Swim Team

We had a great summer swim team season swimming with our "cousins." At the awards ceremony- Addie even escorted Molly up to get her trophy. Ha! Chris has done amazing and will swim in the All-Star meet a week from Saturday. At the end of the regular season, he was ranked first in freestyle and second in backstroke for the entire ODSL swim league consisting of 25 teams in Loudoun County for his age group. We are sooo proud of him- Go Speed Racer, Go!!!

Playdates...

We continue to have playdates... and the older boys in the neighborhood are so sweet to Chris and include him. Parents were present for this... but in case you are bored- Mentos inserted into a 2 liter coke create quite an explosion. I missed it... but here is the aftermath. Never a dull moment around here.

City Life

We made a trip down to see Todd and Sarah's new place this week and it was a whole different world! The kids loved it and now think Mage and Jack have the best house ever. It would be nice to have doors opened and to be catered to- Ha! They moved to the Kennedy Warren and it was amazing. It's less than a half a block from the zoo- so Brendan and I decided to take all four kids to the zoo!!!!

Can you tell that it is four princes and a princess- Addie is a little spoiled.:)


We enjoyed the zoo and then had frozen yogurt... and then played city games. No- we weren't in a hotel- that is a cart Todd can use for groceries, etc... The kids made up a game, "I'm a suitcase."



And here a a few pictures of their place- Sarah is nine months preggo and this is 2 days after the movers dropped their stuff off. All of their artwork, etc. is still at their old house- but doesn't it look amazing already!!!! Not fair!!!




It was a fun day- and we had an even easier night... Lights out!:)

Here comes the... flower girl!!!

Funny story... So, we are all sooooo excited for J.D. and Rebecca to get married. I have always loved Rebecca and she's always been really close to my kids... I knew that she had already asked the girls in her wedding party- and one night at the beach we were going over wedding stuff- and she even had a file titled "flower girl" that she never opened in front of us. I almost even said to Brendan, "It must be someone on her side that is the flower girl- but I always thought she and Addie had a special bond!" Ha! Then, later in the week, J.D. and Butt Butt as we call her called Addie up to the kitchen and had a whole little ceremony asking her to be their flower girl. It was soooo sweet- Read the book below! They also made sure not to leave Chris out (so sweet). We are so excited and honored that Jackie's kids think so much of our kids... And of course I cried.:) Addie is super excited and keeps saying, "And this time, no throwing up!"... She was also Lauren's flower girl- she made it down the aisle- but five minutes after the ceremony, She puked purple throw-up all over her dress and had to go home- poor girl- She still remembers it! Fingers crossed- she is happy and healthy next June 30th!!!

My Babies...

Let's just say I gave the kids off this year from beach pictures. The kids would wake up early and play with Daddy- letting Mommy sleep in... We'd then rotate from the beach to the pool with breaks to eat for the entire day. It was soooo easy and fun this year! By nighttime, the kids were ready to crash- so we never got dressed up or really out of our swimsuits!!! We had the easiest vacation ever- especially since both kids can swim! Chris did play mini golf with Daddy and Addie got a "beach braid" like Mommy did when she was a kid... but besides that, it was sun, sand, and surf!... And I hope to do it again for many years to come!

Poor Averey

Every year- whether he likes it or not, I make Averey come down to the beach so I can "play" photographer... This year- he is more handsome than ever- and I didn't think that was possible- so excuse the million pictures- but does he not look like a Hollister model? And of course there are some of Addie making some moves on her boyfriend Jake. Jake fit right in with the family- I started making him pose for pictures and he looked like I was crazy- and then Averey said, "Just do it, she's going to make you!" Ha! Love that boy.:) I hope that Chris is as sweet as he is when he grows up.:)

Pahina~ My Paigie K...

She's a Wild One... With an angel's face...

I love my Paigie K- and every year I can't believe how much older she has gotten... She will be a senior in college this year!!! She's the free spirit of the family- that's for sure- and I love her so much.:) She is so good with my kids... She took naps with Addie, played on the beach with the kids, and made me laugh all week.:)





Don't laugh... I went to the Mexican dollar store to get glow sticks... and they were these huge foam sticks... they did glow though- Ha! We joked that it looked like we had sex toys on the beach!

Tradition: The Dunes...

Most of the gang at the beach don't find the annual trip to the Sand Dunes as cool as we do- and we will never tire of it... The kids will be 18 and we'll still be making them do the running of the Dunes. I love it.:)