July

July was a busy but really fun month.  My summer goal is to keep us all busy but not so much that we can't still relax and slow down.  These are my favorite pictures from the month...

Ben has continued tutoring all month and Alex and I find lots of things to do during that hour, but we still end up hanging out in the car together quite a bit waiting for the class to finish.

Casey has loved having the boys home because she gets lots more entertainment and attention during the day!

The boys did two weeks of intensive swim lessons and did great working on their strokes.

We've had some pillow forts and nerf gun fights.

We've also had some wonderful afternoons at the pool.  Didn't need the swim lessons to play in the baby pool, though!

We had to catch the circus when it came to town!

I think I get just as excited as the kids every year!  It's always been one of my very favorite events.

The kids and I made a road trip to visit Aunt Stacey's beautiful new house and hang out with the cousins again.

It's going to be a sad day when Ben can no longer wedge himself into this tiny car.  Maybe he'll find his calling at the circus himself one day...

 We loved swimming at Aunt Stacey's fantastic new neighborhood pool!

 

 

 Love seeing all four boys in the car!

 

The kids absolutely loved exploring some of the hiking trails and found a cool tree to climb...

...but even better was the muddy creek.

Muddy feet = happy boys!

 Our next stop was in Nashville to visit Scott and Lou Anne in their lovely new house as well!

 

We took the kids to the art museum with an incredible kids' floor.  They made their own stop-motion movies which were hilarious.  I think they would have stayed all day trying different effects and story lines.

Alex made a light saber on the printing press.

Scott and Lou Anne also bravely joined the kids at a trampoline park and a water park...it was a wonderful visit!

Back home, we got to enjoy one more visit with Aunt Stacey, Reid and Carter.  It was so precious one evening when Alex was reading to Reid before bed.

Carter was obsessed with the dog's crate and finally figured out that it was just his size!  This little guy cracks me up :)

The kids did VBS at Second Baptist and loved the superhero theme this year.  Reid even got to join in on the last day before they left.

 

We caught another Astros game but someone was unhappy with our seat selection.  The top section does not agree with a kid who's afraid of heights!  Luckily, some ice cream helped him relax and we got to enjoy a fantastic game, complete with a grand slam (the first I've ever seen in MLB!).

 It's hard to believe how quickly this summer is passing.  I love having the kids home with me but I know the day is quickly coming that I have to let them go back to school.  We still have lots of fun things planned before that happens, though...