Norris Lake 2013

Jacob's aunt has a wonderful house on Lake Norris in Tennessee and we were able to spend a long weekend there relaxing as a family.  The lake has magical powers.  It forces you to rest.  Living on Lake Time is amazing and even the kids feel it.  They were flexible with naps and were pretty laid back (I mean, as laid back as kids get).

We drove down late on Thursday afternoon and spent two fun days on the boat.  From the first moments, Audrey hated it.  She cried and cried.  And who can blame her?  This doesn't look to comfortable:

We immediately found a new life jacket at a marina and life was much better:

She found a place to put up her feet.  And I promise, she was only out of her jacket for a moment.

Cheers with Aunt Christy

We weren't going to let the threat of rain keep us out of the water this weekend.  We got caught once while we were swimming, but on day two we were thankfully already dry in a marina when the rain starting pouring down. Jack had a great time.

And we kept Audrey entertained by singing "Little Fish".  Here she is entertaining us, saying "Oh no!"

Jack was entertained by taking pictures while we waited out the storm.  I think he took over 200 pictures.  Here's a good one:

This is what happens when you have to wait out a rain storm during nap time.  The kids both fell asleep on our way back to the house.

We're going back next month with three other families, and there will be 9 kids and 8 adults.  Let's hope Lake Time works its magical powers on that trip, too!

Audrey is one!

Audrey is one now!  It's amazing to me that just a year ago we were bringing this little one home from the hospital:

What a difference a year makes!

I think that Audrey is starting to turn a corner.  We've had a lot fewer days like these recently:

And many more of these:

She found a cookie at Kroger....

Maybe it's because she can finally get around on her own:

If you spend any time with her, you'll notice that she loves to sit with her feet up.  On the counter, on her toys, on her stroller, on the steps... anywhere.  She likes to prop up and get comfortable.  

Sweet Audrey Peanut, we love you!  We're so thankful that you've come into our lives.  You keep me humble, little one.  And you keep us smiling.  Your precious smile and bright eyes light up a room. You're a gift, for sure.

Here are a few more shots of her and her fun smiles:

And let's not forget about her birthday celebrations:

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

We've had a great morning celebrating Audrey!  I'll post her 12 month picture and some updates, but for now I'll just show you some of what we've been up to today.

The four of us went to Sugar n Spice for an early breakfast.  We've taken Jack for his first two birthdays, so we had to keep up with the tradition:

She preferred the eggs

and the orange was delicious

Look at all of those rubber duckies! 

After breakfast, Jack and I took Audrey to the zoo:

You can always find Audrey's feet propped up 

A mouthful of chocolate cookie

The birthday flag found its way over here today!

Thrilled for her first gift!

Time for the zoo!

Despite the kids' faces, we had a great time at the zoo this morning.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was so nice to go with another adult.  I've never been to the zoo when it's been that crowded.  It was packed.  But I'm so glad we made it happen! Thanks for joining us today, Dad!

Kings Island

Jacob's firm picnic was at Kings Island this year, and I was excited for about a month beforehand.  We haven't been to Kings Island in years, and knowing that Jacob really doesn't enjoy roller coasters, I thought that this would be my big chance to ride rides and enjoy the park.

The weather forecast wasn't great, but I wasn't going to let a silly thing like rain keep us away.  We arrived at Planet Snoopy just in time for the sky to open and the rain to come pouring down.  Thank goodness for a stroller with a large canopy, an umbrella, and small corners of the park with cover.

We waited out the brief park-clearing storm and then spent the rest of the night having a great time. We stayed out way past bedtime and packed in a few hours of great family time. After all of the kids' rides, I got to ride the Wind Seeker and the Racer by myself.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, guys!  I'm ready to go back.  So if anyone has an extra set of tickets and wants to watch the kids one afternoon, let me know.  The Diamondback is calling my name.

He was so excited to ride his first roller coaster

He was holding on tight

Much more his speed

Train ride with Alex

The Scrambler

Showing me that the racer was going so high!

Jack's new bed

We moved Jack from his crib to a toddler bed a few months ago.  Basically, we just took the front rails off of his crib.  He had a few difficult naps and evenings trying to learn how to stay in bed, but we've finally moved past the newness and he's been doing great at staying in his bed.

This past weekend we took the process one step further and completely converted Jack's crib into a big-kid bed. He now sleeps in a huge double bed.  He's been having a difficult time adjusting again, and has been sneaking out of his new bed to go to the potty, play with his toys, and basically good off.

So I wasn't completely shocked when I found him napping on his bedroom floor recently, completely asleep and seemingly comfortable.

But last night he made us both laugh out loud and question how we missed this happening:

This morning when I was asking him about this, he said "I hide from you, Mommy." I think he was trying to hide from us and fell asleep waiting!

Summer fun

This is the way to enjoy a summer day:  

Story time and lunch indoors with Aunt Louie, watermelon for dinner (yes, for - not with),and swimming and popsicles with your cousins.  I'd say they had a pretty good day!