Father Son Campout

My boys look forward to the father/son campout all year.  Well, in all actuality, they look forward to any campout ever.  They love to camp!  They love it so much, sometimes I wonder how they can be my children.  Because I so do not like to camp.  I would rather do pretty much anything than camp.  They must get it from their dad.  Luckily, Trent made it back just in time for the campout.  With all of his traveling back and forth to Atlanta during this time, we didn't even know if he was going to be able to take the boys on the campout this year.  The boys were so glad that he did make it home because this was their last campout with all of their Colorado buddies.

 These two are very practiced at putting up a tent.  Much to Trent's delight.

 So this was Preston's first father/son campout.  This was the first year Trent and I both felt he was campout ready.  I think he was in heaven.  Look at him with that giant stick, and no mom there to tell him not to run around with it or he might poke an eyeball out.   

With one of his best buddies, Andrew.  Don't they both look so pleased with themselves?  The boys all had a blast while the girls and I stayed at home, snug and warm in our nice, comfy, cozy beds.

Kindergarten Field Trip

Preston's last Kindergarten field trip was at the end of May.  They went to Ocean Journey.  Jilly and I decided to tag long at the last minute, and I'm so glad we did.  We had such a fun day with our Buds.

It had been a few years since we had been to the aquarium.  Preston was so little the last time we went, I don't think he even remembered being there before.

 He thought the divers were pretty awesome.  His favorite part was the otters, but I wasn't able to get a good picture.  All the other kids were loving the otters too, and there was a swarm.  

 P-Diddy with some of his class mates.

 With some of his class mates and the absolutely wonderful Mrs. Winkler.

 I just love this boy's cute face.  And his glasses.  His smile makes me ever so happy.

 He was so excited that his baby sister was there with him.  Per her usual though, she wouldn't look at the camera and say cheese.  She gets it from her uncle Dustin.  We have to be sneaky to get a good picture of her.

 Jillian was fascinated with all of the fish.  This was one of the first times I had let her out of her stroller while on an outing, and she was beyond thrilled.  And very active!  I had to keep a very close eye on her.

 Under the bubble, looking at the fishies.

And the jellyfish.  Another one of his favorites.

Jillian and I had a fabulous time tagging along with Buds on his field trip.  I think he enjoyed having us there as well.

Traveling Man

I have to tell you, March through the middle of June was a tough few months.  With his new position at work, Trent was in Atlanta all week every week before we all got moved over there.  He would fly back to Colorado on Friday night, usually getting in pretty late, just to turn around on Sunday afternoon and head back to Atlanta.  For three months we did this.  I look back at it now and wonder how in the world the kids and I got through each week without him.  To have him home for only a day and a half on the weekends just doesn't seem like enough.  The Lord must have given me a lot of extra strength and patience during that time for sure.

 Lou did enjoy all of the rides on the suitcase though.  She became very practiced at it.

We play the slug bug game a lot in our family, but since Trent was gone so much, we had to resort to virtual slug bug.  Every day he and I would send picture texts of all the slug bugs we would find that day, along with some trash talk.  It was a fun way to keep in touch with each other, besides our normal conversations and texting.  While virtual slug bug was fun, I am so grateful our family is all together under one roof now.

Birthday Boy!

So I know I'm way behind, but there are a whole bunch of things that I need to get recorded, for posterity's sake.  First and foremost, back in May, Colson had a birthday.  He was born on one of the coolest days of the year.  National Star Wars Day!  May the fourth be with you!  

No birthday is complete without pancakes.  Especially teddy bear pancakes.

Opening presents.  Spoiled rotten boy!

The Friday before his birthday, Jilly, Preston and I took Colson some lunch at school since his birthday landed on a Saturday this year.  Saturday birthdays are the best!  He of course chose Good Times for lunch.  His absolute favorite.  (He still hasn't gotten over it that there are no Good Times in Atlanta.)  Friday night Trent and I took him and his friends Ryan and Jared to see Iron Man 3.  They loved it!

The night of his birthday we had everyone over for birthday dinner.  Colson chose sloppy joe's this year, and as always for his cake and ice cream, chocolate with chocolate frosting and chocolate.  Ever since he was old enough to choose his cake flavor himself, he has always chosen chocolate with chocolate frosting.  

