Our June the past two years has been all about swim.  Practices in the early morning.  Meets every Tuesday in the heat and humidity.  It’s a chore but the ones who do it seem to enjoy it.
Mark and I (and apparently Tobin) survived on coca-cola! I tried to get pictures of each of them swimming but rest assured, it was Liam, Silas and Ceili Rain.  They all worked hard and improved times throughout the season.  Ceili Rain loved each part but there’s not much that Ceili Rain doesn’t enjoy!

But by the end of season…swim parents are done.  Just done.  Mark was our model for this one.

Things were really hopping in May!  I mean REALLY hopping!  I thought it would get easier when June rolled around but then…swim.

Anyway, at the end of the month, we shipped Ace off with Papa and Grandmere for a mission trip and also had MRI #9 and a new brace fitting.  We managed to squeeze in a visit with Ge & Granddaddy in between Emmie’s appointments.

Ace worked hard and learned a lot on the mission trip.  We missed him so much.  I think he missed us a little but he told us later he really enjoyed having the quiet.

Hanging out with Granddaddy is always a treat.  They have matching heads! After all the appointments, we headed out to a local park.  It was a good stress reliever. We were even able to cool off in the splash pads! Tobin was done by the end of that day.

Emmie’s new Rigo brace.  She has adjusted very well to it.  Her orthotist told us she was the youngest at CHOA to be fitted for this brace.  We learned in June that up until that month, she was the youngest at CHOA to have a halo brace.  My girl, breaking the mold since 2014.

Our local symphony puts on a free concert at a local park once a year.  It’s always the weekend of Mother’s Day.  I believe that since they started this concert, we have missed possibly one or two concerts.  We’ve been going since Zoe was a toddler.  For the past several years, we declare this my Mother’s Day treat.  This year, I got to share it with Emmie’s birthday. Tobin enjoyed the music and cuddling with big brother. Our ladybug girl had quite the night.  She had a wonderful time but ate way too much and wound up throwing up towards the end of the night.  After that, she was much better.  Never a dull moment with our crew. We met up with several families from our church, picnicking and visiting. Beautiful sunset after we watched the clouds form and a rainstorm barely miss us!

I’m always on the lookout for things to do in Atlanta for free after appointments.  This find was awesome and we’ll definitely be back.  The Playable Art Park on Abernathy Greenway did not disappoint!  When we pulled in the kids kind of groaned thinking we were going to have to walk around and stare at sculptures.  When I told them that they could climb on them they flipped out!  This park was beautiful, clean and a big ol playground for all of us.  There were about six sculptures to run through, climb on, and hang upside down on.  We loved each activity!  They have picnic tables and clean restrooms too.  Those are big bonuses for us!

This was only about twenty minutes from the hospital too.  It’s a great way to run off doctor’s office pent up energy!

We ventured to the Georgia Renaissance Festival in April!  Mark and I went after we got engaged with Mark’s parents.  It was a fun time and when we ran across a deal that made it feasible for our large family, we ordered tickets and went for it!
I honestly didn’t get a ton of pictures.  This was one of those days that you just enjoy making memories.

And that we did!

Mark’s brother and his family ventured our way in April.  Nineteen kids (would have been 20 but one was away).  Four adults.  Lots of laughter, smiles. and love.  We are so blessed to have family that just love each other. Papa & Grandmere couldn’t physically be with us but we had them there in spirit and through technology! How we sat through meals! Tobin liked Uncle B’s beard! Cousins!  Two weeks (to the day) apart and a load of fun. Tobin thought Cousin C’s toe would be tasty! Ace stole C every chance he got. And O took Tobin every chance she could get.  Basically, I barely had to hold a baby the entire visit. Someone decided Tobin needed new hair. We volun”told” Uncle B that he would be dissecting animals.  Zoe was studying biology and what better way to study biology than with a veterinarian as a teacher? Water beads were made and Emmie and cousin A were ecstatic.

Liam taught his cousins how to play Axis and Allies.

The big kids loved the water beads too!
Soldier of the Lord!

Emmie decided cousin C was pretty fun to hold too. Tobin the Chunker with Cousin C.  It took nine babies but we finally have our big baby!Nineteen cousins!  The Lord has truly blessed us all!

For Christmas/New Year’s this year, we gave the kids a trip to Wilderness at the Smokies.  Four days of a water park at the end of the winter?  Yes!  We rented a villa and it was wonderful! Right on the golf course and a short drive to the water park. We decided to go out to eat for one night to Mama’s Farmhouse.  Yummy eats and fun activities for the kids.

Three littles as snug as a bug. It wasn’t all water play, we spent a good bit of time hanging out in the arcade too.

One night, the guys took a trip to the knife store.  It turned out to be a pretty cool store.

Ace won the Most Amazing Pool Hair Award. Mark and I snuck away for a lunch (and trip to the cast iron store).  We chose Paula Deen’s Family Restaurant.  It was absolutely outstanding.  We were stuffed and enjoyed every single bite.  We also got to watch snow fall (not stick, thankfully).

On the way home, we discovered Lay’s face bags.  Freaky, weird, and good for a quick laugh.

This was a fun trip before all the last stretch for our school year.