Dinner with the Smiths!

We finally got to hang out together with the Smiths. They came for dinner and Nola, Lily, & Madeline (Caitlin's friend's daughter-same age as Nola) got to play.
Madeline LOVED the tea party set!

Lily Paige chowing down!
She is too cute!

Nola is definitely ready for a sister (or brother!)
(Nothing on the way!)

Friends!

Smile!

After the kids went to bed the adults had fun playing Balderdash!
Damn Ryan wins every time!
Thanks for a great time!

Cooling off in the Summer!

We finally made our first mom's club event this summer! We were invited to have some Italian Ice at Rita's. Unfortunately there are no snowballs here, (we are hoping to start one when Nola is older) but it was tasty in the summer heat!

Playing around with some of the kids!

Nola & Kelly

(We met Kelly and her mom at My Gym and they joined the mom's club!-They are also going to be in school together in the fall. THAT'S RIGHT...I said SCHOOL! Nola will start at Hearts & Hands with Sydney, Kelly, Christopher, and two other kids. She will only be going on Wednesdays to start but I hope we can get her in two days a week. She is definitely ready! We are all SOOOO excited!)

Nola, Kelly & Billy

The lady working kept looking at us like she wanted us to leave but the kids were having a blast! Thanks for a great time!

Stroller Fit BBQ & MORE!

Carlye playing dress up!

Last Sunday my stroller fit workout group had a family bbq!
The kids had a great time playing together while the adults got to hang out and relax! Michelle, the host of the bbq, lives in the same town as Tereasa from Jersey Housewives, so after the bbq Jay & I did try to find her house. No luck but these houses are GORGEOUS!

Nola

Some of the kids playing on the stairs!

Ashley on Thomas the Train!

Christopher Dana

Thank you for a great time!

Bonus Video:


Nola has been REALLY testing us lately as some of y'all may have heard. Our perfect little angel seems to be replaced by this child.


AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

Vaca on The Farm!

Everyone headed to Nana & Grumps' farm for a week in July so we could all be together! We had a house full of people but we had a GREAT time just relaxing (the guys worked hard) and hanging out!

This is the famous Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We always visited it growing up and we had to get our picture taken...so we kept the tradition alive! It was Jay and Nola's first time. We saw cloggers dancing (including Tripp and Nola) but Dave got those pics, the mill where they make fresh cornmeal and grits, candle dying, an ironsmith and much more.

Mr. Tripp showing off his big guns!

Tripp & Jackson

"Oh yeah! Watch out! Here comes Big Guns!"

"My turn! My turn! I can do it!"

We celebrated the Wonder twins' 2nd birthday! They had a cupcakes, a piniata, and presents! They never get tired of singing to themselves!

(Check out my dad's shirt: "My Kids think I'm an ATM!" We gave it to him for Father's Day...isn't it funny!)

Jackson, Hannah, Malik
My mom's cousin lives across the street and some of her grandkids were in town so they came for the party!

"Yeah a new Kackkack! Thanks Aunt Sharon & Uncle Richard!"

Uncle Mikey & Aunt Brandi gave Nola a trunk full of dress up clothes.
Thank You!

The Princess is sleepy!

One afternoon we headed over to the creek to swim. The kids LOVED it! Mason & Jackson were skipping rocks while Tripp and Nola would run in and out of the water!

"Hey Mom, Look at my BIG rock!"

Tripp & Paran

Mason, Tripp, Nola & Camillia

Hanging out at the creek!

Nana & Grumps gave Nola & Tripp a ride on John Deere jeep for their birthday! At first they were a little scared but by the end Tripp could put it in reverse and drive around the whole lawn!

Thanks Grumps!

What do you have on a farm? CORN! Aunt Christy found the crowd pleaser and the kids spent hours playing in it! Great job Aunt Christy!

Even the big kids jumped in!

FUN TIMES!

Nola & Daddy on the tractor!

Swimming in the pool!

The last afternoon the kids made sure to do it hillbilly style. Hanging out on the front porch eating corn on the cob!

Thank you so much for a great time! Nola LOVED riding the four wheeler many times with her dad, feeding the cows, running around, swimming, and spending time with family. It was a nice surprise that my cousin Christy came with her boys and my grandparents, Grammie & Pipaw, came too! Thanks for the memories!

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Good Times!

Wednesday the Hannagans came over for a playdate. We made homemade pizza, went swimming, and had Denville Dairy ice cream for dessert. Can you tell John likes it?

I can't believe how big Liam is now...no more baby. Thanks for coming over guys! We had a great time!

After the Hannagans left we had another playdate at Ashley Egan's house. Unfortunately all of my camera cards are full so I didn't take any pics. (I deleted pics to get the ones below.)
Thanks Egans for a fun time!

We gave Nola a cutting puzzle for her birthday. (I had a flashback to my Montessori days when we cut carrots with a plastic knife and had to pass them around to our friends.) I showed Nola how to push down on the knife with her other hand to help her cut, but we need a little more practice. Look at her concentration! She played this for an hour!

SMILE!

Crazy Cheese!

We are packing up and heading to the farm tomorrow morning for the week!
Not sure if I will be able to update, but I will try!
See y'all soon!

Recent One-Liners:
"Mom, I wanna play with my friends!'
At play area: "Mom, you sit down. I wanna play with the kids!"

Family Day at Turtle Back Zoo!

This weekend we had gorgeous weather so we decided to enjoy it in our venture at the zoo on Sunday. This zoo is much smaller than the Audobon or Pittsburgh zoo but we had a great time!

Bison

The bird aviary was very cool. You can buy seed sticks and the birds will eat off of them. Very cool but we didn't get one because we were saving our cash for the train (which ended up being free). We'll have to do it next time!

"Mating" birds

Jay relaxing in the shade!

Nola & Daddy

Nola went with the pony people and waited her turn for a ride...

She made it as far as the steps and FREAKED...maybe next time!

She LOVED feeding the goats.
You can pay a quarter to get a handful of pellets.
Nola kept calling them pretzels and she laughed every time they licked her hand.

"More pretzels please Daddy!"

SMILE!

Family pic on the train!

(Nola knocked off my favorite $10 sunglasses while we were moving. I begged the guy to let me walk back to get them. After some pleading he let me go and I got them! Nola knows how to bring drama!)

How could I stay mad at this face?


We had a GREAT time and can't wait to go back!

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I finally went through Nola's birthday presents and boy did she make out. Here are some pics of her loot! Thanks again everyone for everything. This girl is sooooo spoiled!