Daddy's Girls

We are getting some unexpected cousin time with Austin and Josey this week. We aren’t happy about the reason they are here (Rachel’s Daddy is in the hospital and had to have stents put in his heart and she’s staying with her Mom) but we are always glad for the extra time with them.  They stayed at our house Thursday and Friday. We went to see Spirit on Friday and had some play time, but didn’t swim very much because Katie had an ear infection.  On Saturday, I met Yaya and she took all 4 of them for 2 nights at the lake. They swam (Katie’s 48 hours of no pool was up.), jumped off the deck and Capn, Chad and Wesley took Lillian and Austin knee boarding for the first time. We decided the doctor may have cleared Katie for the pool but it was probably still too soon for the lake after she mentioned it was hurting after jumping from the deck. She’s already asked when we can go back so she can have a turn. On Saturday, Matt and I were pretty lazy. So on Sunday, he came to a showing w...

I don’t know how we’ve lived in this house over a year and Monday night was the first time the girls have had a night swim. They thought it was very fun even if they did get a little scared once it got really dark. 😉 It was a fun way to end the day after this mean Mama made them do worksheets from a summer bridge workbook that morning. 🙄 Matt had a milestone in his garden that day too when he picked his first tomato that weighed over a pound. He and the girls had been watching it awhile and it was exciting when they got to pick it.  Tuesday and Wednesday nights Britney and Bella were  here. Heather had to go to Houston for a few tests before she starts chemo next week so we kept them for a 2 night sleepover. We started by going to Peter Rabbit with Lily, Cadence and Bridget, and then came back and did A LOT of swimming. Other than a dinner break, they were in the pool from 5:30 to 10:30 Tuesday night. And Wednesday, they were in the pool from 10 AM to 9 PM except for maybe t...

Matt and I have both been blessed with some of the most amazing Dads anyone can ask for. They are always there for us and we can’t thank them enough for all they do for us and the girls. Because on top of being great Dads, they are great as Pops and Capn too! But I really have to brag on Matt who is the best Dad to our girls. God knew what he was doing when he made him a girl Dad. He seems to always be able to connect with them on something and they genuinely like spending time together. And not many Dads would have a picnic with their daughter’s lovey when she realized she forgot to bring her to Yaya’s house a few days ago so she wouldn’t worry she was lonely.  It’s the little things they will remember and he makes sure to have those little moments everyday. We love you Matt! Have a Happy Father’s Day! 

The cousins were only apart for a week after the beach trip before they were back together for the week of sailing camp. We met up Sunday at orientation and Lillian went back to the lake with Austin and ChaCha while Matt and I took Katie out to dinner just the 3 of us. But by Monday, Katie got some cousin time too when Josey came back to our house.  On Tuesday, we all met up at the lake house with “the Littles” for some pool time with Yaya.  On Wednesday, we had a sleepover in Vivian And on Thursday, Austin and Josey spent the night here while Rachel was in Plano (she had to work one day) Friday was the last day of camp and Hailey took “the Littles” to her house to play that morning  And then we met back up with them at the Yacht Club for lunch and to let the kids swim while we waited to go to the end of the week awards program. But of course the highlight of the week was sailing camp for “the Bigs.” They all loved it and are already talking about going next year. Katie s...

It’s our first week at home for the summer and we are taking full advantage of the relaxing time. I barely left the house but I wasn’t a total bum. I worked from home, Lillian had riding lessons (Katie’s allergies were too bad and she didn’t want to go this week) and I cooked everyday. Plus we did just enough fun stuff to not be bored.  On Monday, my Dad came in town to visit on his way to Arkansas for a fishing trip with friends. He stayed a couple of days but we left him for a few hours on Tuesday to meet friends at a movie. I didn’t do too much other than that really. Of course Matt had to work plus he had his garden that needed lots of work after being gone a week So we are going to have a chill weekend so he can get the rest the girls and I did this week.  We had some friends over this afternoon  but he and Dad (he stopped by again for a night on the way home) skipped the laying out by the pool and watching kids in favor of fishing shows in the AC. Tomorrow is sailin...

We got back today from a great week at the beach. The weather was great the whole time and it even got “almost” chilly some days. Not cold, but enough to where we had to get out from under the umbrella and in the sun. It was perfect and most of our last few days were spent sitting by the ocean reading a book (I read 5 through the week 😉) and watching the kids.  Chad, Rachel, Matt and I went to dinner on Wednesday night at our favorite place, Cobalt. It’s always delicious and a nice night out. We couldn’t resist taking some pics while we were dressed.  Yaya and Capn kept the kids and they got to go for a night swim. The kids loved the special time they had with them all week.  We left bright and early this morning so that meant we had to pack the car yesterday. We were all exhausted and thinking about skipping pics this year but surprisingly it was Lilli that talked us in to going down down for a few minutes. I’m so glad we did because we got some good ones!  We love...

When we booked our Dauphin Island trip back in November or December we were thinking there was no way we’d be doing a family trip this year. We were still social distancing and didn’t see it happening. Well, as soon as we all started getting vaccinated, Capn and Yaya decided it was time to look for a beach house too. We decided we had missed so much last year and the memories to be made were way more important than anything else, so we were going on both! 10 days after getting home, we were on the road again headed back to Gulf Shores for a week at Blue Heron. That storm that caused all of our bad weather the week before, made this water as blue and clear as we had ever seen it now. A quarter of America was traveling for Memorial Day so we decided to leave early Saturday. We couldn’t get in to the house until 4:00, so we met Yaya and Capn for a late lunch when we got in.  The cousins were so happy to get to hug on each other and Chad and Matt took them to play on the beach after Ya...