Happy 4th of July!

I have ever so many awesome posts in my mind about the last few wonderful weeks we have spent in Georgia. BUT for today, I wanted to post something for July 4th. And I promise to get back in the swing with some great vacation stories. . .

We actually had our cookout on July 3rd this year because we are all heading back to Illinois on July 5th. Cooking out and celebrating did not seem wise the day before a big trip. We all went to Mimi's house for some hamburgers and hot dogs that David cooked for us on the grill. I was so fired up because it has been ages since Daddy and David have both been home in Georgia at the same time. AND I am obsessed with family get togethers. I drive everyone crazy because I love my family so much, and I always want to spend as much time as possible with them. I don't need anything fancy. I just like hanging with my peeps! So once I cross the border from Tennessee back into Georgia, my mind is already planning as many suppers and get togethers as possible.

We had a lovely time at Mimi's. We ate and laughed and visited. Poor Momma didn't feel well, so she missed the fun (and food - the food is almost as important as the fun and family time, right?) And Lucas could only stop by at the end, but when you live far away from the fam like I do, you always take whatever you can get!

THEN, my rock star of a father had to leave Mimi's house and head to the Peachtree Expo with David. I have posted before about Bay's involvement in the Peachtree in Atlanta each summer. Oh and in case you are unfamiliar with this awesome race, click here. Well, he and David both had to go to pick up David's number. David was tickled to be able to run his 6th Peachtree this year with Daddy. He'd like to run more, but with his crazy schedule, he is not always in town (or in the country). AND they had to coordinate with the Race Director for Bay to start the overseas races.

After they got everything squared away, they swung by the house to pick up the kids and me. You know we LOVE to go with them to be a small part of the Overseas Peachtree Races. And it was so awesome! This was the 4th time the kids and I went. We had to miss last year because we had just moved. BUT everyone remembered us, and they were so glad to see us. Everyone at the Atlanta Track Club is so friendly and awesome! Their photographer always takes tons of pics and he even shares:

Bay says "GO!" to LTG Webster at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

And of course, bright and early this morning, Bay and David headed downtown with 55, 000 of their closest friends to run 6.2 miles. The weather was awesome. Many years, it is crazy hot and humid, but our runners said this year was quite comfortable.

Aren't they cute?

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

We are all so blessed and lucky to be Americans.

And we are also blessed to have so many brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines in harms way on this day (and every day) protecting us and keeping us free.

God Bless America!

Summer Hire

You know how some companies have special categories of employees for certain seasons. Like toy stores need more help at Christmas and pools need lifeguards for the summer and H & R Block need help at tax time?? Our Jessa has become quite the hiring (and firing) queen around here.

I had one of my famous Scavenger Hunts in order to give them some fun summertime play items. It was a grand hunt. Mimi and Poppy were visiting for the week and I even made Mimi a clue! She was sitting on the front porch. I took her picture:

And then when the kids got to a certain clue, they turned it over and knew that Mimi had the next picture! It was pretty fun and I think that Mimi LOVED being such an integral part of the hunt.

The last clue sent them to the backyard to find a cornucopia of fun for the summer. I bought them jump ropes, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, water guns, new crayons and markers, you know a bunch of cool stuff to play with as we begin this awesome summer break. They were thrilled with the goodies, and I was pretty proud because most of them were not even that expensive!

Anywho, we ended up out in the front yard playing with all their loot. We were outside ALL DAY long. We were all hot and sweaty and we smelled brassy, but I guess that is what outside summer fun about, right?

Jessa's favorite item was the jump rope. She had asked me for one several times, so I knew she would love it. They worked on jumping rope in PE. (I only said "jumping rope" for Momma, I always say "jump roping" and she makes fun of me. . .)

At first she was not real good at it. The rope was a little different, and she was not used to it. And I swear it was at least 200 degrees (or 86, you know, whatever). So she decided that she needed 2 people to (as Mimi calls it) "throw it" for her. So Mimi and I were her first choice. We stand up and start "throwing it," and she gets tripped up. After a few failed attempts, my sweet child looks me right in the eye and says, "Mommy, you're fired." Watch out Donald Trump! This Ice Princess can fire her mother without even flinching. And then she turns to Poppy, who was minding his own business and says, "Poppy, you're hired." So what does her devoted great grandfather do? Yep, he quickly took my place.

