We spent July 4th in Statesboro this year. We did have a tradition of going to the beach with Heather and Kelby, but we decided last year that the holiday weekend was not a good weekend to spend at Grandmama’s beach house in Gulf Shores because there were so many people there on that weekend. Plus, the traffic is awful when it’s that crowded and adds almost an hour to the already long trip. Not to mention, Daniel’s Grandmama was just there this past week and said there was oil washing up….and it smelled bad…
….and there were dead fish. Enough said.
Bye-bye Gulf Shores…at least for now. Thanks to BP, we will be spending Labor Day weekend at St.George Island with the sisters! We are renting a house with a private pool! Everyone going has a young baby, so it will be perfect to be at the beach and have a pool for the kiddos!
This summer has been a very long, hot one. We haven’t had a chance to go to the beach or the lake yet, and we are itching to get our toes in some water. We have had several visitors this summer, including this little fella that showed up on our bedroom window.
And this sister and this adorable little niece of mine showed up at our door for a weekend visit. We had such a good time with Katie, Andrew, and Mary Frances.
Well, most of us did. I think if Thomas could talk, he might would have told me that he did not find this play time with Mary Frances enjoyable seeing as how she clawed his eye balls out and chewed on his head.
This was Mary Frances looking very innocently at Thomas as he screamed from her “playing”….
Anyways, the blueberries are on their way out, and this makes my heart very, very sad. I love them, especially when they grow in your own back yard!! Daniel and I picked some pears and blueberries last night once Thomas was in bed, and I ended up eating all the blueberries as soon as we came in.
The garden is also making its way out. We had too much rain too fast this Summer, and so a lot of our cantaloupes and watermelons are rotting. A lot, but not all. We did have one good watermelon so far, and it was sweet and tasted like summer time.
I ate a lot of salads this summer because our garden had tons and tons of cherry tomatoes! They were so delicious! And all of our squash is in the deep freezer either in the form of baby food or sliced up waiting to be sautéed.
Here is Thomas posing on his Father’s Day gifts to his Daddy. He was anxious and excited in this picture because we were waiting for Daddy to come in and find his surprises!!
I am not sure why I even attempt to take Thomas out and snap a few photos in the late evening. I know his bedtime is 8:00. I know he starts getting really cranky at 7:30. I know he does not like to pose and be out in the heat this late in the day. But the photo freak in me just can’t help it. The sun is perfect at this time in the evening….
But Thomas’s attitude is not!!!
Daniel and I are still working on developing a green thumb. We are so far from it but so much closer than what we used to be.
Have you ever met such a manly-man?!? I love it, and I love him…
And now, meet Lightening. He is our friend and newest family member. Daniel found him at the farm and brought him home to me. Lightening took residence in the shade under our Azalea bushes and under the gutter where the water dripped constantly and made the ground cool..That is, until we dug them out (as pictured above). So, like any good parent, we found Lightening a new home. He now lives in our Mama T and Papa Joe’s pond across the street. At least, we hope he lives there. We haven’t spotted Lightening since the day we dropped him off. We have, however, seen two more turtles at our house since then. I think Lightening must have spread the word that the wacko woman with the baby will take in any stray. Speaking of stray animals, we wondered what Lady would do if we put Lightening in her back yard to live with her. So, we set poor little Lightening down on the back patio in front of Lady, and with one paw, she took a big swipe at Lightening and sent him spinning across the concrete. Oh well, it was worth a try….
We were in Statesboro three times this July. Once, for July 4th, and twice to visit Daddy Tom. He got a Staph infection in his blood and was very sick. To know Daddy Tom is to love him, and to love him is to love his yard. He works very hard at keeping it up, and it is always perfectly manicured and beautiful. He has given me high expectations for Daniel (Just kidding, Honey!! Well, kind of…)
Things in Statesboro can be kind of predictable….like for instance, I can promise you that someone will be in the pool every afternoon…and this time it was Francie!! I caught her reading the same book that she was reading this time LAST summer. Francie is averaging one book per year. Go, Georgia Southern, Go!! She did, however, finish it this time!
