Serpent Mound

 Since my parents only live a few minutes from Serpent Mound we decided to head over on a beautiful afternoon to explore. I love the beautiful country out there. Just being out there makes my heart ache...I would love to own a house out there in the middle of nowhere! Here we are up on the platform looking down at the mound. I LOVE the way Kate is smashing Abby in this picture. Just cracks me up.

 We went on a short hike down to a creek. Kate was not sure about the mud. She kept talking about how the mud was scary and yucky. It was pretty funny, my kid is starting to turn into such a girl.

 Oh how I love hills and trees!!

And a priceless picture of Jon and Abby.  

Kate and Grandma. They are such best friends. I just love their relationship!

Just Hanging Around

 My girls just love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Kate literally won't let us hardly tough her while Grandma is in sight. It is the perfect vacation for us as parents!

 Kate loves the rocking horse that my Uncle Hoochie made for me when I was young. Her favorite was making it buck her all the way backward.

Good ol' Frishes. Always a must eat when we are home.  

 Grampy with the girls














Abby has really started to explore these days. She had a great time bouncing from one person to the next. I just can't get over her crazy hair!

Family Sunday

 On Sunday in Ohio my Mom and Grandma got the girls matching dresses to wear, and I happened to pack a matching dress without knowing it! But it made for a good photo op.

 And then Jon packed a black polo for his after church change of clothes!

 We had dinner at Grandma's and just hung out with everyone. Abby is a big fan of Grampy. Kate calls him Grumpy...which is just funny!

Kate, Abby, Bailey and Ally all in their matching black and white. Getting all these girls to look at the camera at one time is next to impossible.

Princess Cruise

 While we were visiting in Ohio my Aunt Amy had a great idea of taking the girls on a Princess Cruise on a riverboat. Kate had a blast! The kids were all dressed up and had a dance party with a bunch of princesses. As an adult I got fairly bored--but it was magic for the kids, and that is all that matters anyway! This picture of Zach is to document his commitment to Granny. We forgot her camera in the car and even though it was pouring he diligently went all the way back for her. He was SOAKED!

 Kate found her Prince Charming in Uncle Zach. She had a blast spinning around the dance floor with him.

 Abby was a fan of dancing around too, especially with Amy!

 Granny with Abby. I think they totally look related here, maybe it's the cheeks!!

 Kate also had fun touring the boat, she enjoyed exploring.

 The Princesses on the cruise were quite comical to me. These first two weren't bad, Cinderella and Belle.

 BUT Snow White and Little Mermaid made me laugh. It was a bit of a trailer trash version of those two. Kate didn't mind though.

 Kate, Bailey and Allie had fun dancing with the princesses.

 Checking the boat some more. It started out a really rainy day, but by the end it was quite nice.

Ohio Vacation

We were able to take a 10 day vacation to Ohio to visit my family this summer. It was just what the doctor ordered. However, getting there was tiring. To save money on plane tickets, our flight left Houston at 6am, meaning we had to load up the kids in our car at 2:30am to get there on time. Surprisingly the kids were amazing, they didn't sleep at all on the ride there, and didn't nap till the second flight at around 9am. Both kids didn't cry at all on the plane. I have to mark it as a huge success. As evidence by this picture, the kids were happy and ready to go when we landed in Ohio- Jon and I, not so much.

Overall spending some time away from the stress of work and everyday life was priceless.

My Crazy Life

Life has been quite a whirlwind around here lately. We have our house on the market and are planning to move to Galveston TX for Jon's job. I can't say I'm excited. Beaumont has become my home. I'm really sorry to leave it, but we are ready to have our family back together again. Having Jon commute for a year now is not working for us. But while we wait for our house to sell and figure out the details of life, life with the girls is as crazy as ever. These two certainly keep me busy! Kate is proving to be quite helpful when it comes to helping me keep the house clean. That has been a great help with trying to show the house. Hopefully my next post or so will be about selling our house and what our new place will be like in Galveston!

Swimming Lessons finished

 Kate with Benson Czuba and Mason Ruggles, her classmates for her second round of swimming lessons. Those boys are just too cute!

 The whole crew with their awesome teachers. Derek, Rebecca, and Zachary White. They are so great with kids! Shauna has done an awesome job raising her kids, they are wonderful! I hope to someday be half as great a mom as she is.

10 months

 Around here, this is what 10 months looks like on Abby. I hope its just teething...but we spends lots of time yelling and crying. In addition to Abby turning 10 months old today, she got her first tooth two days ago. This girl does not like to be uncomfortable. She isn't shy about telling you when she is unhappy. But she is so funny, she loves to laugh. She will just about fall over if Chance comes near her. Her favorite is when he gives her his toys...she will wave them in the air and squeal in laughter. She is an animal lover. And I adore her hair, the perfect spirals just kill me. The girl will not keep her eyes open for a picture...so this is all we get!

Chillaxin'

Abby was cracking me up with the way she was hanging out in the shopping cart today. One leg and arm stretched out, totally at her leisure. *She wasn't sleeping, just the slow camera..

Swimming Lessons

Kate has been taking her second year of swimming lessions. She has definatly matured since last summer! She actually sits still for most of the class. Its fun to compare. She is still having trouble putting all the elements of swimming together. She is great at floating on her back. Her worst is keeping her face in the water. She will put it in for a second then pick it up and sink. Its pretty entertaining. But that being said she is improving. We are currently on her second class of the summer, so maybe by the end of summer she will be mostly swimming on her own.