Back to school

School starts back early down here, usually the second week of August. This back to school was a big one because my girl headed off to Kindergarten - the big leagues, full day, lots of kids, new everything Kindergarten.

But before she had her first day, brother had his and it was much more chill. He returned to the same school, the same class with the same teacher and mostly the same kids. He was excited to go and has had the best few weeks being back there in that sweet preschool. This year he is going MWF from 9-1. That still gives us a couple of days a week to stay close to home and take it slow and have some one on one time. So far he reports loving the "new big blocks", digging with the orange shovel in the sandbox and running super fast. He also loves his new backpack/ lunchbox we got for this year. Its huge on him but it will hopefully last him several years.

Then a few days after it was sisters turn. We were both nervous, its a big change and I knew Id miss her. She goes M-F from 8:30-2:30 and I do in fact miss her but she is loving it so much that it eases that greatly. The first few days she said she was very quiet and didnt really talk to anyone but after that she has come home telling me about playing with other kids and talking with her teacher.

We have a 20-30 minute drive in the mornings to get to her school and although its not ideal, seeing her love school and the environment and opportunities she has there make it 100% worth it. We listen to a story telling podcast for kids in the mornings and usually in the afternoons she fills me in on her day. So far she has climbed lots of trees, swung with friends on the rope swing, loved friday pizza day, had show and tell, earned lots of tickets for being kind to friends and done number and letter work. She also has a different elective each day - library, Mandarin, art, creek day etc.

I am so proud of her and loving to see her grow and bloom there :)

As for brothers naps, which I was worried about because her pick up is smack in the middle of it. He was done well all things considered. Poor guy gets woken up half the time, sleeps in the car or misses it completely. They both have been going to bed about 30 minutes earlier and he has been binge napping on the weekends.

what I found while he was suppose to be playing in his room while I took a quick shower before picking up Charlotte :)

xoxo
Ashlea

life lately in photos

a quick make over of an old cabinet thanks to a can of looking glass spray paint and 20 minutes one afternoon

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                                  our new dining room table that Tony made, I LOVE it

 

the ever growing truck collection. this was after putting about half of them away in storage :)

 

                                      a quick trip to the Nashville science museum 

                                            
                                               a girls trip to ATL for some new ink

                                                this girl would swim 24/7 if she could

 
                                                       working his scissor skills

 
                                                          oh these sweet babes <3

xoxo
Ashlea

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