And because I just can't help myself... here are more pictures!

New Pictures

Today I took the kids to have their portraits done for Father's Day.  I am very pleased with the results.  This was just a little place at the mall but I think the photographer did a great job with the 3 of them.  These are some of my favorite shots... 

More Vacation Pictures...

Well all good times must come to an end, and we are now home from our beach vacation.  We had a terrific time in Sandestin and wish we could spend more time there this summer.  Not sure if that is going to happen because of a pretty busy schedule already with summer camps, swim lessons, and other travel plans, but maybe this fall we can fit in a long weekend trip.  It was plenty hot down there- low to mid 90's most of the week- but we certainly made the best of it.  Maggie and Lydia enjoyed a trip over to the beach, swimming in the pool, yummy breakfasts at the Broken Egg Cafe, and a fun trip to the Gulfarium.  They took in 2 dolphin shows at the aquarium and we saw lots of cool sea creatures- different species of sharks, a sea turtle, and sea lions.  I do think the dolphin tank was easily the favorite of both girls though.  

(Note: It may appear in most of the pictures that Lydia is wearing the same dress.  She is.  Over the course of our vacation Lydia became a real 3 year old and developed preferences for particular items, namely her "purple dress".  This certainly came as a surprise because she has always been pretty relaxed when it comes to this sort of thing, without much of an opinion on things like clothes, shoes, or even what Disney Princess pull-up she will be wearing to bed.)

Vacation pictures!

And this is what a vacation is all about:

We arrived at Sandestin, Florida, on Thursday afternoon of last week and we have been having a really nice time ever since.  Jane and Frank were here with us until early Sunday when they left to go home to Collierville.  On Friday they took Maggie and Lydia to the beach to play and on Saturday they all spent the morning at the swimming pool.  We were sad to see them leave us on Sunday!  

This morning we went out for breakfast and then a quick stop at the pool so the girls could each cool off a bit (if that is at all possible- from what they have been telling me the water is very warm!)  I was able to sneak away this afternoon for some alone time to catch a screening of Sex and the City- so good and well worth the wait for it to come out!  

I think tomorrow we may try to take the kids to the "Gulfarium" before we head to the airport to get our good friend Dave who will be flying in to join us from Indianapolis for a few days.  We are headed back home on Saturday morning, so we still have a solid 3 days of fun ahead of us!  More pictures later! 

Memorial Day Weekend

I picked up an inflatable swimming pool for the girls this weekend while at Target- it is amazing how much fun your kids can have for a mere $9.99!  Maggie and Lydia both really enjoyed swimming and are already begging me this morning to get out there.  I am not sure if that is going to happen for them today though due to the threat of rain and thunderstorms.  

We didn't get up to too much this weekend.  We did go to a farewell party for our sister-in-law, Aunt Amanda, and her two children Ronan and Alanna.  Today the 3 of them will board an airplane bound for Ireland.  They will spend the summer there and are planning to come back to the states the end of July.  

Today we are getting ready for our own trip down to Florida.  Maggie and Lydia are both very excited- we will be spending our first few days down there with Brian's parents, so the girls are elated.  Lydia is most excited to go build sandcastles and Maggie just wants to swim, although she has made it very clear to me that she will not be jumping into the pool at.all.  

More later... 

And at long last...

... an update.  

Jack is now 7 months old!  He is doing great- sitting up, eating 2 meals of baby food each day, and trying his best to figure out what is next after learning to sit up on his own.  Still 6 teeth but he always seems to be working on more.  

Lydia will be 3 in a few weeks and she is getting excited about celebrating her birthday. She finished her year of preschool last week and was very sad to learn that she won't be seeing her beloved teacher, Ms. Kirsten, on an almost daily basis anymore.  We don't have too much planned for Lydia this summer other than 2 sessions of swimming lessons on a beginner level beginning the end of June.  She is looking forward to preschool again in the fall with her new teachers, Ms. Harriet and Ms. Jessica.  

Miss Maggie finished her very last year of preschool last Thursday and it was bittersweet for all of us.  On one hand it is almost impossible to believe that she is done already- total cliche, but it seems like only yesterday I was dropping her off in her first classroom, as a 2 and a half year old.  The past 3 years have been terrific for her;  she has learned so much and has grown in ways I never thought possible at a preschool level.  This was by far her greatest year with the best teachers, Ms. Tricia and Ms. Lee- they took such a genuine interest in each of the children and really helped them grow and get ready for their next big step... Kindergarten!  Maggie was very sad to leave them both last week but she is very excited for her new school year coming up in August.  She has alot to look forward to this summer- 2 sessions of swim lessons starting in late June and she is also registered for 4 different summer camps at various times over the coming weeks.  

The past month has been fairly busy for us and we are looking forward to some down-time next week when we head down to Sandestin, FL for a week at the beach.