Now in the meantime, Spencer is playing with the water guns and blowing bubbles and just doing his own thing. He was not even paying us much attention. So after Jess decided that Poppy was doing an even worse job "throwing" the rope than I did, she promptly fired him and rehired me. Spencer looked up and realized that now Poppy was back on the front porch in the chair. And I got so tickled when I heard Spencer say to Pop so matter-of-factly, "What happened Poppy? She fire you?" And Poppy said, "Yep." Luckily for her, we never take it personally.

Throughout the day, more potential employees stopped by. David was given a trial run as a "rope thrower." Thankfully, he did not quit his day job because his tour of duty was short lived. Bay was deemed a good rope thrower. And at one point, I was jumping and saying a rhyme and silly Bay tried to jump in. We are not quite ready for that, I don't think! But it got a great laugh anyway.

But what a fun day playing outside. May and Bay were there toward the end of the day. Mimi, Poppy, both kiddos, David, and I were all there. We even had a good friend from David's work stop by. There were neighborhood kids who played off and on, too. It was the perfect summer evening. All of us sitting outside, enjoying the weather, having cool drinks and laughing until we cried. I sure do love spending time with all my family and making fun memories. I hope to have countless other evenings just like that as my babies grow up. Well, that is if Jessa does not fire any of us permanently. . .

Y'all never let me do anything fun.

I am deeply saddened to say that I forgot my camera. I felt pain when I was not capturing these moments - this is not an exaggeration, physical pain. This post will have to stand alone without pictures. Please do not be disappointed in me. I promise to do better.

We all get up and get dressed on a Saturday. Bay comes to pick up Jessa, Spencer, and me. We all drive to St. Louis to a mall where there is a Cabela's. All the men in our family are obsessed with Cabela's. The kids think it is way fun, too. Jessa was calling all the preserved animals and the fish in the aquariums "exhibits." She roamed the store at will. Spencer and I just followed her lead. She lingered at the fish tanks and named every fish. And with a birthday fast approaching I had enacted a moratorium on buying anything for them for the whole month. Yet, I still allowed them to pick out 1 surprise each. This caused many discussions with Jessa trying to negotiate for more and different treats. I stood my ground, and all was quiet.

We left Cabela's and went to the food court at the mall. Jessa led us all around looking at every choice. She was hoping for Chick-fil-A (OK, we all were), but there was not one. So she finally settled on Burger King. We have one 1/4 of a mile from our house. Heaven forbid we mix it up and try something new! We all sat at the table of Jessa's choice and ate lunch. Then we all proceeded to the indoor mall play area where Jessa and Spencer played for a good 20 minutes. Then Bay forked over $2.25 per ticket for the two of them to ride on a train for 3 minutes in a small circle.

On our way back to the car, Bay bought them fudge. Bay likes nuts in his fudge, but Jessa did not want nuts. So we left with nut-free fudge.

Once in the car, they chowed down on their fudge while Bay drove us to a park. We walked around to look at the Missouri River, and then spent another 20 minutes playing on the outdoor playground, at Jessa's insistence.

Then we went to an outdoor event, the Life is Good Festival. It was way fun with TONS to do. And it was mostly all free. Seriously, a kid's dream come true - a beautiful day with sunshine and kid-centered activities. There were like 5 different cool bean bag tosses, there were hula hoop areas, bouncy ball corrals, sack races, parachute play, ball tosses, soccer shoot-outs, obstacle courses, face painting, musical instruments, juggling, live music, tons of food - you name it. They were so crazy, trying to do it all. We let them try everything they wanted to try. We let them choose what they wanted to do. There was even a lollipop tree where you could just walk over to the tree and choose a lollipop! Spencer had 2. Jessa got her face painted, they both tossed bean bags and balls, they kicked soccer balls, they ran the length of the park and back. They got big beach balls. They got balloons. Bay bought them hot chocolate. They did some things more than once. We followed their lead.

It was a long and fun day. I enjoyed watching them play and have a great time. (I ached for the camera) But let's face it, most of the day was not about me - it was about them, right? I walked along, beside Jessa who was still sipping her hot chocolate, with my arms loaded down with her coat and her beach ball. And after this long and fun day, I said to Jessa, "We need to think about heading home soon." Jessa looked over at me and with a straight face said to me, "But Mah-uhm! Y'all never let me do anything fun!"