Gulf Shores - 2012

The kids and I went with my Mom to Gulf Shores, Alabama for Labor Day Weekend. My cousin was getting married on the beach there that weekend, which was why we went. It was a lot of fun, the wedding was BEAUTIFUL, and it was a relaxing mini-vacation.
This was Aiden and Sophia's first trip to the ocean. Aiden had been to the beach on a lake before, but never to the ocean. He loved the waves, seashells, and the sand. He had a blast! We didn't stay on the beach very long as it was too hot for Sophia to be out there long. The kids still loved it! The house we stayed at had a pool, so we spent a lot of time in the pool instead.
We ate good food, collected seashells, played in the sand and waves, hung out in the pool, spent time with family and welcomed a new person into our family as well. It was a wonderful weekend!
Here are some pictures....

Let Summer Begin!

Even though Jenny still has 5 days of kindergarten left, we have already started enjoying summer. The pool in our complex opened up this weekend so we spent this afternoon enjoying the cool water. I expected the water to be really cold, but it wasn't. It was cool when you first got in, but warmed up nicely. After temperatures in the 90's today, it was a nice, refreshing way to end our day.

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A Birthday Party

Last Tuesday, Jaime, Jenny, Aiden, and I went to the birthday party for Natalia's son (Natalia is a co-worker and friend of ours). It was a pool party, which was GREAT considering how hot it has been! We had a great time, and the kids loved it!

I was SO glad Jaime was able to go with us!

Aiden was more interested in putting his head under the water than he was to have his picture made.

Summer Fun!

Our favorite ways to spend the summer....

....Swimming in the pool, and.....

....Popsicles!

*Oh, and by the way, in the second picture that is Jenny swimming on her back! She looks like she is just floating (she can do that too), but she is actually kicking her feet and swimming. =)

Food+Family+Fireworks= A Good 4th of July!

This year for the Fourth of July we decided not to go to the firework shows that are put on by the city, but instead we chose to spend the evening at home as a family. After Jaime came home from work, he and I cooked steaks and italian sausage on the grill with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, baked beans, and a spinach salad. It was excellent, if I do say so myself. =)

While we cooked Aiden and Jenny played in the inflateable pool in our backyard. They splashed more water out of the pool than I've ever seen before, especially Jenny! She was trying so hard to swim and show us what she had learned at swimming lessons, that she splashed a lot of water out of the pool. Eventually I had to bring out some plastic cups of different sizes and a few strainers for them to play with so they would stop splashing so much. They had a great time, and didn't even want to get out to eat.

Jenny's swimming!

After we finished eating, we headed over to my cousin Vickie's house to swim in their inground pool and to watch them shoot off fireworks. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad we were able to at least see a few fireworks on Independence Day.

After we came home from their house, we put Aiden to bed (he was SUPER crabby) and Jenny, Jaime, and I made ice cream sundaes. They turned out really well, but Jenny needs more practice. She was a little slow with putting on the toppings so the ice cream was pretty melty by the time we ate them. They still tasted great though!

We had a great 4th of July, and we hope that you did too! We are really trying to enjoy our summer, especially with Jenny being in school now. Once school starts back, our time with her will be more limited, and we want to make sure we are soaking up every minute of time with her and Aiden. My babies are growing up faster than I can think, and we want to make sure we're taking advantage of every minute. Years from now there will be a Fourth of July where they want to go to their friends houses or to their boyfriend/girlfriend's houses. So for now, we are going to have plenty of fun with them while they still think we are "cool" enough to be around! Ha!

Pool Time!!

With all this hot weather we've been having here, we've spent a lot of time in the pool lately. We've probably gone to the pool more in the last two weeks that we were in the pool all of last summer! It has worked out really well though with Jenny going to swimming lessons now and with how much Aiden LOVES the "agua" (that's what he calls the pool). Ha!

Today we went to my mom's house to swim in their inflateable pool. It's not very big, but it's plenty of room for Aiden and Jenny to enjoy theirselves - and it's shallow enough that I can just sit on the side with my feet in the water to tan. =)

I love them!!

My beautiful girl.

She could totally be a model!

Aiden kept filling these balls up with water, and then sucking the water out. Ha!

My sweet baby.

He didn't like to be splashed....

Debating whether or not to stick his face in the water.

Afterwards we went swimming in my cousin, Vickie's, pool. I didn't get any pictures of this though because I was in the water. Ha! Although I will say that Jenny did so good! She was jumping in the pool and having a lot of fun. My cousin's son, Andrew, also did really well. He was swimming from one side of the pool to the other side - in the DEEP end!! Way to go Jenny and Andrew!!

Tomorrow we have plans to go to church, clean the house (blah!), go swimming some more, and then I'm making pork tenderloin with broccoli and rice for dinner with Butterfinger cake for desert! Tomorrow will be a great day with some great kids! I hope you all have a great weekend!

Swimming

Today we went swimming at my cousin's house. They have an inground pool in their backyard. We had a really good time, and Jenny and Aiden loved the water! Well, Jenny loved it. Aiden only liked it. Ha!

Jenny was jumping in without my help!! Yay!

I didn't get any pictures of Aiden. =( Everytime he was in the water, I was with him. So there was no way I could get his picture. Maybe next time. I'm so proud of Jenny for conquering her fear of the water, and jumping in without any help! She did a great job. She starts swimming lessons tomorrow, so she will only get better from here. She was even going under the water and holding her breath for 6 seconds! She says she's ready to start swimming lessons!