Summer - you went by FAST! (June Edition)

Um, is summer over?  I know it's still 100 degrees outside but the kids actually started SCHOOL this week!  The first week of August!!  More on that, but I feel obligated to talk a little more about our summer fun before I post back-to-school pics.

Our two big trips, St Simons and Texas, I've already blogged about. But in between the trips we had lots of fun adventures, too.

Starting with first of June...

In prep for Father's Day, our quaran-team made some beautiful pottery for our Daddies.  

And he loved them!  We spent Father's Day enjoying James and celebrating him.  

We took the kids bowling one day, and asked ourselves "why don't we do this more often".  (But, yet, we didn't do it again all summer!)

Speaking of sports, we also attended a local Macon Bacon baseball game!  This is a summer collegiate league that offers quite the fun outing for Middle Georgia. We enjoyed tons of hotdogs, cookies, ice cream, and chips.  Maryn made friends with a couple of ladies next to us and talked their ears off all night.  Wesley fell asleep around 930, but woke up in time for the fireworks!

Maryn lost another tooth! And not a moment too soon. :)

Our quaran-team did a few chores this summer...not too many, but a few... :)

James invested in a tornado shelter for us, which is nicely, safely, and snuggly in our garage.  I hope we never, ever have to get in here!

Most Saturdays the littlest ones and I would go to the Famer's Market.  The kids know the drill: cash, carry, make wishes, go home and eat fruit.

The Dublin Country Club had a family movie night, so we loaded up our friends excited to see the show.   Unfortuanately a big thunderstorm (and lots of wind!) hit us right as the kids got their pizza and coke floats. The power went out and so we moved the party to our house (where we have that nice old generator that we seem to use at least once a quarter.)

And that was just June!  We also did plenty in July, before rolling into August way quicker than I expected.  

Texas - We Missed You!

Do you know how long it's been since I stepped foot on the Texas soil?  Nearly TWO YEARS! And it's been over two years since I've been to Waco, my hometown-turned-tourist destination.  However, with the pandemic somewhat under control* and myself and most of our family all vaccinated, we made the decision to fly out and see everyone during the summer.  Even if it did mean going in the absolute most hottest time of the year.

We originally planned an early August trip, until they sent the school calendar and showed an August 5th start date!  Fortunately we were able to move the trip up to July, but it meant James couldn't go with us :( Our first time traveling as a family without our family patriarch, but we survived (and missed him.)

Some A ton of pictures to follow!

One of the most important goals of the trip: see as many family members as we could.  With the exception of my sister's family (who were sick, sadly!) we got to see so many!  Uncles, aunts, great uncles, friends.  And of course, lots of time with Grammy and Gran Gran.

We spent a ton of time up on the hill at Uncle Kelly and Aunt Shawntel's house, swimming in the pool each day and feeding the donkeys.  The donkeys had missed us! And the 16lbs of carrots!  

One night my dear friend, Laura, and her kiddos came down from Dallas to swim, and they also got to experience donkey feeding. We got to catch up after several years (?? too long!!), caught up on the Midway gossip, and impressed upon our (unimpressed) kids that we've been friends for over 25 years!

We made the rounds at our favorite local spots.  No chains for us!  We had delicious Pho after church on Sunday, Mexican take out tamales, and then Poppa Rollos Pizza on our last night.  Gran Gran and Uncle Kelly introduced JB to the Three Stooges at the pizza parlor.  He's a big fan!

Aunt Shawntel had the great idea to make Big Red ice cream. Sadly, these kiddos didn't even know what Big Red was!  First, they have a mean mama who plans to avoid soda as long as possible. And, second, Big Red is not something you see that often outside of The Great State.  Safe to say they enjoyed it. 

A lot of the time was spent just hanging out and staying cool. (Fortunately the Texas weather cooperated and we had minimal rain and actually pretty decent temps!)  The kids explored some local parks, spent a ton of time outside at Grammy and Gran Gran's, JB got to do a ton of target practice with Gran Gran, and then Grammy had lots of "help" in the kitchen :)

We did venture out the Mayborn museum one day, as they always have the best traveling exhibits AND permanent exhibits, too.  This time we went into the Bill Daniel's historic village, and the kids got to hear me tell them all about it, recalling my fond memories from summer camp out there each year. 

Okay, and just because I've missed Texas so much... some beautiful pictures. My brother and sister-in-law have the most awesome Texas view!

After a week of fun and visits it was time to head back to Georgia, especially because we were really missing Daddy.  Although everyone was sad, we did take some of Texas back with us...Grammy!  

Until next time, Texas! Thank you for continuing to be the best!