Kiddie Carnival

This is the 3rd year that we have driven out to Athens, Alabama to go to their Kiddie Carnival that the Lions Club puts on. It has become one of my favorite nights of the summer.

It takes about 30/40 minutes to get there, we stop on the way for Mexican then on to the carnival. Im not a big fan of fairs and carnivals. Too loud, too dirty, too crowded. Put this sweet little gem is none of those things. All the rides are built for kids 7 and under to ride, its downtown on the front lawn of the Lions Club house and there is magic in the air when the sun starts going down and all those sweet little faces light up as they climb on their first ride. Oh and each ride is 25 cents :)

Cooper being the velcro baby that he is, he has only ever ridden the carousal with me but this was the year he found some courage and with sister by his side rode all the rides and of course LOVED them.

We stayed until it was dark, grabbed some cotton candy to keep them awake on the ride back and then passed out with smiles on their faces as soon as we laid them down.

xoxo
Ashlea

June travels

Usually I spread our summer travels out through out May, June and July but this year everything just so happen to lump into June. It was A LOT but as always memories were made and experiences were had so it was all worth it.

We kicked it off with a trip to Gailinburg, TN over Memorial Day weekend with just the four of us. We all loved the natural beauty and hiking of the area and will be back for more since its only a few hours from us, making it a great quick weekend getaway. The food and downtown area left some things to be desired for us. The food was mostly fried and heavy and the downtown was very tourist trappy. So next time we will stick to the National Park and bring more of our own food.

After that we went camping at a nearby campground on Lake Guntersville. Its such a great setup, you rent an RV and they have it set up and ready to go when you get there. You have a little area with a table and fire pit and the beach area is a very short walk away. We went with 4 other famillies and had a huge group of kids 5 and under all running around. They all were in heaven swimming, paddle-boarding, playing around the camp grounds, catching lightening bugs and fishing. It was a great little stay-cation.

A few days later we packed up and headed up north to DC for a visit with family with a quick trip down to Bedford to visit Erin, see Great Grandma for a couple hours then back up to DC before heading back to Alabama.

pit stop in Charlottesville to refuel with crepes

a new litter of puppies on the farm!

gymnastics while hanging with the cows

playing in the same creek on the same mountain I did as a kid <3

National Botanical Gardens

first taxi ride :) Charlotte was so excited!!!

Once we were back home we meet up with our good friends at their parents lake house down on Lake Martin. This is the 3rd year we have gone down and the kids love it more and more every year

and with that our chaotic, fun and wonderful June and travels was over. We have settled into a routine of not having a routine for July. Lots of swimming, playing, movies, cooking and general hanging out without having to be anywhere at a certain time, something I am soaking up as school is only a few weeks away and a new chapter starts

xoxo
Ashlea

Cooper turns 3

With the kids birthdays back to back its a couple weeks of non stop birthday fun around here :) Coops went on 2 weeks after his sister and followed her lead to keep on growing up despite my protests. Although to be completely honest 2 was not Coopers best age, I started to see a change a couple of months ago and I think 3 is going to be awesome. I just love where he is right now and Im trying to hard to take it all in and document as much as possible

For his birthday he wanted a construction party - shocker ;) So we had a hammer and nails station, a rock pit with dump trucks, a wrecking ball and a pretty awesome cake if I do say so myself

He is at the perfect balance of independence and ability to communicate and still sweet innocent babyhood.

He loves all things construction, tools, all vehicles. I keep waiting for a new phase or interest to peak but this one seems to be here for the long haul. He does also love animals, especially ocean animals, jumping on the trampoline, swimming, playing in the hose, and has started getting into puzzles. And the little boy toilet humor has came, everything is toot something another

Some of my favorite things he says are
who-body when he is asking who has done something - "who body is coming over today?"
fider - for spider
 shisher- sister, what he calls Charlotte 99% of the time
and he uses phrases that he has picked up from us for sister like today he told me it was going to take "an eternity" to make lunch/ when I told him we are going to get fro-yo he told me "oh mama Ive been waiting for this all day" despite the fact that I hadnt mentioned it yet/ and lots of "oh my goodness!!!"

He is a picker eater than sister but still solid, he loves cantelope, watermelon and strawberries, meatballs, pasta, and almond butter sandwiches.

He is much more independent than 6 months ago but is still a snuggle bug and would pick my hip to hang out rather than anywhere else. He is most comfortable at home and is very thoughtful and careful with his play, building something or working on a puzzle. He is so much better and remaining calm when he is upset and communicating and working through a problem.

I just love this baby brother so much and I cant wait to watch him rock being 3

xoxo
Ashlea