The Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July! We had a very relaxing weekend. We started it off on Friday..Brent was off work! This is something we all look forward to! My Parents actually came up on Thursday night where we went to J.Riley's favorite restaurant in town call Bones. We had a nice relaxing evening. Dinner and then an evening stroll. The next morning we all got up to head out to the parade. Our little town has a huge fourth of July festival every year call Jonesborough Days. It is kind of nostalgic in alot of ways and is really kind of neat. The parade was a big hit with the kids and we roamed around the festival until about 2 o'clock. The kids always have such a good time with Nana and Grampy and always have a hard time adjusting when they leave. If only they lived down the street!! (we are still working on it!) My parents headed out later that afternoon. Later that night we stayed up late to watch the fireworks. We actually have a great view from our yard, so we put Ava to bed and just the three of us got to watch the beautiful show! Saturday was pretty low key and we ended the festivities with a GREAT BBQ at our friends the Whiljhems. Matt smoked the BBQ all day! It was yummy! We are so thankful for such great friends! Also, Thank you to all the men, women and families that sacrifice so much so that we can call ourselves a free country! THANK YOU! MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

Summer Fun!

Here are just a few pictures of what we have been up to this summer! 

We are loving our new covered patio area! Ava and J.Riley are really into crafts...so we have been trying to do plenty while staying home this summer! Here are my little artists water color painting and watching a thunderstorm pass through!

I have been trying to cover a "letter" of the alphabet a week this summer. This usually just includes a few crafts or activities and always a baking project. We happen to be talking about the "B" on this particular week. Here is J.Riley eating the frozen chocolate covered Bananas that we had made...and driving his tractor....is this legal??

Playing in the rain is always so much fun!

A letter 'C" project. He did such a great job! Can you tell what it is?

  

Playing in shaving cream! What Mom? 

Practicing writing our letters in shaving cream.

Letter A.

Each year our friend the Hixons have a great "Yard Party" to kick off summer. They have so many great things for the kids to do including a giant slide! Lots of great food and and friends! This year Brent was in Charleston on a "guys" trip so I took the kids. They had a great time! I think we all slept in the next morning as well! Happy Momma!

Ladder Ball anyone?

Ava going down the slide!

Go Yankees!??

J.Riley played tball for the first time this year. He had a great time! It was definitely a great social experience for him as well as learning to be a team player. We did not make it through the season without constant whining about not getting the ball, being "sweaty hot", running the wrong way on the base path! I am not sure who had more fun me or him?

The team at the end of the season swim party

J.Riley receiving his trophy from Coach Maverick
Buds Jackson and J.Riley
So Fast!
Luke and J.Riley..what else is there to do besides play in the dirt?

Swim Lessons

J.Riley is taking swim lessons with our neighbor Avery. Our neighbors have a beautiful pool, and I hired a girl I know that lifeguards at ETSU to give them lessons. J.Riley is doing surprisingly well. She is teaching him to swim without floaties. He has been diving underwater for sticks,learning to blow bubbles while he is under. Kicking seems to be the thing he is having the most trouble with. He has a hard time keeping his legs up out of the water and wants to look over his shoulder constantly to make sure he is splashing! I am very proud of him for being so brave and taking instructions from some one other than me :)

Day out with Thomas

Thomas the train made an appearance close by. He pulled into Tweetsy Railroad in Blowing Rock, Nc and we just had to take a ride! This was my first experience going to Tweetsy, Brent had been  before when he was young. J.Riley is not super obsessed with Thomas the train..not with anything really. He does like him and loves riding on trains so we gave it a shot. I have to admit the morning started out pretty rough. The ride there was full of whining and fighting and I just knew our day was going to be a bust. So what do you do? PRAY!! It ended up being a great day. We got there at about 11:00 and ate lunch right away to beat the crowds. Rode a few rides and then boarded Thomas at 1:00. We spent the rest of the day riding rides and eating ice cream!  Tweetsy is just the right size for toddlers. Not to overwhelming but big enough to spend the day. J.Riley is our daredevil..he wants to ride every ride and on his own of course. Ava was unsure of almost every ride but if she was clinging our shirts, she did pretty well. They were happy and very well behaved. Ava even made it until 3:30 without a nap or a melt down! I would definitely recommend the trip!

A Garden?!?

Can you believe it! Yes, the picture is to prove it!! Our garden is growing! We have had so much fun watching it grow. Seriously everyday there is something different. J.Riley has enjoyed watering the plants and pulling some weeds. He helped me pick some lettuce. We have already made a few salads with it! It is such a rewarding experience to eat something that you have actually grown in your very own garden. We have spotted a few tomatoes and a few big yellow flowers on our squash plants! It won't be long! Yes Martha..move on over!

Memorial Day

We have started summer Officially! The Long family hosted our first low country boil at our house on Memorial Day weekend! For those of you who don't know what a low country boil is...here it it goes. Basically you throw, corn, kielbasa, shrimp, potatoes, onions, some spices, and whatever else you want into a turkey fryer and let it boil. Then you dump it all on a big table and everyone stand around and eats with their hands. It is so much fun! and YUMMY!! We had my family including great Grammy and Brent's family over for our first outside party of the year. We have just put a roof over out patio and we are so looking forward to doing lots of entertainment this summer. Cornhole, beer, and a low country boil..can't get much better!