Labor Day Weekend

We took our last beach hoorah for Labor Day last weekend and it was glorious. My parents went with us and even kept Baker for Brent and I to have some time away at the beach. Relaxation was just what I needed.

 Bake loved this vintage matching game that my mom brought.

We took him for a few airplane rides at Pier Park. 

I wish I had a picture of some of our Seaside adventures Sunday night. We ran into Zaccheuas and Natalie at Bud and Alley's and witness a tween local dig in the trash can. You can't beat that.
War Eagle!

Bath Paint

Pinterest strikes again with an easy and fun bath activity.

My favorite things to "pinterest" are the super easy ones. Shocker.

To make bath paint you need foam shaving cream , food coloring and a paint or basting brush. Thats ALL!

I took 3 small containers and whipped up 3 different colors for our paint.

I chose a basting brush because it was handy.

We did this right before our bath. I decided not to fill the tub with water yet, so that all this colored "paint" could be washed out before the actual bath. Worked like a charm.

 Zoe got in on the action too!

Happy Birthday!

The greatest man I know celebrated a birthday yesterday. 

Happy Birthday Dad! 

You have a contagious smile and a lovable personality. I give you a hard time because I wonder why God made my dad an Alabama fan (and while I'm asking him questions, an Alabama husband too). I wonder what I did to deserve that. 

I love you anyway and so does this little guy!

Happiest of birthdays to you! We love you!!

Costumes and Goop

Hey Readers,
I have a fun activity for your toddlers. I made it up...Sike (Psych?), I got it from Pinterest of course.

Its called "Goop".

You will need:
Cornstarch
Water
Plastic container (preferably deep)
Play spoons and bowls

As you can see, we started this experiment inside, which was a BIG mistake. So, my advice is to do this outside in a place you don't mind cornstarch to fall. We moved outside.

The blog that I read mentioned starting out with just dry cornstarch and letting them play with the dry substance and use their imaginations. Bake always loves to make a "mountain" anytime he is playing with a powder. (Like when he helps me make pancakes or muffins).

Then I let him slowly add Tablespoons of water to test different consistencies. Once its mixed together, it has the most interesting texture. Is it liquid, is it solid? I just don't know. What I do know is that it kept this boy entertained for about an hour and a half. That, my friends, is a victory!

Once we moved outside, we wanted to drizzle the goop onto the newspaper, which was another neat way to play with it.

As if this wasn't enough entertainment for a Monday, we received 2 special packages from Ebay that I bought for fun. Bake has been very into "dress-up" now that his new class has a huge dress up bin for the kids to play in. On multiple occasions, I have picked him up and he is sporting a Minnie Mouse dress, witch's skirt, Pluto hat, you name it. So, I decided we could have some fun with costumes at home. So, I found these cheap costumes on Ebay and away we went.

 ROAAARR!

Sadly, this is the best one I could get of the pirate, but he did lots of "ARRR's"

We went from a super fun Monday to a pretty disastrous Tuesday. Nothing major, just a lot of discipline challenges. I have to say that Bake is a great kid 90% of the time, but that 10% will send you to drinking, real quick.
See ya 'round mateys!

Weekend Beach Trip

We took a short trip to Orange Beach this weekend thanks to my awesome Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pat who graciously let us stay at their place. Sometimes these trips can be more stressful than fun, but luckily we were surprised that everyone had fun and relaxed for the most part.

 Bakes enjoyed breakfast on the bay and all there was to see from the porch. Their condo overlooks Ono Island.

When we asked him what his favorite part about the trip was he said "Going in the dark to look for crabs" AKA, "crabbing". I had forgotten how much fun this can actually be. This boy hasn't played outside at night...well, ever.

 Frustration at its finest. I love this picture because its a glimpse of reality. Baker is in a stage where if we say "Don't put your shirt in your mouth", he quickly does said thing as fast as he can which leads to the face pictured above by one, Brent Jones.

 Armed and ready for what crabs might come our way!

 Shocker that I barely took any pictures. My camera is too bulky to take to restaurants and to the beach. There is enough stuff to bring, so I opted out of many pictures this trip. I'm sure we will survive.

We ate at Original Oyster House on Friday night which was perfect for Baker to get to run around during our 2 hour wait. This wait was actually bearable since we had been in the car for 5.5 hours. It allowed him to get some energy out.
We did a lot of "beach" and less pool this trip. If I haul 1/2 of my belongings down to the sandy beach, I better be staying for at least a few hours. Luckily we were able to convince Baker that the ocean was just as good as the pool. He got a little pool time in too though.
This was the first beach trip that Baker actually enjoyed swimming in the ocean. It was calm, the weather was nice and it was just generally an easy trip. Plus, Bake had a blast and that is all I can ask for.

Lately

Lately, it takes a lot of effort to write a blog post. Which is why I haven't. We have been oh so freakin busy.

Just a few things we had going on were hosting an exchange student from Japan at our house, hosting the Gypsy cast party at our house, Gypsy in general, my parents coming into town, and theatre camp to name a few. Brent and I both teach at theatre camp for 2 weeks and let's just say its A LOT.

 Dinner with a few friends before opening night. BTW, Brent played a lead role (Herbie) in Gypsy.

 With Danny and Brent in their dressing room

 Brent teaching at theatre camp

 A fun moment at the cast party

 Cast picture on our stairs

Family with Kenta, our Japanese exchange student.

Celebrating the Fourth

 Tardy post, I know, but we have had a good celebration of the 4th.

On the actual 4th we went to our annual party at the Looney's house. Food, swimming, volleyball and just a general good time with friends.

For the weekend, we got to go to Birmingham to see our cousins and grandparents and Nathan and Amy. "Its called Uncle Nathan" according to Baker.

 I am so thankful that Baker and Hayes play so well together. He just loves her so much.

I was also thankful for the weather last Saturday. Not only was it a bearable temperature, but the shady trees in Nathan and Amy's backyard made it wonderful. We probably played outside for 4 or 5 hours without ever getting hot. True story.

Zoe is  spending the week  at Camp Sherry and Jimmy's in Dothan. She does this every summer and they always have a blast. I took her to Prattville where my parents took her from there. We got to visit and eat with Honey too!

 So, what turned out to be a lovely weekend, led into a not so lovely week. On Monday Baker dropped a large, metal, cylinder post on my toe at work. Top 5 worst pains ever. Then our cat ate a lilly which is poisonous to cats apparently, and now she is super sick. $600 later we will find out what exactly is wrong with her. A few other strings of bad luck and it is just time for this to end.

In addition, July is really super busy for us. We have a Japanese exchange student coming to stay with us from Sunday to Wednesday and we are really excited. Also, Brent is in Gypsy with Theatre Tuscaloosa which opens tonight. Theatre camp starts Monday, parents come Saturday...busy busy!