Another thing you can expect when is Statesboro is Daddy Tom being silly! He only gets funnier (if that’s a word?) as time goes on. Here he is mocking Thomas. We were wondering how in the world it could be comfortable for Thomas to lay on his back with his legs up in the air like that. So, Daddy Tom got on the floor and tried out the position himself! He even put something in his mouth like Thomas!
Here is my other favorite red head. We are starting to see her resemble her Big Boy Cousin sooo much! I love it!
Imagine that, another photo shoot with the babies!
Thomas wanted to know if we would get some shots of just he and KenKen, so we said, “Sure!” Here he was trying to figure out just how we wanted him to hold onto her…
Kennedy didn’t have much patience with him. She was worried that he was messing up her hair and no one was telling her!!
But her Momma made things all better.
Cousins:)
Kennedy thought it would be funny to let T-Bird in on the joke that the family calls him “Melon Head” behind his back…
Thomas did not see the humor in the joke! He was so ticked! All this time and no one has told him that he has a big head! Kennedy was just relieved that the secret was finally out…
Then, her conscious started to get the best of her, and she apologized to Thomas.
Thomas’s feelings were already really hurt, and he would not accept her apology. This upset Kennedy dearly. She never would have told him if she had known that he would hold a grudge against her for it!
Even with all of Mimi’s love, the tears continued to fall. The cousins needed a time-out from each other and everyone needed a little alone time:)
The next day, Thomas informed that he was over Kennedy’s insults, but would like to put his hat on his head to keep the sun off of his fair skin. As a red head myself, I understood. Back to his happy little smiley self, we headed outside for a day at Daddy Tom’s pool.
Thomas loved the pool! He just laid back in my lap and was so relaxed the whole time.
Daddy Tom peeled peaches on the porch and watched everyone swim. Later, we had homemade peach ice cream! It’s no secret why we gain three pounds every time we go to Statesboro! Something about seeing that city limit sign just changes my appetite! Since he was sitting on the porch at the time, he got put on duty to bounce Kennedy. I have never seen a child love a bouncy seat so much!!
Thomas’s wrinkly little toes were a sure sign that he had enjoyed enough pool time:)
Kennedy was dressed for the 4th of July occasion in her red, white, and blue dress!
And Thomas was, too! Mimi made him a little red, white, and blue t-shirt with a dinosaur on it and some matching bloomers! I’m sure you don’t call them “bloomers” when a boy wears them, but y’all know what I’m talking about!
Kennedy took a break from the celebrations to do some tummy-time…
en 
Kennedy has sooo much hair still! And a cute little neck roll, too:)
Is she not sure a Clark?? Kennedy looks so much like her Daddy that it’s not even funny! It’s a good thing he’s handsome!:)
Here are the three cousins lined up like little duckies…
Mary Frances is wondering what Thomas is doing in her pack-n-play, and Thomas is wondering how he can get out of it! MayFray is looking for a way to help him…
Andrew continued on with his normal quirky routines, and we all watched him because he is quite entertaining! Here he is reading up on something to do with the law, I’m sure, as Tuff guards the porch.
We are officially those people who are in the pool by 9:00a.m. When you have a kid, you’ll understand. It just works well that way.
And as the festivities in Statesboro were wrapping up, I did a last minute photo shoot of Mary Frances. She was ready for her morning nap, and so she was not quite as happy-go-lucky as she usually is, but she was still a doll! If you look closely, you can see her two first teeth in these pictures!
I think this might have been her first time ever sitting in the grass. She did not know what to think!
I can honestly say that I am ready to welcome the fall. I am not one to wish away any season of life, but I am ready for the change of pace that the fall brings. Not to mention my all time favorite activity of the year occurs during the fall: THE COUNTY FAIR!! Ahhh, don’t even get me started.
