Oh Yes He Did...

 and he loved every bit of it...

I am not sure why we waited EIGHT YEARS to go on a vacation without the kids, but that will never happen again. If your hubby ever says "I'm totally getting a speedo" he might actually be serious. The day before we leave he goes to Academy and I was like "What?? You were serious?!" He was.

 It was hard taking pictures because it was really bright and his eyes were still super sensitive, but out of 200, I think we got a few keepers!! The self timer continuous shooting feature on my cheap camera came in super handy.

 A sweet couple who were friends of my parents 15 years ago let us stay in their condo on the Panama City Beach. It was absolutely perfect. Right on the beach and amazing weather. We had no plans and we only remembered to call the kids once.

 We ate breakfast and sometimes lunch in our condo in order to splurge a little on dinner. We had some sort of cream cheese filled stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon one day. Sounded strange but super delicious!

 We couldn't resist the dip n dots store close by. If it weren't logistically impossible, we would have bought a $50 gallon bucket of this stuff!! They had about 30+ flavors and we tried almost all of them. We had them put two different flavors in our cups each time. The best combo was banana split and cotton candy. Someone please bring this store here. I'll single-handedly keep you in business.

When I think about a year ago, it's just a miracle we even went on this vacation. I'm thinking the next one should be a cruise around Europe!! So blessed.

Art Camp and Theater Camp

Fine Arts Institute

Once again, we decided to try something new. No only to see if the kids were interested, but I needed child care as well! 

When Zane was at Art Camp, Avery went to GG's to have some girl time!

Zane got more excited about his work than I had imagined. He's so chill that he is rarely impressed with anything. I think he did amazing and enjoyed listening about every single piece!! I love the chalk moon and earth that we "have to be VERY careful with," but he was most proud of his "Really REAL looking" cup he drew! It looks real. If you missed that.

I guess I didn't get a picture of the clay bowl he painted, but I love the accordion book with characters hanging down with string!

Avery went to Theater Camp when Zane went to GG's for some sister-free time!!

She liked this camp a little too much I'm afraid. They had many different classes like improve, stage makeup, doing tricks (balloon animals and magic tricks), etc.

Her favorite was memorizing lines and acting them out. She did great remembering it all and it was fun watching! These kinds of productions are on my level and what I can handle! Unfortunately, I think her dreams are set higher where the waters are unchartered...and filled with alligators....

The kids loved these camps but I think it was more expensive than I prefer. I've already forgotten how much...and that's probably a good thing.

Chemical Peel Anyone??

 So this is what I look like without makeup...

 The kids found this lovely app that will show you what you will look like when you are 100 years old. That along with chemical peel Groupons popping up and screaming at me everyday caught me in a weak moment. I've never had one before and thought I'd give it a try.

HOLY. CRAP. IT. BURNED.

 The lady was like "you will feel a little burn, but it shouldn't be too bad." My face was straight up ON FIRE. She had to put a fan on full blast and hold it up to my face. Supposedly I got a fairly "light" peel of 15% and she goes up to 30-50%. How in the world can people do that?? 

These pictures are from when Wes and I went to a wedding 3 days later!! I looked like I was punched in the face over and over.

  It was a full week of looking crazy and that was with me soaking my face and constantly rubbing and peeling the skin off...which was against the rules.

I wish I had this awesome pic of me with perfect skin now, but I don't. Totally not worth it! You chemical peel lovers are INSANE and need psychiatric help!! I still have another session but I'm scared.

Here are some random selfies I found on my phone when doing this post...

 Zane's quote while watching me post this. "Haha. That was me thinking Yo, what's up"  

and I don't even want to know what she was thinking!

I guess this is another weird app?

 Crazy kids.

July Happened

Softball is finished! 

Like every year, at least three games and most practices get cancelled because of the weather. I think we might have to switch to EASI when the weather is a little nicer.

 Avery made it to first base almost every time and Zane did a great job catching! It was a very fun season to watch!!

For the 4th, we went to my parents and rode around in the back of PaPa's truck to see several different firework shows. They live out in the country and at one point there were three different shows on both sides of the road!! The weather was perfect. We'll definitely have to do that again.

Apparently we forgot to take any festive pictures except these beauties aunt Brittany painted...

This summer I have worked pretty much full time, so play dates were much less in number. However, the few we had were so much fun!!

I had another birthday. Here's to the last year in my 20's!!

When you put these three together, it's always entertaining! On a side note, my left butt cheek is still sore from bowling this past Saturday. Ouch!!

