Kate's Special Day {2015}

I completely leave it up to Kate as to how much to make of her "special day" which is the anniversary of her joining our family.  Some years, we have simply gone for an ice cream cone.  Some years, we have gone for a mommy-daughter pedicure or made a pink cake.  This year, her special day fell on a Saturday.  So, Kate told us she wanted to go fishing, get a cupcake and order Chinese food.


So, we went to a local park to fish and explore.

Will climbed trees and made friends with the squirrels.

Will and Kate

Kate is all business when it comes to fishing.



She gets really mad when I try to take photos (see below).

I love seeing all three of my kids together.  I see it less and less these days as the teens are always busy:(


There was a cool art installation in the park...

The fish were not biting at the park, so we headed to the cupcake shoppe.

We stopped home to wash hands and eat our cupcakes.

Harry is addicted to fishing  (#thetugishisdrug) so he convinced us all to try another fishing hole.  And it was a success as they all caught fish.

Harry reeled in a big bass (video above).  And finally, Kate caught one...

She LOVES fishing but she is not a fan of holding the fish.  That is why she holds it out like that and makes a face.  I posted this on IG and someone thought it was fake.  Kate has caught a few fish and she even got a new rod and reel for Easter.

After fishing, Kate changed her mind about dinner.  She heard her brothers talking about chicken wings.  So, we went out for buffalo wings.  She is very other oriented.  She knows that her brothers like fishing and wings so she partially chose to do things they would enjoy too.

After dinner, I gave Kate this charm.  I had seen it a few weeks ago and knew it would be perfect for her even though I don't usually giver her a gift on this day.  Everyday, Kate says it's the BEST day ever!  She really does.  She finds the good in each and every day.  I love her positivity. 

And the day Kate joined our family truly was one of the best days ever!

At the Beach

We are taking our annual Seaside beach vacation a little earlier than we usually do this year.  It is just us here this week. My sister's family always joins us but they could not make it this week and we miss them so much!

We are having beautiful weather so far and it's been fun.  Of course, every year is a little different due to the ages/stages of our kids.  This year, Will gets up kind of early to go fishing (5am one morning).  That certainly did not happen last year! Harry alternates between fishing and skim boarding and trying to catch blue crabs.  And Kate is looking for friends at the pool and beach and this little lake off the beach that all the kids love.  It is kinda gross but all the kids hang out there. And Kate makes friends quickly:)

I always get a photo of Kate coming down to the beach on our first full day....

I cannot even express how much I love his bathing suit. I buy most of Kate's suits very inexpensively on Zulily, Target, etc.  But when I saw this one, I had to splurge.  It is from Albionfit and it is so well made and so beautiful.


Will and Harry are doing a lot of fishing...

Since Sunday was Father's Day we needed some beach snappies with the world's most awesome Dad.

Dave is an incredible father. He is so patient and loving with our kids.  He knows where to draw that perfect line between being a fun and "friend" kind of Dad and being in charge and shepherding them into being great adults. We are very blessed to share this life with him.  He always puts me and the kids first. Always.

People ask me sometimes why I don't mention my Dad on the blog.  My parents divorced when I was about 13 and I don't have a relationship with my Dad at all.  In general, I have been fine with that but I do think it is kind of sad that he does not know what incredible grandkids he has. That makes me appreciate the kind of father Dave is even more. I was lucky enough to have a fabulous step-father for about 20 years but he passed away from Parkinson's disease just before we adopted Kate.

Moving on, here are few shots from the first day we got here.  We arrived late afternoon and had the BEST lunch at the Red Bar in Grayton Beach!  Then we had a few hours at the beach that day...

Total coincidence but I love how our sand toy bag coordinates perfectly with Kate's suit:)

Dave and Will went to the grocery store and I unpacked the house and took Kate and Harry to the beach.

Kate and Harry caught a blue crab in the lake/tide pool thingy.  And they cooked it up and ate it.  They loved it.

These two have such a special relationship. I love it.

Dave and the kids on Father's Day....




 And then I jumped in for a quick shot too...

Yesterday we swam with dolphins in the ocean.  I put a shot on Instagram.  I'll post more soon.
Internet is very weak in our beach house but I'll try again tomorrow.

Mother's Day-just getting to it.

We had such a lovely Mother's Day this year.  It is our tradition to go out to a big brunch.  I will admit the tradition began in a very desperate/somewhat-selfish kind of way.  On my first Mothers Day, Will was in that very challenging one year old stage where he was not good in restaurants.  He was in that "let me throw everything on the floor and see how many times these crazy first time parents will pick it up" stage.  Most kids go through that phase. Luckily it did not last long.  But around Mother's Day that year, I was really missing eating out.  I missed long Sunday morning breakfasts.  So, when Dave asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day....I told him I wanted to get a baby sitter in the morning and have a long leisurely champagne brunch just the two of us. I needed a few hours "off" to just relax with my husband and not pick up food.  (Will was a VERY active little guy!) And then after brunch, we spent the afternoon with Will as a family.  So, that started our Mother's Day brunch tradition.  I think we only went that one time as a couple.  Because after that first rookie experience, we learned how to get our kids "restaurant ready" much quicker.

Anyway, my boys often say that they're favorite family tradition is Mother's Day brunch.  We all get dressed up (they even enjoy that!) and being teenage boys...they love the opportunity to eat as much really good food as they possibly can in a few hours. And boy do they eat!

I am 100% certain that they do NOT love the tradition of taking a million photos hoping to get one that I like where everyone is looking and smiling. But they oblige because well it is Mother's Day.

So, here are the one million photos we took:)

It's always nice to get a picture of just the two of us.. that doesn't happen often:)

(photo creds to Harry)

Then of course I need to get Dave with the kids...

How cute is Harry in that bow tie?!

Then I hopped in with the peanuts...

Then once we get to the brunch locale, I usually request a few more photos (just in case the ones on our porch did not come out good enough;)  I was secretly hoping that maybe we'd get one I could use for Christmas cards this year (I am not kidding!)

I know this is way too many photos.  But it is not often we are all dressed up and the family cooperates/indulges me so I take it when I can get it (Mother's Day and Christmas Card time!)

I took a few photos at brunch but not many.  They always have a craft spot where kids can make sand art or a candle.  Kate made a candle this year...




Then Harry and Kate got cotton candy.  They are such good buddies.  Seriously, I never would have guessed that they'd be the best of friends but they are.  Harry is going to be an awesome Dad.  He is awesome with young kids.







After brunch, we went home and got changed and the kids wanted to go fishing.  They are obsessed with fishing these days.  So, what's a Mom to do?  We went fishing in a little urban pond.

All Iphone Photos for fishing.

P.S.  The kids got me a great seersucker visor for our upcoming beach vacation too.  I was really wanting/needing a new one.  They also brought me coffee and lovely cards in bed.  It was a fabulous day spent with the people I love so much.

Thank you to my mom for teaching me the values and morals that I pass along to my children and for always being there for us.  And even though she is in heaven, I am so grateful to Dave's Mom as she raised an incredible man.