Birthday snuggles.

A rare picture of Dustin.  While he isn't looking directly at the camera, at least his face isn't covered.  And he's smiling to boot!

Jilly and grandma.  These two are best buds.  I'm pretty sure Jilly thinks grandma Guercio was placed on this earth just for her.  When grandma is around, she doesn't want much to do with anyone else.

Jilly and Montserrat getting ready for the balloon launch.

Make a wish birthday boy!

This was the first time Jilly said "balloon".  Except it sounded more like "doon".  I like doon better.

We always like to stay and watch the balloons until we can't see them any more.

Cute siblings.

He's not excited at all!  Can you tell?

I love this boy so much and am so grateful for the day he was born!  (If I had a dollar for every photo I have with Trenton photo bombing, I'd be rich!)

Grand Cayman: Day 5

Our final full day in Grand Cayman.  It was another very relaxing day.  We lounged around in the cabana and in the ocean all day.  I read two books while we were gone.  (Usually it takes me at least a month to get through one lately.  So two books in five days isn't too bad!)  We did walk down the beach a little ways to do some more snorkeling.

Another shot from our hotel room.  That would be a lovely view to wake up to every day!

The end of the day.  In all of the trips Trent and I have taken, this was the first one where I wasn't ready to come back home.  I could have easily stayed another few days.  Maybe with all of the craziness of getting ready to move, I didn't want to come back and have to face reality. ;)

Sunset from our balcony.

The rest of the pictures are by Jim the photographer.

 I forgot to put this one in earlier.  The pool at the property where we were staying.  Amazing!

 That night, they had a goodbye dinner for all of us.  There was live music, extremely delicious food, and fire pits on the beach.  We got to roast marshmallows and have s'mores for dessert.

We had the best time with everyone!  As I said before, Trent works with some of the most fun, amazing people!

And this is what Jilly and I did for the next few days after Trent and I got home.  Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle!  She didn't want me to put her down.  I guess she missed me!  And I was happy to let the rest of life go for a bit to get some snuggling in with my baby girl.

Grand Cayman: Day 4

On day four, the whole crew took a catamaran trip out to Sting Ray City.  One of the coolest things I've ever done!

The water was so beautiful!  I couldn't believe how clear and turquoise it was.

Miss Heather.

The gang.

Oh boy do I love this man.  He's the best!

The next ten photos courtesy of Jim the photographer.

Enjoying the sunshine and the wind in our hair!







Everyone from left to right: Scott, Heather, Mary, Teresa, Ken, Shri, Dipali, Brian, Jonelle, Jim, Nancy,  the Captain, Mary, Kristie, Macy, Shana, Rose, Trent, Heather, me, Chris.

 When I first jumped in the water and swam over to where the sting rays were, I have to admit, I was a tiny bit scared.  They were swimming all around us.  But then I told myself to "Get it together.  When are you ever going to be able to do this again?"  So I let go of my fear, and swam with the sting rays, and fed them, and tried my darndest to hold one.  I came close several times, but they mostly just swam across my arms.  Still very cool.  They are super soft to the touch.  They look like angels gliding under the water.

We also went and did a little snorkeling off the reef.  We tried to find the eel that lives over there, but no luck.  We did see lots of other cool fish though.  One of the crew members on the boat told me that there are a lot of parrot fish around Grand Cayman.  He said the parrot fish eat the coral, and they have these things in there throat that grind it all up, then they poop it out as sand.  They eat constantly and make a pound of sand a day, according to this guy.  But when all you eat is coral, I guess that's bound to happen.

 We also went over to Star Fish point to see the star fish.  There were only six there, but they were HUGE!

 The whole gang again, tired after a full day of swimming, snorkeling, and fun.  Or maybe it was just me that was tired.

Every stop we made, Trent and Chris had to jump off of the top of the boat.  There were no cliffs to jump off of in Grand Cayman since the whole island is flat, so they felt they needed to improvise.  It's a tradition of Trent and Chris's whenever they're on a trip together.

All smiles!

They got Kristie and the others to join in this time too.

It was another glorious day!