 I had the kids go to a 2 week program at a local elementary school. It was less expensive than paying a babysitter and it included breakfast and lunch and kids and activities. Pretty perfect in my book!! There were several different classes available but we chose "Kid's Just Want To Have Fun"

This is some of the things the kiddo's made in that two weeks!! One week was Ocean Theme and the other was Rainbow Theme. They made a shark t-shirt and also a Sharpie tie dye shirt. Great program!

I got tickets to Toby Keith's Tornado Relief concert. It was tortuously hot. I was thinking it would be from 3-6, so when a friend wanted me to paint at 6:30, I agreed! However, it started at 4 and I only got to see Garth and Trisha before I had to leave! Good thing I like the person I painted with... ;-)

To be continued...

Tried Something New

 Tennis Camp

Summer is the best time to try new things. If they hate it, they aren't stuck doing it for 8 long weeks. Last summer, Avery tried golf. She hated it. This summer, we thought we would try tennis. 

 I'm not sure it was super fun to them (it was a lot of learning the different ways you stand/swing), but at least they didn't hate it!

 Zane kept getting confused with lifting his front elbow instead of his back. However, he looks cute when he is concentrating!

 Avery actually caught on quickly and may have enjoyed it. It's not really a sport that brings a lot of enthusiasm with it, so it's hard to tell the difference between being totally bored and being a good tennis player!

  Zane thought correct form was completely overrated and figured he could get away with just pretending it was a baseball. He didn't really care about getting it over the net or lobbing it to a teammate. Forget about trying to be perfect, just swing as hard as you can and call it good!

We might actually do this again next summer. In the meantime we definitely should dust off our garage sale racquets and play tennis as a family sometime. If for no other reason than to ensure my arms don't become flabby, it will be worth it. 

OC Baseball Camp

The kids have enjoyed softball the past few summers, so I asked if they would like to try this camp. I have to work part time, so I thought it would work out well for all of us! 

It didn't quite turn out as planned. Avery turned out to be the only girl (after we were told there was others) and that is apparently a BIG DEAL.

After the first day, she cried the whole time saying it was hot, horrible, it wouldn't get better, she would hate it every single day, and she was NEVER going back. I just let her vent while I sounded empathetic.

The next morning she pretended to sleep in thinking surely I wouldn't make her wake up and endure such torture again. I did.

The coaches were great at encouraging her, pointing out her strengths, and making her feel like she was just as good as the boys!

She ended up having a great time. Of course, she couldn't admit it, but I could see and hear the confidence and excitement grow each day!

Her favorite was batting and she's pretty good at hitting it about every time. She ended up getting two awards and winning some baseball cards. She enjoyed rubbing that in Zane's face, but he recovered by buying (with his money) a Thunder plaque. I wish I knew how to slip this girl some emotional Xanax when it comes to being in situations where she feels inferior. She's naturally good at sports, but very self-conscious and self-critical. We'll have to work on that. 

Zane on the other hand has never been one to take things seriously.

If there is a race, he doesn't mind prancing and coming in last.

 He is more about the socializing, but I was able to capture a few shots of him in action!



He is cool and confident with wearing the same pair of pants everyday but is a tad sensitive when people call him a girl.

I'm pretty sure this kid would be fine with never playing sports, but I love how he is so laid back and will try pretty much anything.

Oh How The Years Go By

7 years ago

 I had a super happy baby that was sooo cute and tiny!!

 I now have this smiley crazy long haired wannabe rock-star 7 year old!

You have grown to be my little sweetheart! You started off the school year thinking you were smaller than most the kids and that girls were mean because they would chase you and pull your shirt. You now talk about girls quite often and you think you are one pretty cool dude. I love how you enjoy talking with a friend on the phone while playing math games online with each other. May all your phone conversations for the next 10 years be solely about math! I love how you will try anything, rarely whine, and will still give hugs and tell me how much you love me! I love you like crazy, even if you do forget to change undergarments, wear the same holey jeans everyday, hate combing your hair, and allow your sister to screw you over in absurd deals!

You and your birthday plans crack me up. You wanted a surprise chuck-e-cheese Thunder sleep-over birthday party with lots of friends and lots of decorations. You got the majority of what you wanted!

We had the friends meet at our house before going to chuck-e-cheese in order to yell surprise when you came through the door! Clearly, you weren't impressed...

You indeed got to see the mouse...

but were less than thrilled with only catching two tickets!

 I was only brave enough to invite 3 extra crazy boys to sleep out our house...

 and this was the extent of the Thunder decorations at your party!

 Oh wait, we found a bean bag and Rumble poster you made a few months ago!

I don't know about you, but that is the awesomest surprise chuck-e-cheese Thunder sleep-over party I've EVER seen...and I didn't have to drive anyone home at midnight, so it was a success!

Worst quote out of your mouth "I only have 9 more years until I can drive!"