Houston Trip

We got a wild hair a few months ago and decided to all go to Houston for the Mississippi State season opener.  It was this past weekend against Oklahoma State (but played in Houston).  My cousin Mark has lived in Houston since just after our wedding but we've never had the chance to get out there to see them.  His kids are teenagers now but love and are so good with Bryce and CeCe. 

So excited to be flying and to get to see Mark, Ashley, Harrison, Ben and Anna!  

They wasted no time playing with the cousins and had a great time playing in the pool! 

Saturday morning we got dressed in our Maroon and White and headed down to the stadium to meet up with friends.  My roommate from college was there with her husband and Anthony's roommate was there with his family.  It was so much fun seeing everyone!  

 We paid for nose bleed seats but when we were walking to our section someone handed us tickets for great seats about 40 rows from the field!  

Halfway through the first half our friend Ryan called and said there were extra seats near him and his family so we walked over there to sit with them.  On the way we ran into......BULLY!!!!   

CeCe had fun playing with Lydia, Ryan's oldest.  

And warmed up to Jessica, Ryan's wife quickly too!  

Before the game we tailgated with friends but forgot to get a group picture.  We took this one after the game before we headed back to Mark and Ashley's.  Notice Bryce's face...he was so upset about the loss!  Nothing anyone said could get him out of his funk.  Once we got in the car he wrote "Oklahoma State is worse than Ole Miss".  This made him feel better and he moved on from the loss!  So glad that is the worst thing he can come up with to say :)  

We left Sunday around noon to catch our flights back to Savannah.  Things were going great until we had a 3 hour delay in Charlotte.  We ended up getting home at 1:00am!  We were zombies yesterday but I decided we just needed to keep moving.  We went to the Sand Gnats game at noon and then hit the pool.  Kids both were in bed early last night and had to be woken up for school today.  I feel back on track after sleeping so much last night so hopefully they do too.  

CeCe had her first real day of Pre-K today and LOVED it!  She got in the car grinning and told me all about her day without me even asking.  So happy!!!  

Pre-K

Our little bird started Pre-K today!  Today was just a half day (1/2 being just 1.5 hours since her full day will only be 3 hours!) to meet her teachers and other students in her class before school really starts next Tuesday.  She and I have really settled into a great routine since Bryce has been back in school and I think we are both a little sad for that to end.  She was excited about going today though!  Her teachers are Mrs. Hill and Buttercup (just Buttercup!).  She has one good friend from last year in her class which was a relief to both of us.  

When I picked her up after the 1.5 hours she had nothing but good things to tell me, but was a little emotional about other things (couldn't get herself buckled into carseat and started crying, which is unlike her) so I think it is going to take a little while to get into the swing of every day school.  She ADORED her teacher last year and although I had reminded her over and over again that she would be with a different teacher in a different classroom, I think it really hit her today that this year will be different.  I know she is going to love it after she gets used to the new teachers and routines.  She's excited about learning things that Bryce knows, like reading and math!  

Thank you Kiki for the precious dress!  

Miss Bird has really gotten into dressing up and wearing accessories lately.  She won't leave the house without a bracelet on and insists on wearing her cross necklace all the time "like you do Mama".  She got really into it the other day and wore this for elementary school carpool!  

In Bryce news......

Yes, that's a broken finger.  He broke it playing baseball (surprised?!) with a friend.  They were actually using a tennis ball but Bryce decided that since it was just a tennis ball that he didn't need a glove.  Lesson learned.  It's been broken for a week and a half and it's not bruised anymore but still slightly swollen.  The little boy he was playing with when it happened is healing from his own broken finger from baseball so his mom passed on the splint he used.  We've been keeping the splint on and taping his two fingers together and that seems to be working.  The xray showed that the growth plate wasn't involved so our pediatrician said seeing an orthopedist isn't necessary.  It's absolutely killing Bryce that he can't play baseball.  Just this morning I caught him trying to put his hand in his glove but he couldn't even get it all the way on because it hurts too bad.  We are hoping that by next week he can start batting again, but catching even with a glove on will take weeks.  Poor thing was lost at first not knowing how to play (because seriously, all he does is play baseball when he's not at school!) but he's realizing that bike riding, hide and seek and swinging are fun too!  Oh, and he missed his very first baseball tournament because of the finger!  

He's still very happy with 2nd grade!!  He comes home happy, doesn't complain about doing his homework, and gets ready in the mornings with a smile on his face.  It's wonderful!   

2nd Grade!

Bryce started another school year on Monday, I can't believe he's in second grade already!!  (CeCe doesn't start Pre-K until after labor day).  We met his teacher, Mrs. Parsons, last Thursday and she seemed really nice, organized and experienced.  I liked her immediately! He's had a wonderful week and is so happy these days!  The last two years the first few weeks of school haven't been perfect (K was MUCH worse than 1st though, he adapted to 1st quickly).  He's made new friends and gets to see his old buddies on the playground each day.  He is in the gifted program this year and has really enjoyed the time spent in there so far.  He was excited to tell us that he will get to do hard math problems in there! We are looking forward to another great school year!  

