep and you can see your toes still :) Not like Galveston, at all! We had a nice night out for dinner at Lulu's, and a fun day in town getting souvenirs and fresh fish. Other than that, it was fun in the sun and being together. I love my family so much, and I love making these precious memories with everyone!

Kacy's Month of (Minor) Inuries

Poor Kacy has had a rough month! Luckily no injuries have been serious, but it just seems like it's one thing after another. It started by her burning her foot and toes on a sparkler ember on 4th of July. After that, we renamed sparklers, "Toe Burners." I told her that it was my fault for not making her put shoes on. We learned our lesson!
She also got a really, really bad splinter when we were in Gulf Shores. Cory and I had to hold her down and get a needle in it, and unfortunately, we had to go back in and dig out some more the next night. She had to bite down on Cory's hand while I was digging, and he said it really hurt!
The next day she got stung by something in the ocean. We aren't sure what it was, but there were definitely a bunch of little dots all over her feet.
Once we got home, she was using some beads, and sliced the top of her finger open. It bled for quite a while! Poor girl!
Hopefully it's all over, and thankfully nothing was too serious!

Adilyn's Booster Stroke Lessons

Adilyn wanted to take Booster Stroke lessons again at the YMCA, and although it was a little hard for her last time, I thought we would go for it. I was not very happy with the new teacher. She didn't have too much patience for the kids who were not super great. One day they were working on diving, and Adilyn definitely has a mental block for going in head first. I heard the teacher trying to work with her a little bit, but then she made a rude comment about her when she tried (and was unsuccessful) and the class laughed. I usually try to stay out of stuff, but angry mama bear came out that time! I told the pool director that I was upset with her attitude, and she said, "Yeah, we are working on her being more positive." I wanted to say, "If you knew this was a problem, why is she still teaching?" But, I left it alone...I don't think we will be doing them again unless there is another teacher. The point of the class is to learn the other strokes, but this girl never even got in the water. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Brooke's Silly Sayings

I love when kids can talk, but can't quite put all the words together the right way. Brooke is no exception, and she has been cracking me up with the way she says things lately. She is the most polite 2 year old that I have ever had in my family for sure! She says "thank you" almost every time I give her anything or do anything for her. Even if it's putting sunscreen on or brushing her hair. It's always, "Thank you, Mama!" Sometimes if I tell her thank you for doing something for me, she will respond (a little angrily) "No, Mama, THANK YOU!"
Any time I tell her that she is funny or silly or crazy, she will say, "No, you funny (or silly or crazy)!" 
Instead of saying, "I love you." She always says, "Love me."
When she thinks I am going somewhere, she will say "Go, you." And she will so sweetly pat my chest for emphasis.
When she gets excited about getting something or something fun happening she say, "Ooooh, yay!"
I sometimes say, "Come, come, Little One." when it's time to go somewhere. The other day I was trying to get Kacy to get moving, and she said in the sweetest little voice, "Come, come Little One."
The girl loves her juice - bad habit, I know! She calls apple juice, apple g and orange juice, orange juice. I tried to tell her that it apple juice, too. She said, "Nope, apple G!"
She loves pretending to be a cowgirl and riding on anyone who will take her for a horsie ride. She will come up to Adilyn or Kacy when they are on the ground and say, "Ride you, cowgirl?"
I love when kids start talking, and their personalities start to emerge a little more. I do believe that this baby of the family will be a silly one!

Summer Fun Outings

 The Woodlands Children's Museum! The kids loved the dress up and stage area and the rice bins.

 Planetarium and Natural Museum of Science and History!

 Gems!

 Dinosaurs, scary!

 Kacy was the only way brave enough to stand by the real mummy!

 Children's Museum of Houston

 Kacy's working windmill!

 Brooke holding fake snow :)

We have had a lot of fun this summer (in between fights) hanging around the house and playing and swimming, but we have also gone on quite a few little outings to keep things fun. We did our theme weeks again, and some of our outings connected to those, and some didn't. Either way, most were successful and fun!