Kindergarten Kid

Cam had a successful start to kindergarten!  Although it is obvious at times that he is his mother's child, he has done great with the adjustment to a new school and class.  More than ever before, I was actually excited about going back to school.  This is just how I pictured it as I was picking out my career all those years ago.  I love having my little guy with me! 

Tying shoes on the first day!  So independent!

All ready and all smiles!

New backpack

Headed to Kindergarten!

I now have a riding buddy and don't have to rely on the radio for company on the way to school.  And seeing him by surprise throughout the day is just the best!  We get to see each other everyday at lunch because his class comes in right after mine.  I love being able to check on him even when he doesn't know. 

"My class is this way!"

"Right down here, Mom and Dad!"

Found a hook for his backpack

Found a book to read

My sweet, sweet big boy!

He is so excited about learning already.  After the first few days, he was discussing books that he reads and making suggestions of ones I should read in my classroom.  I can't wait to watch all that he will learn this year. 

Made it through the first day and got to bring home a friend, Puff!

Looking forward to the best year ever! 

Sayonara Summer

At the very beginning of summer, I helped Cam make top-ten list of the things he was thankful for about summer. 

10 - Fishing

9 - Swimming

8 - Vacaction

7 - Wii

6 - Exercise

5 - Baseball

4 - Cousins

3 - Beach

2 - Staying up late

1 - Camping

We were able to enjoy all the things on the list and so much more.  I feel very blessed to have this time each year to refresh, renew, and reconnect with my sweet family.  It's bittersweet to think about moving on from this time.  Here is my top-ten lists of what I will miss the most about summer:

10 - Spending time with our favorite people

9 - Wearing comfy clothes everyday

8 - Making ordinary things fun with just an added twist

7 -Completing tasks that seem to get swept under the rug during the rest of the year

6 - Having time to cut loose

5 - Enjoying new places and sights.

4 - Having extra time to make messes and fully enjoy what we are doing

3 - Reading good books and playing games

2- Taking time to enjoy the the beauty that surrounds us

1 - Simply relaxing with a beautiful view

BabyLand General

Another item on my summer agenda was to take a trip to BabyLand General. We turned this trip into a girls trip (much to Tony and Cam's delight). We loaded up our princess and headed for the hopsital where the the babies grew in cabbages. Maeve was eager to get there and was looking for a field of cabbages all the way.

She finally found the cabbage patch!

Two new patch friends

Squeals and skips led us up to the doors of the BabyLand General Hospital. Maeve was looking in the windows and seeing the all the babies. We walked through the nursery and saw babies upon babies. "Ooowee! Look at this baby! He's so little! She's so cute!" were some of the things Maeve kept saying over and over.

"Let me get this baby's paci."

She was dashing from one cabbage to the next and wanting to love on all of the little babies. She was on pacifier patrol even in the patch.  She watched the mother cabbage deliver a baby boy at first, then a girl.  Perhaps the funniest part was when Maeve walked into the party room and sat down beside some of the bigger cabbabe kids who were having a birthday party.  When she sat, she said, " Hello friends!"  She pretended to have cake with them.  She also made us sing "Happy Birthday," and, of course, we did!

I think she would have picked up all of them if she had the chance.

Maeve sat down at this party table like she had a personal invitation.

We decided on a bigger kid for her so that she could show her how to use the potty.  So, after much searching, we finally found the perfect one to adopt.  Welcome to the family, Marylou Anna! 

Marylou is headed home with Maeve

Maeve and Marylou have the same initials. 
It works perfect for to be able to pass down her monogrammed outfits!

Build A Bear, A Bunny, and A Bean

When I realized Build-a-Bear had a brown dachshund to build this summer, I made it my mission to take my two this summer.  We made it a fun trip with Brenna. 

Taking home their new friends

I had plugged Maeve to want to build a dog like CoCo, so she had no trouble picking out her flopsy, no-stuffing shell of a dog and getting busy with the building.  When it was time to name the dog, Maeve was stuck on CoCo Bean.  So, now we have a live CoCo and a stuffed one.  The stuffed one doesn't mind being dragged around with the leash quite as much as the real one does. 

Maeve squeezing her CoCo Bean

Cam, his mother's child, had a difficult time deciding what he wanted.  At first he thought maybe he was too big to build a stuffed animal.  He had decided on just an angry bird.  But, then when he realized he had the opportunity to dress his animal in a Georgia football uniform, he decided on a  cute bear he named George.  The best part about George's uniform is that his helmet comes off.  Cam has had a great time pretending with George. 

