Summertime, week 8

Another week of summer down, only about 4 left to go! Both happy and sad about that, but I digress. Here is what we were up to last week. 

Took the kids to Sonic happy hour and they chose cherry slushes with Nerds candy in them. Ewwww! .....I thought, but then I tried it, and I have to admit, it was kinda tasty! 

We went to Bass Pro Shops last weekend and browsed around. The kids had fun looking at all the cool stuff, including this giant shark!

And no, we did not make it out of there empty handed. They left with cowboy hats and pop-rifles. :)

Carter dressed Ella up as Spider Man one morning...

Eric got an extra workout one night since both kids decided to hop on while he was doing push-ups. That's 75 extra pounds!

And baby is doing good! This photo was taken at almost 32 weeks. I've started having some contractions along with typical aches and pains.... feet, ankles, hips, back. I told Eric that pretty much everything hurts at the end of the day.... except my arms, HA! It's hard to imagine that I'll get much bigger, it has gotten really hard all of a sudden lately, but I'm hanging in there!

Carter has been a great help to me lately, since daily chores have gotten really tough for me to handle all on my own. He's been really good about making sure his room is cleaned each day, and the play room, too. He helps me clean up the kitchen after meals and loves to vacuum! He and Ella both have also started helping me make their lunches each day. It definitely helps this tired Momma to have two kiddos that are excited and willing to be a little more independent. Coaching them from the couch isn't too bad. :)

These two play a lot of "family"..... Ella was taking care of her baby Carter here in this picture. So cute!! Sometimes she's got another baby in her tummy, and she'll raise up her shirt and say, "Want to watch my baby move?" HA! She may have heard that from me a time or two :)

Here they are doing puzzles together. I love how much time they spend playing together now. Granted, there is a lot of one pestering the other (Que the window-shattering, blood-curdling Ella scream here), but a lot of the time they just enjoy each other and come up with the cutest games or scenarios to play that will keep them occupied for a long time.

While getting ready to load up the car to go swim, Carter found a rollie-pollie in the garage. I laughed when he called it a tweedle-beetle... Fox in Sox is one of his favorite books! But they had a good time passing it back and forth for a few minutes before letting it go.

Ella one morning before church. She was just so precious all dressed up and playing babies with her purse and pushing it all around the house. Such a sweet little imagination she has, and that maternal instinct makes me proud!!

Carter is in art camp this week, and it sounds like he had a good time on his first day. I'm hoping to get a lot done around the house this week in preparation for the baby. We'll see how productive I am!

Summertime, weeks 6 & 7

We've been home from vacation for a couple of weeks now, and we're back into the swing of things. Here are cell phone pictures of the last few weeks!

These two come up with some of the most interesting and entertaining games to play on hot afternoons. So many giggles running back and forth and falling onto these pillows. 

Carter had Ella's toy phone and said, "Ella let's take a picture together, smile!!" Gotta love the pretend brother/sister selfie.... ha!

Eric took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's place for the weekend while I had a girls' weekend here locally, probably my last for a while! Two of my good friend are also pregnant, so we decided to plan our last weekend of shopping, pool time, a spa day, and of course, lots of good food before the babies started arriving! 

Eric took this sweet picture of Ella getting ready to go swimming!

 Popsicles on Grandma's porch

 And a ride in the tractor for Ella

  The twins came too, and everyone enjoyed a day on the lake.

 So fun!

 Ella and Daddy fishing

  Amy (due in Nov), me (due in Sept) and Ashley (due in Aug) after dinner our last night. Fun weekend for everyone!!

 Carter had science camp at the church this week, and we carpooled with our neighbor friends. Thought this was cute of Ella waiting and watching for Carter to get home one day.

 Eric was out of town one night this week, so the kids and I had a movie and dinner date.
Everyone looked pretty cool in their 3D glasses

 I love how Ella's have greasy popcorn fingerprints all over the lenses!

 And Mommy, too!

 I couldn't believe we (mostly they, because I didn't have much) killed an entire large popcorn! Ella had to dig deep for those last bites.

 So into the movie.

 The kids chose Chick Fil A for dinner, and they enjoyed ice cream cones for desert.

Ella's first ever french braid. Not the best, but pretty good considering she was a wiggle worm while I was doing it. She calls it her "Elsa braid"

 Rainy movie day for Ella while Carter was at camp.

Baby at 31 weeks!

 Enjoying the 70 degree weather on Thursday night with some side walk chalk and hopscotch.

Carter was asking me how to spell certain words, so then Ella started doing the same thing, and pretending like she was writing her letters too. Pretty cute.

Carter had his last day of science camp today, so Ella enjoyed a little bit of playtime at the park with Lucy. Again, had to take advantage of the 65 degrees in July, amazing!

 Monkey girl

 I tell them to say cheese and this is what I get!

 Then we headed to the mall for a few errands and a little playtime with Dylan.

 

 Sweet little friends.

And here is a picture of Carter and Carson after science camp. Each day this week they have come home with some sort of interesting concoction they made or learned about, and today it was "gak"..... slimy, gooey stuff that they made and thought was awesome. Boys!

So there is our last couple of weeks of summer. No camps, swim lessons, trips, or anything at all next week, so I wonder what we'll find to do to fill our time!!

TN / FL Vacation, Part 4: 4th of July & Heading Home!

We started the holiday off by heading to the beach to fly kites and play in the sand. It had been a while since Carter flew a kite, and I don't think Ella ever had, so it was fun for them!

 Pretty girl!

 Most handsome boy in the world

 Grandad flew that princess kite for a while! :)

 Ella wasn't sure she wanted to get her feet in the water, and I love that she snuggled up to my baby bump!

 Girl toes!

 Happy kids!

 They love each other so much!

 And a few family shots....

 Mommy flew Ella's kite, too.

 So fascinated watching it way up in the air!

 Later that morning we spent some time in the pool.

Ella is getting braver in the water!

 Carter and his snorkel goggles, so cute!

 Flipping and flopping around like a little fish.

 More fun with Grandad!

Eric cooked us all a wonderful 4th of July dinner of steaks and baked potatoes, and then we got cleaned up to go back to the beach for fireworks.

We started the fun with smoke bombs at the beach. We made a little volcano, and the kids loved watching the colors of smoke out!

 Time for some pictures with the pretty sunset!

 Ella was a little afraid to get her feet wet again, and Carter was very sweet to watch out for her!

 So many great family shots, hard to choose a favorite!!

 Blurry, but love this shot anyway.

 Back to the fireworks fun!

 

 They loved the glow sticks, too!

 Eric was the fireworks master!

 

 We ran out of our own fireworks right before it got dark, so we enjoyed watching everyone else's, they were much bigger and better!! It was one of the best 4th of July's I can remember. The view of all the fireworks around us, our comfy spot on the beach, the perfect, cool weather, and the lack of a crowd made it pretty amazing! Everyone had such a great time!

We left the next morning and drove to Jackson, MS. Couldn't resist this adorable picture of Ella snoozing at the hotel... bow and all!

And Eric and Ella shared a yummy milkshake at a great pizza and ice cream shop that we found. Such a good dinner!

The next morning we drove the rest of the way home, but made a stop in Ruston at LA Tech for Eric to find his brick. It's been there for a few years now, and we haven't had a chance to stop and find it, and it didn't take us long!

 

 

We made it home just a few hours after that, and although it was an amazing trip full of lots of fun and memories made, we were all VERY happy to be home safe and sound, and sleeping in our own beds again. The kids are still talking about our trip, and I hope they will be for a very long time!!