Y Guides Camp Cheerio Adventure 2016

This year the Painted Pony Princesses decided to try out Camp Cheerio Canoe Adventure.  It was quite different from previous camps in that there weren't a variety of activities, rather one central canoe adventure on Saturday.

They had a great time and enjoyed beautiful weather the entire weekend!

While they were away, Preston and I had lots of our own fun.  His team rocked their soccer game Saturday morning, winning 7-2.  Afterwards we got his hair cut and of course stopped by Harris Teeter where he took a ride on Harry. ;)

These weekends are quite exhausting for Dave, but for me, I LOVE the chance to spend quality one on one time with each kiddo in the comfort of our own house!  I married the best man ever. :)

Happy Birthday Daddy-O

Today we celebrated one awesome man!  Although it was a crazy afternoon with trying to carefully select the perfect balloons after school, pick up BBQ for dinner, eat, do presents and cards and cake . .   all before attending open house at 6:30pm, it was still fun to take a night and celebrate the best daddy in town.

We opted not to eat out since PSE had open house tonight, but I think Dave might actually have preferred to eat his favorite meal (BBQ) at home.  We made sure to have some of his other favorites including, baked beans and corn on the cob, and of course a super yummy ice cream treat.  This year it was a peanut butter cup polar pizza from Baskin Robbins!

Words could never fully express how thankful I am for this man.  He gives and gives and gives, all without complaining. He loves without reservation.  He is almost as patient as Job and always puts his family first.  I am so thankful the Lord blessed our family with him and look forward to many more fun adventurous years together.  We Love You!!!

Labor Day Weekend Festivities

This weekend has been filled to the brim with fun festivities!  However, we have also taken advantage of some much needed time to catch up on sleep in the mornings too. :)

Saturday started off with my long run.  We then enjoyed not being on a schedule and deciding what we wanted to do at the last minute.  As it tuns out, we ventured to Matthews Alive, a local festival with tons of different vendors.  

Showing off their prized balloon animals

We enjoyed dinner out at a nice Mexican restaurant and called it a day!

Back to the daddy/son runs

Sunday after church the girls headed for a long walk and combined that with a couple errands.  The boys were excited to get back to their runs together too.  They made it a couple miles without stopping!  Later on, we headed to a baseball game uptown.  We enjoyed great seats in the shade at the Charlotte Knights game.  The weather was awesome, much cooler and a wonderful change.

Monday, after a trip to the YMCA, we decided to head to Carowinds to close out the season.  I guess everyone else had the same idea, because it was CROWDED!  We had to walk a super long way just to get into the park, so needless to say by the time we left we were all exhausted!

It was a fun day, but we were all ready for an early dinner and bedtime too!

Back to School 2016

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this morning!

Preston ready to take on FIRST grade!

They are both so ready for school to start!!

Savannah ready to start FIFTH grade!

It's hard to believe that summer is officially over.  We've been on so many fun adventures and spent lots of lazy days at home too.  Although it went fast, we all agree that it's definitely time for school to start. :)

This might be the first time I didn't drive them on the first day of school, but when your fifth grader begs to ride the bus I guess it's okay.  They were racing to the bus stop in this picture.  Savannah couldn't wait to finally be able to ride in the back seat.  Although, when she got home she did say that it was quite the bumpy ride being in the back. :)

Savannah and Katie sporting matching shorts

So off they go!  I know it's going to be an incredible year filled with lots of learning and fun.  I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for them and trust Him completely with this year.

Twas the Night Before School

 Whitmore Block Party!!

We had planned a block party for weeks but unfortunately it was rained out for Saturday night.  So we just moved it to Sunday a bit earlier!  It was such a fun event being able to meet all of our new neighbors and let the kids play together . . and the food was delish too!  Thankfully some of the moms starting packing it up around 7pm and everyone headed in for the back to school bedtime routine.

Preston couldn't wait to read his letter from Mrs. Safran and sprinkle the confetti under his pillow to take away the jitters.  After he read his letter, I read the book that Ms. Bridges gave him last year to read before first grade.

The clothes are all laid out, lunches ready, prayers said, and so we're officially ready for Back to School 2016-2017!!  Bring on one amazing year of 1st and 5th grade!

Friday Festivities

Friday morning started off with the annual meet the teacher event!  After the whole k/1 combo mess, when Mrs. Safran called last week I literally cried tears of joy.  She taught Savannah in first grade and it was an amazing experience so I was hoping Preston would also get her.  Thankfully, he did (finally)!!

After talking with Mrs. Safran and snapping a picture, we headed to the spirit wear table to help out before it was time for Savannah's meet the teacher.

She got Mr. Grabon!!  This will be her first experience with a male teacher, but from what we hear (and from what I know from subbing for his class) he's a super funny guy!  Word on the street is that he's also great at bringing shy kids "out of their shell" so this seems like a perfect fit.  I cannot wait for school to start.  I truly have such a peace about both of their teachers.

After meet the teacher and a quick lunch we headed to the pool one last time with the Marions.  Another family from church showed up too so the kids had a super fun time swimming until it was time to go home for dinner.  Then the fun continued, as right after dinner Dave took Preston to Carmel for the first grade celebration event.

They had a great time learning together about how things are a bit different in Children's ministry.  Mrs. Lee talked about big church, gave Preston a church bag filled with fun things, they all had icecream sundaes, and dressed up like super heros too!

We're getting SO close to back to school and the pieces seem to be falling right into place for a fabulous year!

A Final Trip to Carowinds

We planned one last summertime trip to Carowinds today.  It was fun to meet up with my friend Robin and her crew, who I hadn't seen in forever!!   The kids had a blast  . . . and with little to no wait at all for the rides they were able to do everything they wanted (some rides multiple times) before lunch!