I remember in elementary school having a "catch up" day once in a while in my AG class, which we jokingly referred to as "ketchup day" which I thought was hilarious. Since I'm so far behind, here's a "ketchup month" for June.
Our swimming is mostly limited to friends' pools or beach trips. So this is how we do "swimming" in the country. It always makes me laugh to see my kids playing in these buckets, but they have a blast. It's surprisingly entertaining. And I love their creativity.
We love our porch so much. And I love seeing these two sweet brothers on it. (Side note--Sometime after this picture was taken, the rocking chair Jay is in "got broken" and was burned in a grand bonfire in the backyard.)
Our neighbors had a company come out and cut down a tall tree in their yard. We called it free entertainment.
How often can I say how much we love our porch?
It's even better with these cuties.
Cory and Merry Grace had a fun night at the Daddy Daughter Diva Derby. It was basically a pinewood derby race for girls, without all the rules and regulations that come along with the cub scout one. It was super fun and these two won the whole dang thing. The Merry Mobile won "Most Expensive" due in large part to the added weight they added--a roll of quarters covered in hot pink duck tape.
We spent a fun dinner and game night at Ethan's house. Here's a picture of me and my girl from the night.
Paige likes to help me when I bake biscuits. I guess you can see how that turns out.
One weekend when Cory and Ian were on the Father/Son Campout, the girls, Jay and I went up to visit my parents. It was a lot of fun and we made a stop at Pilot Mountain to enjoy the view.
Since I took all the pictures, I made sure I got in at least one.
One of the highlights was this redneck, yet ingenious wagon that my dad put together for Jay. He'd gotten bored and restless and Papa made him a wagon with little more than a cardboard box and some duck tape. Jay loved it.
My cute Grandma J, the inspiration for Baby Jay's name.
We had dinner at Adam & Sydney's house one night and got lots of snuggles from Baby Sterling. The kids also played "3-2-1 Cockroach" with Uncle Adam. Yes, he may be in his mid-twenties, but he's still just a kid at heart.
In preparation for Father's Day, we made our own wrapping paper out of newsprint and some art supplies. Although this was just an accident, as we couldn't find the wrapping paper we had bought, it turned out to be one of the coolest parts of our Father's Day gifts. The kids' decorations were so adorable and really showed their love for their dad.
We made Cory a yummy breakfast for Father's Day and the kids took it too him in bed.
One of our gifts to him was a shirt honoring him and being a Dad to five. He loved this.
We took lots of pictures before church, but here's just one to represent them all. Cory with his sweet children. What a great dad he is!!!
Later in June, we went for an overnight trip to the coast. We love going to the aquarium and the butterfly room was a new addition. This beautiful butterfly landed on me and just sat there for the longest time.
The aquarium was so fun. We never get tired of exploring there.
The hotel is part of the fun. The kids loved drinking hot cocoa and watching a movie at bedtime.
We spent time at the beach, which is one of our favorite summer activities. Jay was fascinated by everything and loved being free to roam and explore.
We also made a trip to the battleship which was super cool and fun. Jay had fallen asleep in the backpack carrier and so I carried him around throughout the trip. It was super hot and there was a LOT of climbing involved, which was tough with the added weight and heat of the baby on my back. I would enjoy it more next time under a few different conditions.
After our trip, Elise had a sleepover with her cousins. These girls have been friends since they were born and I adore them all so much. The sleepover was a blast.
Sleeping with this sweetie? My absolute favorite.
