He Did It

On the second to last day of pool season he did it! He dove off the diving board and look at the form on this boy! Unbelievable!

Lydia's Five

I can't believe this little girl is five, where has time gone and why is it going so fast. She is such a joy to our family, I am so very thankful to be her Mommy. And with lots of love we gave her her Frozen birthday party she wanted. It was such a beautiful day all around, Lydia had a magical time, her friends had fun and Lydia wanted to invite her birth Mom for her party which we did and she had a great time as well. You could feel the Lord's presence the whole day blessing our little princess's day. 

Here are some of the decorations:

We played pin the nose on Olaf and Frozen bingo

We had pizza for lunch

And she had five of her girl friends over (one is not in this picture) and of course her cousins.

Piñata time!

And Cake time

First Day Of School 2014

We started school at the beginning of August. Nathan is in first grade and Lydia is starting Kindergarten! Exciting times...well the first day was anyway:)

A Wet Summer

There were lots of pool days this summer even if it wasn't very warm. Nathan and Lydia love the water and love to swim. Lydia started to swim this year , she can swim about 5 feet and can can go under the water really well. She also went off the slide for the first time this year...she's still a little scared to go off the diving board, maybe next year.

And Nathan loves the water and loves to jump off the diving board. He has tried to dive off but at the last minute gets to scared...maybe next year.

Only a week left and then it closes:(

A Frozen Day

Mommy had a date with Lydia at a local toy store where they had a Frozen day. She was very excited as you can see.

However, when it was finally our turn to meet Elsa and Anna after waiting in a VERY LOOONG line she refused to get near them without me. (They were a little scary looking) and anyway, I always wanted my picture taken with princesses:)

Yum, Yum...free dinner here we come!

Another Year of free chicken...and they are put away for next year with a couple more chocolate milk stains:)

Community Days

We had a great time at the local community days over the 4th of July. The kids got to ride 2 rides which they totally enjoyed. Mommy was a little sad because this was the first time they were fine going by themselves, not needing a Mommy or a Daddy. They are growing up before my eyes.

And this was the first time Lydia was not scared but enjoyed the fireworks so we stayed up late, braved the crowds and got front row seats and boy were they great!

Beads

Lydia has been wanting me to try beads for awhile and we finally did it after researching and talking to people about how. It took about 6 hours total...two days. I thought she looked really cute with them.  But after a couple days she wanted them out. I made her wear them for a week and they were looking a little shabby by then. I don't know if I will ever do this again? We shall see!

Stone Harbor

We went to Stone Harbor at the end of June with part of Steve's family. Wasn't the best weather but the kids still had fun! This was the first day after our drive. they are always super excited on the first day!

The seagulls were everywhere, and stealing our food right out of our hands. This ruined the beach for Lyd...she was a little scared of them.

We took a walk to the harbor and watched a beautiful sunset.

 And on our way home we stopped at the Cape May Zoo which was another highlight of our mini vacation and it was free. Here are a couple of our favorite pictures.

Mini Photo Shoot

End of June

Tadpoles

In the middle of June we visited a friend who had a pool that was filled with tad poles. We decided to bring some home and watch them transform into to toads. It was really amazing for the whole family to watch their little feet appear and grow and their tails shrink. And then they began climbing out of the water and hoping around. Two of them survived out of six and we let them go in our back yard. Just last week Daddy found a little toad about the size of a quarter...we think it was one of ours:)

First Canoe Trip Of the Year

Fun and relaxing for everyone. Steve and I were amazed how well the kids did. They really enjoyed going back in the little inlets looking for wildlife. They were surprisingly still and quiet! This was in the middle of June.

Family Field Trip

We went to a fairly local town in June to visit a pretzel factory and a chocolate factory. The kids had fun learning how to make pretzels and running around the town eating chocolate.

First Family Bike Ride

I am way behind with my posts again so here goes...this is a bike ride we took in the beginning of June. Lydia did a great job but was a little scared going over and bumps or cracks. I think we will wait a while to do another family trip:)