Happy 4th of July!

Another 4th of July, another bike parade.  Our number of participants in our family keeps dropping.  This year only Aubrey chose to ride.  The boys made sure they were well decorated, though.  They cheered her on and walked at least the few feet along the parade route to our house.  Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

All decorated and ready to ride!

Andrew decided he needed to add blue to his outfit...

...Davis thought this was a good idea, too.

Red, white, & blue brothers.

Happy 4th!

It was very bright out!

Skylar & Aubrey

Ready to cheer his sister on!

On your marks, get set...

...GO!

Walking the parade route (until it passed our house where they stopped & sat & waited for their sister to ride back by).

Summer so far.

Let's see, so far this summer we've traveled through five states, seen 11 relatives, had one emergency room visit (two if you count having the stitches taken out), sent Davis to Camp Nana/Grandma for almost 2 weeks, sent Aubrey to her first camp, and celebrated 17 years of marriage... and we're not even halfway through summer!  Davis comes home tomorrow and we head to the beach on Sunday where we will celebrate Aubrey's 5th (yes, I said 5th) birthday.  She wants to go see Despicable Me 2 and eat cake on the beach at sunset.  When we come back, Davis has a week of tennis camp (his own decision), Aubrey has dance camp the next week and the next two weeks, Andrew has a fishing camp and then a lego camp.  We'll be back in Tennessee at the beginning of August to celebrate Nana's birthday then it's back to school on August 20.  This is one packed summer!  Hope everyone has a great one!

Andrew thoroughly enjoyed a week of Davis being gone and Aubrey at camp.

June 22, 1996

June 22, 2013

Next stop- Tennessee!

After several days in Louisiana, the kids and I drove on over to Tennessee.  We made it in one day!  I have the absolute best little travelers ever!  Unfortunately, Daddy had to go back to South Carolina while we were in Louisiana so we missed being with him on Father's Day but we made him some cute signs and made sure we called him.  While we were in Nashville, we went to the Parthenon to see the Athena statue (they were absolutely amazed by it), spent some time playing in fountains with Molly Cate, and went to see very beautiful lights at night at Cheekwood.  Our visits keep getting better and better!  We spent one night with Grandma & Grandpa (we promise to stay longer the next time).  We may live in South Carolina but Tennessee will always be home to us.

Sending Daddy a message...

...we hope it made his day.

Heading to play in the water with Molly Cate.

Checking it out...

...getting sunscreen...

...& it's fun!

They loved it!

Snack time!  Davis' new thing is to do something silly in each picture.  So frustrating!  Hope he gets out of this phase soon!

Davis and Molly Cate in deep discussion.  He was really sweet with her, much sweeter than he is with his own siblings.  :)

All in a row. They were so silly!

Going to the Parthenon (I promise not all pictures of Nana are from the back).

Standing in front of Athena, they were in awe of her.  

Reading up on how Athena was made.

Centennial Park.

Waiting for it to get dark enough to see the lights at Cheekwood.

Beginning to get dark.  It was really pretty.

Beautiful light in the water.

Davis was my photographer.

Except for the silly face on Davis, I like this one.  

Aubrey loved the stands that lit up.  She put her map on each one.

My favorite picture of the night.  Davis did a great job on this one!

I love my Daddy!  We're glad he joined us!

Louisiana visit

After a dramatic start to our break, we headed to Louisiana to see Uncle Jon, Aunt Caroline, Isaac, & Ava. They came to visit us over Christmas so we wanted to go see them this time.  They were so sweet to host all 5 of us in their home.  We all had a great time!  The kids all got along amazingly well, no fights ever!  We visited a museum, swamp, a very fun playground, watched Ava have a piano lesson, and Davis even got to go see Isaac do karate (he was so proud of Isaac).  Caroline was the ultimate hostess!  Thank you so much for having us, we can't wait to see you the next time!

We were happy to be out of the car and just hang out.

My kids were right at home- Legos, Legos, and more Legos!

Davis & Isaac bonded over DS games.

Aunt Caroline brought out clay.

They loved it!

The "Hapkins" Club.  They were hilarious with their cloth napkins on their heads and secret passwords.

Aubrey loved having another girl around.

Everyone's favorite place- a gift shop!

Ava and Aubrey in front of the silly mirror.

Caroline & I had to try it out, too.

Aubrey in clown shoes...

...& Andrew in clown shoes.

Bubble time!

They all loved making the gigantic bubbles.

Aubrey "driving" the ambulance.

Taking care of her pet.  She says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

Dr. Andrew

I was playing with the different features on my phone.  This one is vintage.

I love the black & white setting.  If it weren't for the computer, this looks straight out of the 1950s!

Daddy giving Aubrey a lesson on how to use a rotary dial phone.

Brothers putting the bones together.

Andrew measuring Daddy's bones.

The grocery store!

Aunt Caroline even got in on the action.

Ava & Caroline checking out.

Andrew's turn.

Isaac's next.

The restaurant was everyone's favorite part.  Some of the dishes they served us were a little questionable, though.

Ava "ate" a GIANT hamburger!

Building...

...done! Amazing!!!

Andrew hanging out in front of the silly mirror.

Uncle Jon's turn.

Aubrey loved Ava's Jeep!

A girl has to make sure she looks good while driving!

Time for Ava's piano lesson.

They sat so quiet and still!

Too sweet!  Andrew was concentrating.  They applauded when she was done and Andrew told her she did a great job!

I love this picture of Ava!

Playing with my camera again.

All 9 of us together!

We loved this playground!  The swings were huge!

Davis wanted to try...

...I think he liked it!

Andrew climbing.

Silly Uncle Jon!

Aubrey loved all of Ava's dress up clothes!

Playing with my camera.  She is just too cute...

...see?

Headed for a boat ride on the swamp.

Excited and ready to go!

She was ready to watch for alligators.

All smiles even though it was super hot & sticky!

It was gorgeous!

I loved all the Spanish Moss!

Alligator!

We got pretty close!

Aubrey holding the skeleton of some bug.  She loved it!