I must admit that looking through these made a little sad that summer is over. It has been so nice to this very pregnant mama to have John back in school because Sam still naps and it gives me a little bit of solid quiet time during the day to get things done or to just relax for the last few weeks that it is possible, BUT I miss the time to just play and not worry to much about the schedule and what needed to happen next.
Sam loves to paint. The funniest thing about his painting is that he always picks one color and paints over the same spot over and over and over again. It's not the same color overtime either. Just whatever color he's in the mood for that day I guess!
There was a lot of singing and music.
And some serious pouting. ;)
A lot of one on one time with John while Sam napped.
And apparently even a little cpr.
Snow cones!
This was for hero day at the library. We have every super hero costume known to man and he dressed himself up as "a villager."
Sam opted for a fireman costume on hero day.
And these are the pictures that make me not miss summer as much. Keeping these two entertained while I got anything done usually resulted in the house looking like this.
An impromptu trip to the circus!
It was a pretty decent circus but there were a few stunts that they almost lost and it didn't looked staged or anything. More like we were going to put our children through witnessing some horrendous tragedy and later pay for it in counseling bills.
Love these Murray looks.
And these as well. Seriously- the whoops were enough to give this pregnant lady contractions.
This hat. Lord help me. Matt totally let him buy this and it has never been worn again.
One rainy day I let them play on the back porch because it wasn't lightening. John made sure to let me know that he put on his rainbows and a helmet in case he slipped. Mr. Cautious
This is what summer looked like. Swimming clothes, dry clothes, picnic lunches, normal purse, water, water, and more water. I had to document what I spent half of my days doing...packing and unpacking.
Mr. had a great dental check up! His dentist told him that his teeth were close together so he needed to start flossing and to start using an anti cavity rinse after brushing and this guy demanded we go buy those things and has been faithfully doing both every night. God love him.
Real arrows as his good dental visit reward.
John took swimming lessons for two weeks and Sam and I lived in the pool for two weeks while he was in lessons. John swims so well but the child will not come up for air to save his life (literally) so we decided to try lessons to see if they could help him with this one important skill. They did help but he still only comes up if he's desperate for air. Otherwise he just swims harder to get to a destination. I think he could swim competitively with that kind of drive.
My little daredevil will attempt to climb up or down anything.
One weekend when Matt was out of town, we met my stepmom and little sis at the Nickelodeon hotel in Orlando. It was super fun!
Excuse my no make up messy self but only swimming will knock a kiddo out like this right?
I had the pleasure of getting some serious snuggles in with these two over the weekend. I am not a cosleeping mama normally because I need some space, but I will have to say I enjoyed the snuggles this weekend. But no more than that kids...ain't nobody got time for middle of the night snuggles. ;)
I had to take these boys to church by myself while Matt was out of town and let me tell you, they were angels. It was some kind of modern day miracle. They both sat silently and drew all during church and even after a weekend of partying hard at the nick hotel.
My explorers.
Beach days!
This is the face of hanger. Don't mess with this guy if he's hungry.
Some of my favorite pics of these two.
And there were some baseball games to cheer on dad and the Tortugas!
John decided he wanted a Hawaiian skirt and he was so upset when we got there and they all had girls on the pictures. He was totally confused and appalled that they didn't have some men pictured doing the hula. We opted for this lovely table cloth and cut it to fit. Oh this one.
John has become quite skilled with his bow and arrow. He can now successfully shoot it through the screened in porch. Whoops!
The back to school panic!
This little love is obsessed with wearing his brother's shoes. I can't tell you how often a fight in our house is because Sam has stolen John's shoes.
Selfies while brother slept. I think he missed the one on one time while John was home all summer, but he LOVED the John time so he didn't complain too often.
Off to St. Pete to crash another conference with Matt and the first official family trip in the minivan. Room for days!
Because sometimes you are too tired to make it back to the room.
Took these fools on a paddle boat by myself. It was hot and really hard to steer with my captain's assistance. It was one of those moments when I immediately thought "this was a bad idea...like a really bad idea."
Some daddy loving in the room before he left for the conference.
We stayed at the Tradewinds in St Pete which was a great spot for kids! They had so much to do and explore...almost too much at times. I'm not sure I would always choose that as an option when I'm the beach as I felt like we didn't spend much time at the actual beach, but it was definitely an entertaining time!
Checking out the Guy Harvey outpost at the resort.
I had to beg and plead with this doll to touch the starfish.
This one touched everything and more with no fear at all. Night and day.
Kai was there too.
Movie night at the hotel!
We got home from the resort and got a little nesting out with my helper. We cleaned out the fridge (don't worry-I went grocery shopping that day as well so it was restocked in no time).
Brothers in the same shirt and floatie. Sweet, sweet memories.
Three days after returning home from St Pete we packed up and headed to Disney to celebrate John's birthday! We stayed in a pirate room at the Caribbean Beach resort and it was so nice and the boys were in heaven. We laughed because Sam went to sleep saying "ahoy matey!" and woke up saying "arrr!" He never got out of character.
We decided to finally try out Medieval Times and oh my goodness was it a hit. They ate so well which is unlike them at a restaurant and had the time of their lives. It was without a doubt the thing that they continue to talk about from this trip.
The sword fighting with these giant and horrible swords has not stopped since we left this dinner. It's the first thing they grab in the morning.
Sunday it was off to Magic Kingdom for a little fun in the morning, then back to the hotel for a swim at the amazing pool, then a nap, then mass, and then back to MK for the night parade and fireworks. Talk about a long but fun day!
Couldn't help but attempt to sneak a pic of my last day as a four year old napping boy.
Other than medieval times, John has not stopped talking about "that time at Disney when I stayed up until midnight." Everything now is measured by how close it is until midnight. He was so proud of himself.
Monday we went to Animal Kingdom and we all felt like this. We stayed half a day and then headed home for pizza, cake, and a super early bedtime before the first day of school.
And that's a wrap on summer break!
I celebrated with putting Sam down for a nap and eating left over birthday cake and drinking a diet coke.
Sam is in heaven playing with toys without a fight.
But we miss davy of course.
We've been doing some after school park time which has been a fun way to spend a couple hours with our long lost John.
These two are impossible to get to smile at the same time.
Other than that, we've been enjoying some time together riding trains at the mall...
Making list after list to get ready for brother...
Napping in peace.
It's pretty chill around here these days.
And here are way too many videos that I needed to upload from my phone.
We found a Tarzan vine at a park and we had to try it out. It was a bucket list item for them.
I cannot help but crack up at Sam. He will literally just watch John and then whatever John does he immediately starts to do too. Totally monkey see, monkey do.
Our little Bon Jovi fan. He really is ridiculously into him and can carry a tune.
What Sam does during the sing a longs...everyone needs a back up dancer.
The videos Matt sends me while I grocery shop. I shopped quickly to save my children from the alligator.
Sam's very favorite book. I love to hear him say "potty."
Sweet love having a total melt down over the see and say saying "goose, honk honk" when Sam thinks it should say "duck, quack quack." I mean he was distraught.
This was today actually and hysterical to hear Sam getting in on the Bon Jovi action.
And that's about caught up. These two sure keep thins interesting! What a blessed and sweet summer.