More Summer Fun

We've done so much...it's hard to keep up with the posts!  I think I'll just throw in a few pics of our lazy summer days.

We finished swimming lessons!  Yay William and John...and Campbell...who was also in their class!

One fun day after swimming we had a picnic with friends at the playground.  The boys played hard, so a little frozen yogurt was in order!

We had a fun morning picking blueberries with Aunt Susan and Campbell.  These guys helped me pick 7.5 pounds of fresh, organic blueberries.  We ate lots fresh and saved several pounds in the freezer.  Good stuff!!

One Saturday brought a neighborhood festival at the church.  It was hot and I was relieved to leave early to babysit sweet little Reagan.  She was dream!

We have played more games of Monopoly than I can count.  This kids beats me every time!!

Lots of early mornings with this guy.  None of our boys sleep in well, but this one rises earliest of all.  At least he is good help in the kitchen!

We all got to visit with the newest boy cousin, Bru!  How cute are these cousins!  Sweet Campbell, the only girl!!

Every day involves a bike ride of some sort.  The big ones now go on their own...lots of times meeting up with neighbors and staying out for hours.  Love that lazy schedule of summer!

Last weekend, I had my last weekend of Level I CGS training here in Mobile.  These boys' sweet Daddy took them to the hunting camp for a boys weekend.  A great time was had by all!

Yesterday brought a trip to the Exploreum.  Best part of the trip was right here...

For almost ten years, we have repeatedly waved to Daddy whenever we are traveling through downtown.  I texted Chris while the boys were standing in this window at the Exploreum.  He stood up in his office and waved...and we saw him!!  How cool is that!!

And then this...

Silly boys...I took you to the Exploreum for a change of scenery.  A break from Lego monotony.  And yet this is what you choose to do!!  We are addicted!

They did take a break to build a fortress...

and then tear it down!

And of course, flag football continues on.  Daniel is loving it!!

On his touchdown run...snap...

Hand off...

Going...

 Touchdown!!!

So many other adventures that don't have photographs to document.  We are loving this summer!

Flag Football Fun

Thursday night brought Daniel's first flag football game of the season.  It is always fun to watch him play.  Look at the pictures closely...he has a smile on his face in everyone! 

Lining up with classmate, Madison...

Lining up against good friend, Danner...

And being defended by Danner's big brother and Daniel's classmate, Jack...

On his touchdown run!

He had quite a fan base with three brothers, grandparents, and other friends watching siblings play!

 

Looking forward to a great season!



A Walk in the Woods

Chris and I have been discussing the desire to get the boys outdoors more...learning about the area in which they are blessed to grow up.  We play outside a lot and I think that is very important, but we have been talking about a little more education to our ecosystem here in Mobile.  So today we went on an adventure.

(For memories sake, I will add that our morning did not start out so stellar in the great outdoors.  Our routine these days is to take a family bike ride around the block.  I didn't run this morning, so I thought that I would extend our walk a little further.  The boys were game.  Unfortunately, not too far into our ride, William took a fall.  No scratches, bumps, or bruises, but somehow he wedged his leg in between the pedal of his bike and the bar of the bike.  We both remained calm and tried to no avail to squeeze his leg out.  Thankfully, a kind neighbor stopped and tried to help.  He could not get it out either, so he ran home to get some tools.  He eventually got the pedal unscrewed and we were able to free his leg.  Remarkably, William was not hurt and wasn't hesitant to hop back on his bike and pedal home!)

This afternoon we made this kind neighbor cookies and William wrote him a note!

After swimming lessons, we headed over to the Mobile Botanical Gardens for a picnic and a hike.  We visited the gardens in November for our Christmas card picture shoot, and the boys loved the shaded hike through the woods.  We only wished we weren't in church clothes!  So I thought it would be a perfect adventure for the warm day.

Unfortunately, the gardens are closed on Tuesday.  Luckily, the Longleaf forest portion is always open, so we found a picnic table and ate our lunch.

 

After lunch, we climbed trees and walked the trails.  They were not as shaded as the trails we were expecting, but thankfully it wasn't too hot.  We learned about the longleaf pines thanks to the posters along the trail.  The boys asked many questions about PopPop's pines in Choctaw county!

 

We were even able to score a mid-hike snack along the way!

 



On the way to the car, we found this guy in the parking lot.  Third turtle sighting of the summer!

 



 

 

The most amazing part of the day was our arrival home.  Pulling into the driveway with one already asleep, Philip asks, "Can we have quiet time now?"  Ummm...yes!!  They were tired from the sun and yet relaxed from the time outdoors.  No one complained.  All headed to their room for a little downtime.  We need to do this more often!!!