First Trip Back to Florida

Our Disney passes expire at the end of the month, so we thought it was a good excuse to make a trip down to Florida and go to Disney one more time.  I was a little nervous to do the drive by myself with the 3 kids, but I survived.   

 We had a great time at Disney with my mom, Kenzie and Jacob. 

It's a Small World with Nana

Isabelle and I are on the back row, with Kenzie and Jake in front of us.

Isabelle suddenly got up the courage to go on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain at Disney.  At first she was a little nervous, but then she loved it and wanted to go again and again.  I can't believe she is big enough to go on those rides.  She has grown up way too fast.  

 We got to spend some time with my dad and Deana too.

 Hanging with Erin and Bruce

It wouldn't be a complete visit with Nana without making cookies.  Anya and Nana always love to bake cookies together.

Had to get a visit in with Brad and Liz.  The girls always love going to their house.  Now Brad is making sure Liam sees how much fun it is too.

Laila started beauty school last month, so I got to visit her at her school and get my hair done right before I got back on the road to come back to NC.  She did a great job.

First Day of School

Considering we moved here in June, we felt very fortunate to have found a preschool with openings for both Isabelle and Anya.  An extra bonus is that the school is less than 2 miles from our house.  Originally Anya was on a waiting list, but they opened up a spot for her.  

Isabelle was so ready to start school again and to meet new friends in our new little town.

Anya started school the day after Isabelle.  She was so excited to finally start school, I couldn't get her to stand still for a picture.

Anya and her teacher Ms. Beth, no tears for this one on the first day!

 I took the girls to a cute haircut shop for kids before the first day of school.  It was Anya's first time getting a haircut.  When the stylist asked Anya what she thought of her haircut afterwards she said she didn't like it.  Oh well, I guess you can't please them all.

Modeling their new haircuts

Family Photos

Our first attempt at getting some family photos with our little family of 5.  I'm very grateful to have a brother-in-law that can take pretty decent photos so I don't have to pay top dollar for pictures.  

 I love the personalities that are shown in this picture.

The Fun Continues at Bear Lake

This summer we went back to what has become our favorite family vacation spot, Bear Lake Reserve.  We are so excited to only be a 3 and a half hour drive from it, now that we live in NC.  I spent a couple weeks there with my family and Charles was able to come up for long weekends.  There is something so peaceful there that makes us never want to leave.  Thanks to Ma, we have gone there for several summers now.  It has become like a second home to us, so we have really set up routines for what we like to do while we are there.  There is always swimming, kayaking, tennis, golf, picnicking, hikes, late night games, and more.  

Liam loved being in the water, which came as no surprise considering our kids would stay in the water all day, every day if we let them.  I guess they are true Floridians.

Isabelle has become so independent and fearless in the water.

Anya, acting silly like usual.

Erin and me with our boys

Hanging out with Ma

Anya and her cousin Addison

A new tradition that has started is to go blueberry picking.  The kids had so much fun.

One or two may not have made it in the bucket.

There is a pavilion at the top of the mountain where we love to grill and have picnics at.  There are beautiful views and it is so peaceful.

My brother-in-law Marc, cooking up some ribs.

Anya gave them her stamp of approval!

Cassie and Laila

Isabelle and Addison

There is a little restaurant in the town, Cashiers, that we found last year that we like to go to.

Gotta love these kiddos!

This boy is always getting kisses.  Can you blame us?

Hiking to waterfalls!

Turtleback Falls.  We go there every time and this was the first year that I finally went down.  I wasn't so much scared of going down as I was to get in the freezing water.

We always have a puzzle going on!

Hanging out on the porch

So our new adventure this year was stand up paddle boarding.  Isabelle absolutely loved it and kept wanting to go back out.  We had a lot of fun!

Isabelle out with Chloe

She's a natural!

We had a fantastic time being all together and just having fun.  I am so grateful for Ma, who makes it possible for us to create such wonderful memories that we will always cherish!