4th of July

Warning:  Picture overload ahead!  We had a great time at my parents for the Fourth of July.  For the first time in years, the pool water was great and there weren't fires so we could breathe outside while we were there!  We enjoyed getting in the pool EVERY DAY at least once, and spending time going to the zoo and two sets of fireworks!

Gavin and Rachel both LOVED the pool!

Zoe loved the pool, too!

We all headed to Grassfield High School on the 3rd to watch fireworks there!

We went to the Norfolk Zoo, too.  It was a little hot, but we all had a great time.

Gavin had a good time, too!

Yes, this was a real sign!

Even the giraffes were hot!

Kim said Brent and I were definitely siblings... you couldn't tell, could you!?

Alli was getting a little hot at the end of the day!

What little girls... playing in the leaves and dirt!

Mom, Dustin, Rachel, and I went to Norfolk for fireworks on the 4th.  Dad's knee was hurting him (he had surgery scheduled the next morning!) so he stayed home with Gavin.

Derecho

I had never heard of a "Derecho Storm" before...

On Friday night, Dustin and I were just hanging out watching a movie while the kids were sleeping.  All of the sudden, we heard some sort of a bang.  We have been doing some painting and other work around the house and I thought maybe something fell upstairs.  Then we looked out the back window and the trees were blowing all over the place!  Dustin grabbed his phone and tried to look at the radar, but it wasn't coming up fast enough so he said just to grab the kids and get in the basement.  You don't have to tell this momma that twice!  I ran upstairs and grabbed Rachel while Dustin got Gavin (and a flashlight).  We all ran down to the basement , with the dog at my heels the whole time!  The power kept flickering and the radar just showed a huge line of red coming at us.  Dustin ran upstairs a few times to check on things, but the kids and I stayed down with the dog.  And just as a side note, as crazy as Zoe can be and as much as she can drive us crazy, she's a GREAT dog!  All I had to do was say her name and she was right at my feet with both kids in my lap.  

As soon as things calmed down a little, we headed upstairs to check things out.  The kids stayed in the living room for a little since I was still a little nervous and the power was still flickering.  

Dustin may have found a few pieces of siding on the street and brought them in while the wind was still blowing (not nearly as hard) so we wouldn't lose them completely.  

The next morning we found out that we had hurricane force winds that night.  We were very "lucky" and really didn't have any damage.  We found all the siding and Dustin was able to put it back on pretty easily.  We did spend about 5 hours Saturday morning cleaning up the yard though.  We never really lost power, but cable is out.  

We ended up being without cable/internet until Tuesday.  But that is nothing to complain about... some people were without power for 10 days!  And of course we were in a major heat wave at the same time, so more pop-up storms were happening nearly every night.  Some people would regain power then lose it again that night, or never lost it in the first storm, but lost it 4 days later- it was crazy!  The power company was doing a great job under the circumstances though!

Gavin- 4 months!

4 months, and what a big boy!

Height- 25 in.- 47%

Weight- 14lb 10oz- 34%

Gavin is growing and doing so much now!  I am so happy that we are able to be home now for the summer to experience these milestones with him!  

He is now "eating" some foods!  Yes, most of it ends up all over his face and bib, but we're getting there.  He likes cereal, peas, peaches and pears so far!  We can't wait to introduce more foods to him.  Hopefully I will be able to make some food for him, too!

All that eating wears me out!

What a happy boy!

Can I help you with something?

7 years...

... and no itching going on here!

No seven year itch for us!  I think I'll keep him!  It's hard to believe that we've been married for seven years- what a wild, fun, crazy, exciting time it's been.  I'm so glad this man decided that I got to be the one to spend my life with him.  He's such a fun and hard-working guy.  I love his laugh, his smile, that dimple, his hugs and kisses, his company and so much more.  We have been through moves, job changes, new cars, 2 pregnancies (he deserves a medal for sticking with me through those!), and so many other life events I can't even keep up with them all.  I may be biased, but I think we're a pretty good couple!  I can't wait for all the adventures yet to come.  Love you Dustin!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!  We headed down to South Carolina to spend some time with the McCollums.  We spent the weekend with Dustin's parents then on Tuesday helped Benji and Katie move into their first home!  (We figured we owed him... he's helped us move and do manual labor more times than I can count!)  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that!

Papa found an old glove and ball in the garage that Rachel got to play with...

 I don't think she's going to be the most athletic of all children...

 Sibling bath time!

Fun in the sprinkler!

Story Time!

 Benji and Katie surprised Dad M. and came down Sunday night for a few hours!

Grandma went out at got a "watering pool" for Rachel.  (I have no idea why she calls it that, or where she got that name, oh well, it's cute!)

We stopped in North Carolina to see the great-grandparents on the way home

Rachel loves her stories! 

There was a movie being filmed in Madison while we were there, so we went down to try and see something, but this was about all we got.  

But while we were there, we saw Dustin's Aunt Jean and cousin Amy trying to see something too!  They were so excited to meet Gavin!