Cam and George the Georgia Monkey

Brenna fell in love with a floppy eared bunny she named Bella.  Of course Bella got an Oconee blue cheerleading outfit.  I can picture her now dragging Bella to all the games this year. 

Brenna with Bella Bunny

Can you tell which one is the real CoCo?

Yes.  They are just another stuffed animal to add to the collection, but I hope that building them and bringing them to life will open up a whole new world of imagination that these stuffed things can bring.

Summer Sightings

Just a few sights that let me know it is summer for sure.  Sweet summertime!

Watermelon

Flag

Popsicles

Hydrangeas

Chillaxin'

Floating

Sail Away with Me....

What better way to celebrate ten years of marriage than to have an anniversary cruise with our best buddies who will also be celebrating their tenth year in a couple of months.  We had too many double dates to count with Marc and Hillary so it seemed only fitting that they should joing us for a moumental anniversary.  In the words of Dolly and Kenny, "Sail away with me to another world..." is exaclty what we did.  Three days of just relaxing and enjoying each other.  Kind of like the pre-marriage days were....no responsibilities, no children, no alarm clocks! 

Bahama Mamas

The Meelers

The McCullers

A little bit of paradise

Julie-n-Hillary VBFF

We found dates that would work for all of our schedules and booked it back in April. It kind of snuck up on us and felt surreal as we rode down to the port without having to pull over for emergency potty breaks or to entertain someone who was getting cranky.  We quickly settled in to a "cruisin'" routine and knew exactly what decks served the food!  We ate more than we ever have in our lives, laughed a whole lot, and made more memories to tell stories about for the next ten or so years! 

We are thinking that an anniversary of the anniversary cruise is definitely in store! 

3, 2, 1, Lift Off!

I've been a bit of a space geek this summer.  While in Daytona, we took a day and went to the Kennedy Space Center.  It was stifling hot, but we hoped to inspire a little person in our company with a bit of imagination about discovery and science. 

Then, we we found out our anniversary cruise would be boarding on the the same day as the final flight of Atlantis, we decided at the last minute to leave in time to see it.  Actually, I had wanted to go all along, but didn't want to pressure anyone into leaving early, especially since it's never a sure thing depending on the weather.  Since I had only experienced launches on tv, I wanted to be able to see it with my own eyes just once.  Luckily, Marc and Hillary really love me, so they agreed to jump in the truck and head on down a night before we had planned. 

We arrived at the port with just minutes to spare.  We didn't know where to park to watch it as there were tons of people stopped on the side of all the roads.  There were boats riding in from the ocean to see it.  That in itself was something to see.  We didn't want to be stuck in traffic and not be able to board our ship on time.  So, we go all the way to the port (a full two hours before boarding time) and find a spot in the parking deck.  Much to our dismay, we found out that they were already boarding the ship.   We didn't have time to go through the check-in process and get onboard before the launch.  If we had known about the early boarding, we would have made it in time to board the ship so that we could have watched it from the top deck.  Instead we positioned ourselves in a window of the parking deck. 

Being a "live launch" rookie, I didn't know what to expect. There was no countdown in real life, so all of the sudden the onlookers start to cheer. I see smoke from the launch pad, but I don't see anything else. I couldn't believe what was happening. I had gone out of my way to see this and drug my husband and bffs with me. In all the hustle and bustle to see it, I had a sudden fear that I was missing it. I called out in desperation, "I'm missing it!" Being the rock that she has always been, Hillary pointed my eyes to the right spot so I wouldn't miss the historical event. Phew! What would I do without her. Turns out I was seeing it, I just wasn't sure that the billowing white clouds was "it."I finally found the glowing orange flame that was pushing the shuttle and was able to watch it until it went behind the clouds. It wasn't until then that we finally heard the rumble and roar of the engines powering the object into space.

Julie:  "I'm missing it!"
Hillary:  "It is right there....the big orange glow."   

The smoke that followed the glow.
This is when we could finally hear the rumbling. 

The smoke over the boarding area for the cruise ship

Thanks for giving me this experience and for being such good sports about it.  I do try to hide my geekiness most of the time.  I know it definitely shined through for this event!  Thanks for loving me despite of it.  

From one out-of-this-world experience to another!