Memorial Day Weekend @ Seagrove

Despite the torrential downpour that graced Memorial Day Weekend in Seagrove, we still had a wonderful time being together as a little family of four. We arrived at The Adams' beach home Friday evening and we checked accuweather.com on Jeremy's blackberry occasionally in high hopes that the rain would clear out for our trip to the beach on Saturday morning. Considering there was a Tropical Depression moving through the area, we weren't greeted on Saturday morning with blue skies and sunshine, but heavy pattering of rain on the tin roof and thunderous rolls outside. We waited it out hoping that John Parker's little feet could touch the sand, and it happened--at 3 o'clock that afternoon.

Now I want you to take a moment a think about what happens when an ant bed is disturbed by someone's foot--they scatter. Well, all of the vacationers--ourselves included--were like ants in that we all ran out of our beach homes quickly to get to the beach right when we saw just a glimpse of sunlight. It was a FUNNY sight. We managed to stay for two hours and allow John Parker to realize that we WERE at the beach and HIS parents weren't lying to him the entire time. This child was ecstatic. We've literally been counting down the months and days until our beach trip and I'm sure he thought he'd never see the beach on account of the rain. He and Sawyer both enjoyed being outside.

Sunday rolls around and it was still the same forecast as the day before--rain, rain, and more rain. John Parker and I would sing, "Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day!" Didn't work until 1:00. This time we were able to stay until 6 o'clock--thanks to the weather and my parents for coming down and keeping Sawyer inside while we played with JP at the beach.

Monday had the MOST PERFECT weather all weekend. (We all knew it would be since that was the day we'd be headed back to Andy). The good thing was that we didn't have to be out of there until 4:30 and we took full advantage of that time. Once again, we had an AWESOME trip and want to thank The Adams for allowing us to stay at their home-away-from-home @ Seagrove. We are planning on going back in the Fall for a weekend get-away and CAN'T wait!!!

Now that school's out for the summer, I have many plans to enjoy the summer with my boys. From Vacation Bible School, trips to the beach, the zoo, library on Fridays, riding the boys on the Ranger, and many other fun excursions that will have our calendar filled ALL summer long. I'm so looking forward to it all.

On a side note: Say a little prayer for me as I have just recently applied for Graduate School and will start in the Fall. Right now it looks like my sweet friend and co-worker, Jennifer Kennedy Earnest, will be going with me. That will help the drive to Troy not so boring AND we can keep one another motivated in our studies.

As always, I'm leaving you with some images of memories that we made at SG that will last a lifetime.

Cowboy & Cowgirl in the Making

My niece, Ashland, rode up through the pasture towards our home Saturday morning grinning from ear-to-ear. This sweet little girl has fallen completely in love with the Kelley Family horse, Mendocino. (Yes, just like the song......The Sun Sets West on the Mendocino County Line). Let me add that she's not the only one that enjoys a ride. John Parker has taken a strong liking in her as well. Also, the saddle on Mendocino happens to be the very same saddle that my brothers and I used on our horse, Sugar, growing up. So glad that my daddy kept it for the grandchildren.

These pictures were too sweet not to share with all of you!! Enjoy!!!

(In the pictures below is my oldest brother, Jason. Doesn't he look like a true country boy sporting his beloved overalls???)










Jason and Ash were unaware that I was taking this picture as they were heading towards the house. Isn't that sweet shot of a little girl and her daddy?

TGIF(almost).......

and daddy will be home!! YAY!! We have survived the week without daddy around, but we definitely prefer him here with us every day. John Parker has been asking, "Where's Daddy?" all week long so I can assure you that JP's face will light up as soon as he sees his buddy. I also know that it is killing Jeremy not being able to see his little men this week.

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday during the rainstorm-which has kept us inside in the afternoons every day this week! No complaints here because we desperately needed the rain.

Fun with the Family

What About The Details?

It is very obvious that I haven't had time to slow down to tell you about all of the details from the last images that I posted on the blog. Hopefully, I can catch you up on what all we've been doing these past couple of weeks in a short version-if there is such a thing in my vocabulary-of the events that have kept us busy; a fun busy at that!

The first question you might ask: How's Sawyer? So far, so GOOD! We haven't had to make a 'sick' visit to the doctor's office since our last trip several weeks ago. YIPPEE!! He is back to his drooling, cooing, babbling, laughing, scooting/crawling 'backwards', and smiling self. He is growing up faster than I want him to, but I must admit that I like it when their little personality shines through as he continues to develop with each passing month.

As for John Parker, let's just say he has more of a social life than his parents!:) As you can tell from the pictures from my previous post, he went to Jack Foreman's "Birthday Carnival Extravaganza" and had a BLAST!! (It is apparent that his mommy is a great event planner!!) He went to two egg hunts: one at the church and the 'traditional' hunt at my parents' home. We also went to the beach during Spring Break for a couple of days and had a BALL!! The child is fearless when it comes to the beach--and always has been. I wasted my money in buying him all of the essentials that he would need to dig in the sand at the beach. Once his size 9 feet touched the sand he went straight for the water and stayed there the entire time. And, no, I didn't take my camera out on the beach with me so I don't have a picture to show you. It was mighty windy and I didn't want to take the chance of the sand getting into my camera. But nothing to fear, because we will be going to Sea Grove Memorial Day weekend so I plan on taking oodles of pictures while we are there for our first trip as a 'family of four'.

However, I did attempt to get a few pictures of John Parker at the train depot in town where he was lovin' playing on the train. He kept yelling, "Choo-Choo Train, ALL ABOARD!" (He's learned this little liner from one of his train DVDs). So, I just let him play, set my camera to continuous shoot, literally ran around trying to keep with his three-year-old body, and came to the understanding and realization as to why photographers have a high sitting fee. I was out of breath when I got through shooting 100 pictures--no exaggeration either. We will be taking family photos with Lori's photographer, Pasty Brown, in the fall and I'm predicting that she'll up the price of her sitting fee after she's through with our family!!!!

That pretty much sums everything up that's gone on these past weeks. I'm counting down the days until school is out and look forward to spending time with my little ones at home. Please say a prayer for me this week. Jeremy is leaving for Orlando tomorrow for a business trip and won't be back until Friday, meaning that I'll have the kids and house to myself. He is a HUGE help with the kids and it is going to be quite an adjustment for me in the mornings before school and after. But nothing to fear because my sweet mother dear lives near!!! YAY!!

One more thing: John Parker is well on his way to being potty trained!! Dr. E told me at his well checkup (last year when he was two) not to push it, that when he's ready I'll know. Well, he was right. For the past week, he's been going to the potty on his own without me asking him if he needs to go. Hopefully, we are on the right track to buying no more pull-ups! But, reality is setting in with me knowing that this milestone is another "I'm growing up, Mommy!" and it makes me sad!


I'll leave you with these pictures. These two boys enjoyed their first bath together this past week. Can you tell by Sawyer's face that he loves his brother?