Our Summer in Pictures...

...because I fell off the blogging wagon. 
again.

We visited the Trees of Mystery at the end of May. 

 

The favorite part for most of us was the Sky Trail. 

Of course there were trips to beaches and hikes on trails.

And we got a dog!  
Meet Sydney Courageous. 








We gained a new family member at the beginning of July,

and enjoyed the 4th with friends.

 Our boy kept us entertained and on our toes!

My vegetable garden was plagued by deer, puppy, and blight.  

(Do you see what those deer did to my strawberries?)

We played dress up.  

Lots of it.
 

And some days we just chilled.

We were ragamuffins,

gardeners,

and daredevils.   

My girl got her ears pierced,
 

and turned 7!

We took swim lessons and spent many a' day practicing our skills in the river,

 

 

 

 Daddy taught us to shoot guns,

and made his little boy's dream come true...

 

We got a king sized bed (woo-hoo!) and the kids spent the next week making a fort out of the box.

 

The grandparents took us on an adventure,

and then we took them on one!



(she was such a good sport!  ha ha.)

Battles were won and lost,

and quiet was enjoyed.

I needed the break, and I'm not afraid to admit it.  But now...

back to work!

5 Years Old!

Yesterday Jackson turned 5.  We aren't celebrating until this weekend, but I took him to the beach for some alone time.  It was a sweet trip.

When we go out as a family, Jackson is usually so bursting with excitement that he'll run on ahead and I just do my best to keep up.  Yesterday I noticed that he walked alongside me and held my hand.  If he did go on ahead it was only a little and then would turn and hold out his hand for me and say, "C'mon, Mama."  Or he would realize that he had left me and come racing back.

He kept saying things that sounded so grown-up.
Things he never said when he was four.
He blew on an old dandelion and said,  "I think this is a wishing flower."  

I asked him if he should pray instead (as that would do a lot more good) and he said, 

"Yeah, that's what I mean.  I was praying that you would tell me about the glory of God."  

Ha!  Jeff has been talking to him about God's glory lately, so I knew he was just saying the first thing that came to mind that sounded important.  It was funny to hear his little voice say it, though!  Reminded me that he's not so little anymore.  And then I had to blink back tears.

But before I could think on it too much, he was jumping and calling to the birds,

acting little again!

I didn't want to leave!  It was one of those times that you think, "We need to do this more often!"

 

City Hall field trip