Loving the "Country"...

Since we were going to Brookhaven yesterday to switch out Anna Lauren and Cooper with Nanna, we decided to spend the day at Joey and Barbie's and let all the kids play together.

I will say days like yesterday make me sad our kids are growing up in the city and missing out on the country life.  I have so many good memories of growing up in the country that they are missing out on. But...at least they have cousins to visit in the country!

The girls...Anna Lauren, Bently, and Breanne

This kid has my heart...my brother will differ, but I think he is the funniest kid.  I cannot stop laughing at him...he lives in his own world, has the craziest ideas, and simply put, loves life!

Ashton and William...

Ashton's four-leader...one of the many things Cooper LOVES at Jo Jo's house!

Anna Lauren has finally decided she wants to learn to ride her bike with no training wheels...so...she and her Daddy took advantage of lots of grassy space to practice.  Hopefully by the end of the summer she will get it!

So how I grew up...in and out of the pool all day long...

Joey thought the kids would enjoy watching the fish eat...they look really entertained, huh?  That would be because the fish never came up and ate...ha ha!

Cannot tell you how many times I played chicken fight in our pool growing up...they were laughing uncontrollably and it just made me smile from ear to ear.

An attempt to take a picture of all four of them...yeah right...not happening!  Look at Ashton...see why I say he is so funny?

Surfing pose...

Sassy doesn't even begin to explain these two...they are both something else!

I thought this was too cute...it rained off and on all afternoon so they swam in between thunder storms.  At one point, Bently was sitting in the rain watching the others swim.

And you must go fishing while you are there...Cooper actually caught a fish, but it slipped out of Ashton's hands when he was getting it off the hook.

And don't forget about a buggy ride with Bob.  I actually went on the ride too...it was pretty fun riding through the woods.

And Uncle Joey caught a fish to end our fun-filled day in the country...

We'll have to go again soon because we had the best day...so much fun to just sit back and relax on the patio while the kids are completely entertained.

Off to Nanna's...

The plan for several weeks was for Anna Lauren to spend this past week with Nanna in Brookhaven.  She was going to go to Brookhaven with Nanna after cheer on Tuesday, and to this day, no one knows what happened other than she started crying and wanted to stay at home with us.  Obviously, there is a first for everything. It took a QUICK second for Cooper to figure out sister was not going, and he was packing his suitcase because he was going to go if she didn't go.  So...we threw some clothes in a suitcase and off he went for the second week this summer.

And...I'm so thrilled because Nanna has finally learned to use her phone to take pictures and send to me throughout the week.  I LOVE it!  

Here goes what my week looked like via pictures and texts...

I was not expecting him to be gone last week so he missed his hair cut appointment.  No worries...he went to the barber shop in Brookhaven and got a big boy hair cut.  That was cool because Ms. Mary cut his hair and she cuts Uncle Brad's and Uncle Terry's.  

He also got some SUPER fast new tennis shoes, which he needed so bad. Maybe not the ones I would have picked, but he LOVES them, and I'm so thankful Nanna bought them for him. He's happy, I'm happy!

There are very few days that go by that Cooper doesn't say Uncle Jo Jo or Ashton...I cannot even explain how much he loves them and especially their house in the country.  He and Nanna spent one day in the country with Ashton and Bently.  Mom said Cooper wasn't sure what to think about the garden and honestly, the poor city kid has probably never even seen a garden.

Ashton and Bently helped him pick a few things...

Then he was off the diving board...

Such a happy kid...smiles, smiles, and more smiles!  I love it!

On Friday, they played at Aunt Carrie's...since Aunt Carrie has six kids, this is sure to be a fun time!

As Anna Lauren says, Aunt Carrie has her own little subdivision so it's tons of fun there!

Scratching his head...so many choices of ride on toys!

Little Fisher...

On Saturday, they headed back to Uncle Jo Jo's and played a little while before we got there.  Cooper loves watermelon, and he knows watermelon comes from Uncle Jo Jo's garden.  Well, the watermelon aren't ready but Jo Jo bought one and put it in the garden to make him think he picked a watermelon.  Love it! 

When I got to Jo Jo's yesterday, Cooper was so very proud of his watermelon.  On the way home last night, he got mad at me because I wouldn't let him ride home with it in his lap.  Just thought it was a little heavy to ride in his lap 1.5 hours.

And now sister is having her turn with Nanna...cannot wait to see what pictures I get from them this week.  She's a little "cooler" than Cooper so she will probably tell Nanna to not send me pictures...sad!

Father's Day...

Although we celebrated Father's Day Friday, we couldn't not have a "little" happy for Daddy this morning.  So...while Matt was working out Saturday, me and the kids did a quick little happy for Daddy using their feet.  I thought it turned out really cute!

Once breakfast was ready, Cooper wanted to surprise Daddy (Anna Lauren just wanted to keep sleeping) so he made him close his eyes and led him into the kitchen for breakfast...

Surprise Daddy!  He is such the sweetest little kid...

Cannot get enough of his sweet, sweet smiles and of course, his football uniform...he's a mess!

Breakfast with the perfect centerpiece for Daddy!

Right behind the picture you can see a little green notebook...I started something new.  I got us both a notebook and every special occasion the kids can write/draw something on a page in the notebook rather than buying cards.  Years later, we can look back through our notebooks and see all the sweet drawings from our little ones.

After breakfast we went to church, had lunch with our best friends, came home and napped, and now...Matt is cooking his own dinner because he wanted to try some steak kabobs.  Sounds like a perfect day to me, and I hope he has enjoyed his special day!

An Early Father's Day...

Several weeks ago I asked Matt if he wanted a gift or an adventure for Father's Day, and we can all guess what my oldest kid said...an adventure!  I gave him several options and he chose Geyser Falls because he said he had always wanted to go.  So...we took the day off of work (assuming less crowded than weekend) and headed to Philadelphia this morning.

Family selfie as we are pulling out of town...

I think I was most impressed with the "beach area"...it felt just like you were at the beach and the water was very shallow so Cooper could play by himself in the sand and then in/out of the water...perfect!

Yes, I have more pictures of Cooper because he was my play mate all day...like I said, Matt wanted an "adventure" for Father's Day so he and Anna Lauren were going down all the slides.  And it was the craziest thing...there were no lines...very slim crowd today, which was great for us!

This picture would probably be really cute cropped, but I'm too tired for all that.  At least we have a family picture from our fun day!

These three melt my heart...love them all so very much!  And the coolest thing is watching this "big" kid be their Daddy.  One day they will realize they really do have the best Daddy!

Matt, thanks for choosing such a fun Father's Day adventure...we LOVED spending the day with you and love you so very much!