Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

I've been looking forward to blogging about this summer because it was such a good one! We stayed home for most of the summer but still found ourselves busy with endless fun. It's hard to believe these kids are already back in school and I just have 1 baby at home. In this post I have lots of random photos in no particular order and then our summer travels at the end!

We hatched 2 rounds of baby chicks this summer using eggs we got from my in-laws. It was such an exciting process and the kids shared the joy with several friends who were also very excited! My favorite was a 13-year-old boy who sat there for half an hour with Thomas watching one of the chicks hatch. Fun for all ages!

Thomas has such a sweet heart and picks me flowers whenever he's outside.

Missing music class this summer so she "wrote" her own notes to play on her bells.

Ricardo found time to finish construction on the boys' treehouse. It's been pretty hot up there this summer but they've still spent many hours up there with their friends. 

We had one stomach bug circulate through our house this summer but Caroline was still her chipper self even while sick. She wanted me to take a picture of her when she was finally able to eat food having breakfast in bed.

On a rare occasion she will keep her shoes on!

Ana had surgery in June-ear tubes and removal of a little cyst from her forehead. She was a wreck immediately after anesthesia but fine by the time we got home. Much easier than Caroline's tonsils!

We had lots of fun beach days!

Ana LOVES the beach and had so much every time. She crashed on the walk to the car a few times:

Also lots of fun pool days with friends! Many more not pictured here.

Caroline had a sleepover at Ricardo's mom's house and so the boys and I checked out a local aquarium for fun while she was gone. They had a blast! They both commented on how much quieter the house was when she was gone, haha!

Ana was there too-pointing at all the things that caught her eye.

A few fun, sweaty park days:

Just a dentist with a canker sore trying to numb his pain. I don't think I could ever do this to myself.

Ana got a new toy and the kids love pushing her around.

"Babysitting" our friends' car for a few weeks:

We went and got my tires rotated and Russell came home and immediately made an imitation of a car lift.

4th of July! Gotta make the patriotic cookies every year!

Church breakfast and bike parade.

4th of July BBQ!

More fun in the treehouse!

One night they attempted a sleepover but we cut it short due to rain.

The kids got to meet their newest nephew! New babies are so fun.

The kids and I took a short trip to Jacksonville to see our good friends. More fun in the sun:

Ana had a blast boogie boarding in the tide pools with her friends.

Never-ending game of Risk:

Making deals:

After we came home we finally checked out the children's museum and all had fun! 

Ana turned 18 months and started going to the church nursery. She is getting used to playing with other little kids and not just big kids who let her have whatever she wants. It’s a process. 😊 Thomas was excited to get her ready on the first day. She always lays down on her back when it's time to put on her shoes, it's so funny.

Our Jax friends came to see us for a few days and it was great to have them! Ricardo took a day off and went to the local lagoon with us. The big kids had a blast doing an inflatable obstacle course with him and Caroline went down the slide so many times her legs were sore the next day.

Fun backyard photos were taken courtesy of my talented friend.

I love this action shot of Thomas catching a chicken!

We went to downtown Tampa the next day:

Russell has a new responsibility of planning and making dinner once a month. His siblings wanted to help this time.

Playing with friends on July 24 meant they got to make Pioneer wagons with us:

Barbie movie with friends! Fun to see the whole theater in pink.

I rarely see her asleep these days since I put her down awake and pick her up awake. There's just something about a sleeping baby.

Ricardo is very dedicated to his chickens and built them a new, bigger coop. He had to finish it all in one day so they had somewhere to sleep so he was up late one night in the dark finishing it. They love it!

Last week we went to Kentucky with my whole family for a fun reunion/trip! First stop was Mammoth Cave.

First real hike in awhile. The kids were excited to find the water!

Water park with cousins. Ana enjoyed the lazy river. Caroline is currently into the pouty face look.

Grandma managing all the babies.

More pouty face:

We went boating on a little pontoon boat. Unfortunately, we got a lot of rain but the kids had fun anyway!

We took a tour of a cute dairy farm and it was really interesting. My mom's grandparents had a dairy farm so cows are a fun family tradition. When at the dairy farm you have to have the ice cream!

Fun playground there:

Amazing corn maze!

Passed by the town of Russellville!

We went to the Corvette headquarters/museum and learned a lot! The kids got to design their own Corvettes.

Corvettes were born the same year as my dad!

So, naturally we threw him a 70s themed birthday party:

More fun on the water with jet skis and kayaks and swimming in the lake:

Cabin life:

We explored Nashville for a few hours before our flight home. We went to a fun family friendly country bar and the kids learned how to line dance a little with some free lessons after we ate.

My sister and her family aren't back to school as early as us so they came back to Florida with us for some more fun cousin times.

This precocious 4-year-old is headed to kindergarten and lost her first tooth the day before school started. She has been waiting for this day for months!

First day of K, 2, and 5th. I'm going to enjoy this year that they're all at the same school!!

Ana wanted her picture taken too.

And my last completely random picture, our first pineapple starting to grow!

Good luck to all who are headed back to school! Hope your summers were all wonderful!