Schools Out for Summer!

Anyone else singing that song/thinking about Dazed and Confused?

Backward post because that's how Blogger imported them!  First up, Daniel's 40th birthday celebration.  We had yummy Tarasque pasta for dinner followed by a Cherry Dr. Pepper cake.  Daniel loves cherries, and loves dr. pepper, but I wasn't crazy about this cake. The icing to cake ratio was way off and it was just too sweet for me.  Cake is still cake though... We continue his birthday celebration this weekend by doing a ropes course in Winona with some friends!

Holland went on her first (I think?) bike ride last weekend.  She seemed to have a great time!  The hills in our neighborhood aren't conducive to riding, much less pulling a kid trailer, but we had fun riding around the flat parts!  We need to get back to the Tallahatchie trail when it cools off some.

The week after school let out, my older two went to stay in the delta for Okra camp and Pony camp with their grandparents.  I think Holland enjoyed the undivided attention.  We managed dinner out at a nice restaurant one night, and Holland discovered the wonders of truffle frites!

This is Holland all day every day at home. Carrying a book, asking you to read it to her. Again and again.  I am very glad my kids are book lovers, but it can make getting anything else done rather hard. She's too sweet not to plop down on the kitchen floor and read to though.  

Last Day of School photos. They are looking so grown up!

Sullivan got the highest Star Reader score for the second grade. Sorry to brag, but his teacher actually told me his score was so high, she didn't realize it went that high.  I hope it will continue to pay off as he moves through school.  I think he looks so cute in a suit, and he was so excited to wear it.  His class also chose him as future President.  The good kind, I hope. 

Mother's day we went with friends to Rowan Oak for a picnic, and it was lovely!  I should have taken more pictures, but it was about the most genteel, Southern thing I've ever done.  Picture charcuterie, mint juleps in silver cups, and beautiful barefoot children running around picking flowers.  Another magic Oxford experience that I highly recommend.

This summer my kids have a college girl keeping them, and so far they've ended the day happy and exhausted.  She definitely doesn't let them sit around in front of a screen all day. They've gone all over campus and in various buildings, swimming several times, loving on foster kitties, to several parks and out for lunch a few times.  That's only the first 4 days!  Glad they are going to have a blast this summer! Need to keep telling myself that as I work my tail off to pay for it all!

Random Kid Cuteness

Showing little sister how it's done!

Evie in heaven

Sullivan's 1st ride.

Willie Price Art Gallery 2018

Double Decker 2018

Socks with birks and a baby carrier...

Eleuthera, Bahamas

Alfred House

View from my bedroom window

Many months ago, Corinne organized a surprise trip to the Bahamas in honor of Kent's 40th birthday.  It was booked so far in advance, I made lots of assumptions about how Holland would be by then... that turned out to be incorrect.  My mom kept all three kids for the 5 nights we were gone, and I'm fairly certain that will be the last time! Holland seemed to be coming down with something when we left, so she didn't sleep the first two nights we were gone, just cried.  She's never been away from me, so it could have been many factors contributing.  Eventually she got it worked out and started sleeping, thank goodness.

 I'm still nursing, so I pumped milk while I was gone and flew back with it. I was stressed about how to fly back with it and if it would stay frozen, but it worked out fine.  I bought two freezable pack it lunch boxes, and put the frozen milk in them and put them in my checked luggage for the flights.  They were still frozen when we made it back to Oxford!  I will say, trying to pump on an airplane is not fun.  On the flight back, I tried to use a nursing pod at the Atlanta airport, but never could get it to work and open the door for me.  Not the most fun to pump on vacation, but glad to have the milk now, and glad the Holland and I can wean at our own pace instead of a forced cold turkey.  She's eating solid food so much better now, so is beginning to take less milk. 

Now, for the good stuff.  I recommend this trip to anyone if you like remote, non-commercial, not crowded, relaxing vacations. It only took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes of flying to get there- so much easier than driving to florida (but not cheaper). The island has no fast food, just a couple of small settlements with some grocery stores and restaurants.  We could snorkel right out from our house and there were miles of beaches that we would literally be the only people on.  The group saw sharks, sting rays, conch, star fish, and all manner of fish right out from our house.  The island is long and narrow, you have to drive on the left side, and it's slow going, so going from one end to the other takes a long time.  Beautiful views, though. 

French Leave Beach

We rented a boat one day to go snorkeling out on the cays, and got to spend some time on a cay all by ourselves.  Everywhere you look was just gorgeous water and beaches. We got to go to a "drop off" where the elevation changes from 50 feet deep to like 500 feet deep.  Corinne and I saw a small shark at this point, and that was enough for me to swim back to the boat. :)  We also saw sea turtles swimming and lots of other fish on the reefs. I will say there were some sections where there was so much plastic in the water where people had dumped their trash.  I'm trying to be hyper-aware of our plastic use now.  Sad to see what we are doing to such a beautiful natural treasure.

Completely Empty Cay where we hung out

aboard the Potcake

nurse shark at cape eleuthera

 Our one other excursion day, we went to Harbor Island via ferry for some shopping and dinner at The Rock House.  It was a long drive and quick boat ride to get to the island, but we had a fantastic meal together. Both islands had such old, historic buildings.  Lisa and I walked through a cemetary in Governor's Harbour and saw some really old graves, and some very sad stories of families that lost so many of their children.  Hard to imagine what life must have been like hundreds of years ago on an island cut off from most of civilization.  I hope to do more research on the history of the island. 

Rock House at Harbour Island

Ferry Ride Back

The rest of the time, we beached, snorkeled, ate, drank, dance partied, and just had a wonderful time.  We had our fill of conch, grouper, snapper, and tropical drinks! Our group of friends just went with the flow and enjoyed the time together.  Having been to the grand bahama island before, I was unsure what to expect, but Eleuthera was outstanding. 

Disco Dance Parties

our pool

At Twin Coves Beach

Governor's Harbour

At Leon Levy Preserve

Happy 1st Birthday, Holland!

Height, Weight, Length: tbd- i've got to check the sheet from the doctor

Sizes: Clothes 12 mths and 18 mths, size 3 diapers

Favorite foods: breast milk, chicken, pasta, cookies, baby food, water (especially from Mom's cup)

Favorite book: That's not my angel

Favorite song: Twinkle, twinkle

What she's doing: giving big, open mouth kisses, sweet hugs, eskimo kisses, blows kisses, claps hands, wags her pointer finger (like no, no), walking, dancing

She still thinks it's hilarious to say Dada any time we ask her to say Mama.  I'm going to work on a video compilation. She likes to "sing" in the microphone.  She loves bath time and her ducks.  She loves to empty out anything- cabinet, drawer, basket, etc. She likes to hand things back and forth and say her version of "thank you" each time. If you don't give her what she wants, she'll lay her head on the floor and cry the fakest/most pitiful cry until she realizes you aren't going to give in. She wakes several times a night, but sleeps late in the mornings if she's able.

She gets so excited to see any of us when we get home or pick her up from school, but she is also always happy to see Miss Daisy when we drop her at daycare.  She just hugs her and smiles at her.  So thankful she's happy there.

We had a celebration at home with family and a few friends.  It was somewhat thrown together as most things are in my life these days, but we had a great time anyway.  Holland's cupcakes were so pretty, but as usual, she did not care to have cake.  She must get that from her cousin, Julia.

Sullivan encouraging the proper response to cake.

Sisters