Cocoa Beach!

We went to Cocoa Beach on the Thursday of our week in Florida! 

I love getting carefree shots of the kids playing in the water! 

 No idea what L was doing here but she was cracking us up! 

 We spent probably 3 hours at the beach. We were all really tired from Hollywood Studios the day before so just a few hours felt perfect to all of us! We packed a lunch and ate it and some tables set up by the parking lot before we left.

I couldn't believe I found all 4 of kids' names (C's middle name) on these little surf boards at a shop on the beach! All the right spellings too! I didn't see a reason to buy them but had to get a pic because this was definitely a first! 

After the beach we just headed back to the AirBNB for the evening since we would have to be at Lego Land bright and early the next day! 



You can find all the posts about our first trip to Disney/family trip to Orlando here. Lego Land coming up! 



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Joining The Happy Now Blog Link-Up and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop today

Busy, busy and lots of changes

So much has happened in the last several weeks! 



The three older kids started school in early August, S and I flew to Texas for a few days to visit family. My mom flew back home with us and ended up staying almost 3 weeks. 






All the kids' fall activities have started up. C turned 9 in mid August and I had a birthday in late August. Then the day after my birthday.. the day my mom was supposed to fly home... my husband had a heart attack! He is okay for now (more on all this later) but our lives were turned upside down during the week he spent in the hospital and things are just starting to get back to normal (new normal) around here. My mom ended up staying an extra week.. I don't know how I would have managed without her. We also decided to move back to Texas to be closer to family... although we probably won't move back until May. 



So, things have been crazy!! Our weeks are busy, busy, busy with three kids in two different elementary schools across town from each other, Girls On The Run, baseball, choir, soccer, American Heritage Girls, working at church and much more!! We had to cut out dance this year with everything else we have going on and may cut out Trail Life. 



Our first Disney trip is coming up in about 6 weeks! The kids are super excited and I'm having fun planning everything! Any and all Disney tips are welcome! 



I've gotten so far behind... I'll try to catch up on everything in the next few posts.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Last week was busy!

The older kids were at Camp In The City every day from 9 to 4. Then the little girls had VBS from 6:30 to 8 every day except Friday. All the kids loved their camps and VBS! We went a little crazy going to so many Vacation Bible Schools this summer. It was fun but I'm glad it's over!

The little girls finished up with a program at VBS Thursday evening. Each class sang a song on stage. The girls were adorable, of course!! (Videos on Instagram). S was in the first grade class with one of her bestfriends. They were sooo cute to watch together!! 



Wednesday morning we met some friends at a movie theater to watch Happy Feet! Several theaters around here offer free or $1 movies throughout the summer. The kids loved the movie!

I worked out four days in a row last week. The older kids and I took a long walk with our sweet puppy Wednesday evening. 

Friday morning I went through Starbucks drive-thru after dropping off the older kids at camp. The little girls begged for a frappucino of their own so we compromised by asking the barista to give them sample sizes instead. They loved it!! Afterwards we had to make an unexpected stop at Walgreens. They walked in barefoot, in their jammies, drinking their mini frappucinos. I wish I had taken a pic.. they looked so cute! 

Friday afternoon Camp In The City wrapped up with a little program. The college kids who came in to work as counselors had SO much energy... even after a week of camp they were jumping around and looking all energetic ha! I wish I had half their energy! 

Friday evening we had another Sip N' Dip at the community pool! They served pizza for dinner. We got there a little late but in plenty of time to enjoy dinner and swim for a while then the older kids helped us fold up chairs and tables and clean up afterwards. I love how they pitch in and work hard at community events.. just wish I could get them to always work that hard at home too!

They actually DO pitch in pretty well at home.. when they want to. Saturday C helped me mow the lawn, weed the flower bed, trim trees and bushes and haul everything to the curb. S helped a lot too!! I sweated so much working outside yesterday I thought I was going to faint. I probably overdid it a bit but I'm really happy to have the lawn mowed, front flower bed weeded and most of the side flower bed weeded as well. I wish I had taken some before pics. We've lived here over a year now and I think this is the first time I've touched the flower bed. I've definitely got to do better! I actually love yard work but just never got around to dealing with this stuff until yesterday. I'm looking forward to planting a few more plants and some flowers. I want monkey grass or something low maintenance out by our mailbox too. 

After a busy work day Saturday I just stayed home and relaxed all day yesterday. J took the kids to church and I stayed home, relaxed and puttered around. I ended up having cramps and feeling migrainey so it was nice to stay inside, watch Hulu and not have to sweat. We didn't have life group yesterday afternoon either so it was a nice, long lazy day. 

Today the kids and I stayed home most of the day. This is the last week before school starts and we plan to enjoy sleeping in while we can! I accidently forgot all about the two older girls eye appointments this morning.. we all slept right through it ha! 

The three older kids all got their teacher assignments today! They're so excited! And C found out he is on the same baseball team with one of his good friends from school so that was great news too! 

Easter!

I totally forgot to post about Easter. We did a low key, indoor Easter egg hunt at a small church nearby on Saturday, the day before Easter. 

The girls enjoyed getting their faces painted!

And Easter Sunday after church! Their outfits were all over the place this year ha!! S is in a play dress because she hates dresses and I didn't want to spend money on something fancy that she wouldn't want to wear. I prepared her days in advance that she would be wearing the dress above for Easter. And L insisted on wearing a hand-me-down dress from her cousins both Saturday for the egg hunt and on Easter Sunday.. so I had to wash it Saturday night. I didn't even bother with sandals for the little girls this year. S is going through a picky, picky, picky stage when it comes to shoes. She only wants to wear those light-up Paw Patrol tennis shoes from Wal-Mart ha! And L needs more expensive shoes. I haven't gotten her good supportive sandals this year.. still searching for a good, affordable pair that she can wear with inserts. So anyway.. both girls ended up in tennis shoes and dresses this year lol! C only wears tennis shoes despite having a nice pair of leather sandals that he won't touch. Anyway, here is a look back at a few Easters.

 J's first Easter, 2009

C's first Easter, 2011

2017, right before we moved to North Carolina (Side note: Someone stole that bench off my front porch not long after this. Still makes me angry. I loved that bench!)

2018, Our first Easter in North Carolina

Afternoon at the park by the lake

We went to a park by the lake with friends last Thursday. There were 9 kids, all under ten, between both of our families! My friend and I were so busy chasing kids around we hardly had time to visit. As soon as our van doors opened the older 8 scattered in 8 different directions ha! We had a great time though!! This was our first trip to the lake this year. Last week was spring break for C. We didn't do a whole lot so this was a fun outing for him. At least he got out one day. We wanted to go to Boone on Friday but it rained up in the mountains all day so we had to cancel. 

Of course C had to climb this tree that hung over the lake. I had to stop S from climbing up right behind him ha! 

L with her little friends. They were so cute together! 

After we left the beach area we drove through the park over to the playground. S was so excited to get to sit in the front seat for a few minutes ha! 

One of our little friends' was so excited to ride in our van with L for a few minutes. So cute! 

We had such a fun time and were worn out when we left. My younger three took long naps that afternoon and I got a migraine and had a long nap myself. So much fun though! We can't wait to go back!