Summer's Here

Just a warning....this is a long one..

Well Summer's here and we've had a mix of crazy busy and being bored out of our minds...well the kids are bored and driving ME out of MY mind. Late May, we went to our friend's pool and playground. Kevin was not a big fan of the water, so he went to play on the playground. He decided to climb up the curved ladder and did great until he got to the top. At this point it was more horizontal than vertical. He was too scared to go any further...."MOMMY!!!!!" You would think this would be a good enough deterrent so that he would not do it again. You would be wrong. He did it again. "MOMMY!"
Later that day Caroline had swim lessons and Kevin took it easy on the lounge chair - catchin' some rays.
That weekend we took a family trip to the zoo...here's our classic shot on the elephant trunk! Caroline's almost too big now.
It was a hot day, so I gave in and bought some shaved ice. Yummy. It was so good, I had to get one for myself too. Kevin made me reminiscent of our old Dairy Queen days in Iowa. Patrick eating slowly... making a mess... Dad yelling...Aah, the good old days. For Kevin, I finally dumped it into a cup and let him drink it from the straw. Wonder if that would have worked for Patrick's ice cream cone?
Then it was time for the Conlon brigade to arrive at our house. Caroline had been begging to make a lemonade stand and had made signs and price sheets weeks ago. I finally gave in and let them set up when Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Susan, and Uncle Brian were getting close. They sold them each a cup!
On Friday we headed to St. Augustine. First we walked around the historic area and visited some of the shops. Then went back to the car and stopped outside the Fort. Kevin got a ride on Uncle Brian's shoulders.
Nice picture of the family.
Caroline and Uncle Brian had fun running up and down the hill. Go Caroline...you can beat that slowpoke Uncle Brian!
Then we headed over to the Conch House for lunch. We got to sit in a tiki hut on the water.
We saw lots of fish jumping out of the water and even saw 2 dolphins right in the marina playing. It was so cool!
Then we headed to the St. Augustine lighthouse. Aunt Susan, Uncle Brian, Caroline and I climbed to the top. 219 steps up and 219 steps down. Oh, I hurt for 2 days afterwards! Kevin was too short to climb up, so he had to stay down with Grandma and Grandpa. I guess I should be thankful for that. I would have probably had to carry him. 36 lbs up 219 stairs and 36 lbs down 219 stairs. No Thank You!
Kevin went exploring in the meantime with Grandma and Grandpa and found this rowboat. When we came down from the lighthouse, he showed us. The 3 youngest stopped for a rest and photo.
Saturday we headed to the beach. We had a great time playing in the sand, riding the waves, and taking walks. We had a great visit and wish it was longer. Hopefully we will see everyone soon!
After everyone left we went blueberry picking with some of Caroline's friends. The kids picked lots of blueberries. Funny thing is that none of us even like blueberries. It was just something fun and different to do. I did get a recipe for a blueberry crumble that was amazing. Tom and I gobbled it up. I guess if you add enough sugar, pecans, pineapple, etc., blueberries really can be tasty!
Of course Kevin got bored/tired/hot of picking blueberries after a while and went to find a place in the shade...
while Caroline kept plugging away.
On June 9th, Caroline lost her third tooth. It had been hanging there. She went golfing with Daddy and came home screaming. I guess she touched it in the car and it started bleeding heavily. We went into the bathroom and got a wet washcloth to put on it. When she took the washcloth off, her tooth came with it.

Silly Face!
We had a bunch of days where I was just being plain old LAZY! The kids were losing their minds, so I got a blow up pool down from the attic. I had bought it 2 years ago and never took it out of the box. The kids had a ball. Kevin had to try out Caroline's much to big snorkeling gear.
"No Mommy, I'm not shooting at you!" (actual words)
Caroline's 4th tooth was just hanging. I really don't know how it was still attached at this point...

But later that day...#4 came out on June 14th. The tooth fairy was busy at our house that week.
Mia came over one afternoon and the girls showed off their "Deep South Mouths". Look Ma, no teeth!

Last week Caroline had golf camp. She did great and even got invited to the Advanced Camp later in the summer. She had so much fun and Daddy is going to take her out on the course for the first time on Sunday. She can't wait! Caroline had soccer camp this week, but had to miss the last 2 days because she got strep throat. Doesn't she know the rule...No getting sick in the summer!
We found a little farm stand up the street and got a watermelon. One of Kevin's favorites! Mmm yummy... but maybe we should have eaten this outside. Dribble, dribble, drip, drip, drip.
When the kids were supposed to be eating their lunches the other day, I left the room for a few minutes and came back to this. Kevin, your girlfriends are going to be laughing hysterically while you slink back in embarrassment when you get older. So many good photo ops. Don't blame me, blame your sister!
For Father's Day I made Tom his favorite, Chicken Francese. I always put out extra lemons for him. Lately, Kevin seems to hate chicken that doesn't come in nugget form. He will either refuse to eat it, stating early on "I don't want dessert, actually." ("Actually" is Kevin's new favorite word), or he will chew one piece for 30 minutes. How does it still exist? I don't know. Kevin saw Daddy sprinkle lemon on his chicken, so he did the same. He gobbled up his chicken and even asked for more. I call that one successful dinner.
Thanks for putting up with me and my erratic posts. I will try to do better about updating this more regularly.