A Summer Full of Fun!

Wow! It's hard to believe that summer is more than halfway over... I said that the beginning of the summer that we were going to stay home and enjoy everything that our area has to offer - which is quite a bit... I mean we live minutes from the beach after all! But I realized about three weeks into summer that staying home would not be happening. We drove to Alabama on the first day of summer break and visited for 10 days. It was a lot of fun! (The previous post "Our Summer Trip to Cullman" has lots of photos from that trip). We were home for about a week and a half when we decided to load up and drive to Atlanta to visit my husband's parents. We were there for a week and had a great time. The girls love to swim in their pool and eat unlimited ice cream. We also visited their lake house on Lake Lanier. It is a very relaxing place to visit. The girls went fishing with Brock and his dad, Bill. Audrey caught a channel cat, but she let it go so that it could go back to his family. Audrey always amazes me with her big heart and caring disposition. Then Audrey and Claire went swimming in the lake with Brock. Audrey swung from the rope off the dock and squealed with delight each time as she splashed into the lake. The trip to Atlanta/Lake Lanier was also Duke's first road trip and he did really well. He even went off the leash some of the time we were at the lake house. He stayed close to us which emphasized what a good dog he is. We came home from Atlanta on Sunday. We loaded the truck back up on Tuesday and drove to the other coast of Florida to Treasure Island (just north of St. Pete) to visit with Brock's brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Barbara, and their children at their beach rental. We had a great time. We all went out on the boat one day to try out some tubing, but the weather trumped our plans. The next day the guys went out on the boat again to try some fishing. The weather was better and they caught some red snapper, which was really good that night for dinner. We came home on Friday. I felt like collapsing on the sofa and not getting up for a week, but it was Independence Day weekend so there was no rest for the weary.

Here are some photos from our trips to Atlanta, Lake Lanier and Treasure Island...

~ Atlanta ~

Up, up and away!

Flippers may prove difficult for land walkers

Claire did a great job swimming!

Is he really a spoiled dog?

~ Lake Lanier ~


Audrey's Channel Cat







~Duke's First Road Trip ~

Are we there yet?


~ Treasure Island ~

Morning

A Beautiful Sunset

Audrey Donates to Locks of Love

Today was a great day! Audrey made her donation to Locks of Love!!! She donated 10 and 1/2 inches of her beautiful blonde locks to help another child who suffered a medical hair loss due to an illness or treatment for an illness. She said that people are always telling her how beautiful her hair is, so she was excited to be able to help make someone else who lost their hair feel better by donating some of hers.

Here are some photos from her big donation...

Before

The Big Cut

After

Her New Style

Our Summer Trip to Cullman

Audrey, Claire and I made our summer trip to Cullman during the first week of June. Unfortunately, Brock was in Tokyo on business and wasn't able to make the trip with us. But the trip was still a lot of fun - feeding the ducks at Sportsman Lake, making BIG splashes in Pawpaw's creek, swimming at Uncle Steve's, feeding the animals on the farm, an exciting trip to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville and an awesome family cookout at Gramma and Pop's. I won't get too involved in details about everything, but I will share LOTS of photos from the trip...

Sportsman Lake Park with PawPaw



Rock Throwing from PawPaw's Bridge


Swimming at Uncle Steve's

Audrey and Claire loved swimming with Marty (my cousin Jennifer's husband). They are expecting their first child in August so this was good practice! :)

Space & Rocket Center with Gramma

Audrey tried the rock wall climbing exhibit at the Space Center too and she LOVED it!

Our Day at the Cason Farm
(My Grandmother Cason's)


A Photo Shoot with PawPaw


Family Cookout at Gramma and Pop's

Unfortunately we didn't get any photos... :(
But we did have a lot of fun, especially the game of kickball in the front yard!

Audrey's Piano Compositions

Audrey has always had a love of music. But she really enjoys the piano. She began playing the piano three years ago in Kindergarten. We found her current teacher, Ms. Donna, two years ago and Audrey loves her. Ms. Donna is very encouraging and has a unique approach to teaching - a mix of classical and freestyle. Audrey is encouraged to compose her own music and has risen remarkably to the challenge. The video below is a compilation of three of Audrey's compositions plus her favorite song - "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Enjoy!