Another Great Day

We brought Ridley a little pool to keep cool in under the umbrella.  It was perfect for her and myself or her and two brothers.

I love all the smiles.

We stopped in at the post office to mail a few postcards to our friends and family back home in the states. 

Ryland was the photographer during our grocery stop.  Who needs heads?

Where is Reed?  He is camouflaged and very happy.  

Ridley sat in a highchair for the first time tonight at Oliver's.  We had their amazing stingray and had a beautiful view of the ocean below. 

Anguilla

 We made it to Anguilla, and it is as beautiful as ever.  The beach is gorgeous with cool, refreshing water.  We enjoyed relaxing, playing in the sand, drinking fresh coconut milk, and making family memories.  We all love it here!

Sleepy Heads

It is hard to fly so early in the morning!  John Chris, Ryland, and Ridley are out on the plane and will be rested for the beach in ANGUILLA!

Writing

Reed is writing his name on everything.  He gets a little excited with the Es, but he is doing and proud of his new skill.

Sweet Mallory

Do I really have to leave already?  It has been nice to visit with everyone and hang out with Miss Mallory.  She continues to be a total cuddle bug, and I love all of her black hair.  My heart is so full and happy when I see my baby brother holding his sweet baby girl.  He is in love with her already, and it is absolutely precious.  

Mallory is a very lucky little lady.  She has great parents to care for her, and a crazy big sister, Ally, to show her the ropes of life.  I tried to snap a picture of the two girls together, but Ally had better things to do.

Meeting Mallory

I am an aunt to a precious baby girl!  My brother, Clint, and sister-in-law, Kristi, welcomed another girl to the family. Mallory Brooke is so stinkin' sweet, and I could not wait to hold her.  I didn't realize that I love newborns so much, and she has a huge part of my heart already.  

Congratulations!!!!!!!

Baseball Buddies

Daddy and Ridley had a great night at the RoughRiders game in Frisco.  The atmosphere was very kid friendly and had a great firework show at the end. I don't know the score of the game or what a RoughRider is, but who cares.  It was fun!

Silly boys and bows

Everyone knows that I am loving everything girly, but my boys are loving girly things too.  I made a headband bow for my new niece, and before I knew what was going on, Ryland came in wearing about 7 of Ridley's bows.  It was hilarious, because he was wearing one over his eye like an eye patch. 

Reed decided to join the fun and model the headband bow I just finished making. I am sure it will be even more adorable on its special recipient. 

After I explained that it was a gift, he just traded it for a teal satin flower.  He cracked me up when he struck this pose.  These boys are wonderfully silly.

Reptiles

I am not a fan of snakes and lizards, but the boys were so thrilled to see the Snake Guy.  Once again, he put on a great show and had lots of creepy visitors.  The newest addition to the collection was a Komodo Dragon.  After the presentation, we waited in line to "pet" the animals.  Ryland was so excited.

Reed was not.

The Burmese python in the plastic box made Ryland consider for half a second, but then he reached right in to touch the massive snake.  Reed did not, and I now think Reed has more common sense than I originally thought.  Reed and I are happy it will be a year before we see these creatures again.  Yuck!!!

Build-O-Rama Round 2

It's Wednesday, and it is time to build.  Today, Ryland and Reed built houses.  They decided to connect them with a tree bridge, so they could visit one another.  I asked if they were planning on living like this when they grew up, and Ryland informed me that they were planning on living with me.

Reed was a typical camera hog, and he wanted to pose for multiple pictures.  He cracks me up, because he will pose and then want to look at the pictures of himself.  

Stage Fighting

Another hot Texas afternoon spent at the library learning about new things.  Today's presentation was on stage fighting.  Two professional "pirates" taught us how sword fighting in movies and plays is actually fake.  The kids were blown away at all the tricks they learned, and Ryland and Reed were begging for swords.  

The boys pose with the fighting pirate.  Reed is still a little unsure of this stranger.

  They must have really enjoyed our fun day, because they both fell asleep hours before bedtime.  I love summer!

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated 4th of July with a day of hanging out in the pool, playing with fireworks, and visiting with friends.  Ridley was decked out in her red, white, and blue with a big smile.

The boys played with their Airsoft guns since they had plenty of new beer can targets. 

The sparklers were a little frightening at first, but the little guys warmed up to them pretty fast.  We only had smaller fireworks, but some of them packed a punch. 

Celebrating Independence Day

For the second year, we kicked off our celebration at MiChula's.  While we waited for a table, I looked over to see Reed bellied up at the bar with an empty drink.  The look on his face is perfect, like he has had a long, hard day.

After dinner we picked out a spot to watch the firework show.  Ryland and Jackson were really loving it this year.  

The crew!  Allisons, Owens, and Reeves

Keaton and Ridley were so sweet.  They were cuddling while watching fireworks. 

Build-O-Rama

The local libraries have so many summer activities to choose from, so we tried one of our favorites from last summer.  Do thousands of Legos in an empty room sound fun?  Yes!  Reed built and played with a two story house with a monkey tree on the roof.

Ryland played with some older children that were building vehicles and more complex items.

Ridley was happy to watch all the crazy children build and play.  As always she is laughing and in a great mood.