Sand Gnats Baseball Camp

Bryce just wrapped up his second Sand Gnats baseball camp of the summer.  The first one was a one day Father/Son camp.  This one was 3 days with no parents.  He loved it!!  

They did warm ups and stretches with the strength coach each morning when camp started.  

CeCe and I hung around to watch a good bit.  The weather was nice and we enjoyed watching the activity going on.  The last day she chose to go back and watch Bryce over going to the pool!  Sweet sister is so supportive of big brothers activities!  

Here some of the kids are warming up for a home run derby competition.  One of his favorite players, Eudy Pina sat down next to him and they were chatting about something!  

Batting practice.  They rotated between pitching, infield, outfield and batting each day.  

After lunch on the last day (camp ended after lunch) he wanted his picture taken with these guys:

Marcos Camarena (pitcher)

And Eudy Pina (right fielder)

 Bryce's cheerleader!

 Before the Sand Gnats game last night all the players were called onto the field for certificates from camp.  He thought that was very cool! 

CeCe sitting in her 'daddy chair' at the game last night.

Today after church I took Bryce and his friend Will back to the Sand Gnats game (because clearly we hadn't been up there enough over the last 4 days!!) for a special kids club day.  The kids in the kids club were able to get autographs and pictures with some of the players. They had fun doing that and watching the game together.  After the game kids could run the bases so we stayed for that too.  It was a fun but hot day!  Luckily the seats are covered with huge fans so it wasn't miserably hot.  The heat index was over 100 today though! 

Glad we had such a fun busy weekend because school starts back for Bryce tomorrow.  BOO!! I'm SO not ready for our summer to end.  I'm excited about second grade though.  Rumor has it his teacher is the best!  CeCe doesn't start until after labor day so I'll still have one of my buddies for 3 more weeks! 

Olive Branch

After West Point we said goodbye to Anthony and Reagan and drove up to my parent's house.  We had a great week in Olive Branch!

We couldn't keep CeCe off of the trampoline! 

And between baseball and the swimming pool Bryce was never inside! 

So proud of how far CeCe has come with her swimming this summer!  In early June she didn't want to get her face wet and now she will jump off the diving board and swim to the side all by herself! 

Saturday I drove to Jackson, MS to visit with my college roommate and the kids had a blast staying with Cappy and Papaw Ruff.  They went downtown to the farmers market, rode the trolley and had ice cream.  

Sunday we all went to the Redbirds baseball game.  Perfect weather for a July baseball game!  We stayed the whole time and the kids got to run the bases after the game.  

CeCe discovered the 'old dance costume closet' and was in heaven.  She loved going up there and putting outfits together and coming down to show them off and pose. It was awesome!!  And exactly what Cappy had in mind when she saved all of these!!  

The Dizzy Dean world series was going on in Southaven the week we were there so one day I took Bryce up there to watch some baseball.  We had a fun time watching a few different games.  We noticed this huge inflatable water slide from the baseball fields and decided to try it out that afternoon.  He LOVED it.  CeCe decided it was too tall for her so she didn't even try it.  I think she made a good decision! 

We love you Cappy and Papaw Ruff!  Thank you for a great week at your house!  

West Point

Next stop was West Point!  We had a great time visiting with Kiki and Papaw Duke.  Kiki is doing much better and getting around the house great now.  She's still weaker and gets tired quicker than she used to but we are so proud of how hard she's worked and how far she's come!  We spent time playing outside, playing at Papaw Duke's warehouse and eating some delicious food!  

Lake Time

First stop on our 2.5 week vacation was the Lake!  We had a great time there with Cappy, Papaw Ruff and all the Williams.  We had wonderful weather and spent every waking minute outside (except for a few rain showers that we enjoyed from the screened in porch)

Sweet Winnie is getting so big!  CeCe has the best time with her

 I love watching my kids play and swim here!  

Jasper enjoyed playing baseball with Bryce and Cappy. He would ask specifically to play with a hard ball and mitten.  Such a sweet boy!  

Now that CeCe will go underwater she can finally take lake baths!!  

Beautiful girls

The Fab 5.  Winnie wouldn't let go of CeCe's hair! 

Bryce did a great job skiing this year!  He popped right up each time.

Cappy, Papaw Ruff and the Fab 5 

This board was part of a door frame in my grandparents kitchen.  They started measuring their 4 boys at some point and since then the wives, grandkids and now great grandkids have been added.  When we sold their house someone had the perfect idea to save this board and move it to the lakehouse.  We've since added another white painted board since the family is so large and we want to keep adding the newest generations on there.  I had fun measuring my kids against my heights at ages 7 and 4.  So far I'm the shortest of us all!