summer lovin'

We have had a blast of a summer! It has been crazy busy but a wonderful kind of busy!!!

The summer began with my very best friend moving home which is just how it should be!We have both traveled a lot so we have not seen each other near enough. However, just knowing she is only 30 minutes away instead of four hours just makes me really happy!

We went to Navarre for a week before the oil hit. We had a lot of fun! Cole is still taking two naps and so I stayed in a lot and red three books. That may not sound like your kind of wonderful but it was definitely mine! We also got out some and Cole and Jack had so much fun at the beach and the pool!

We started survival swim lessons for Cole which did not go well at first but he got the hang of it and the teacher and I are both very grateful. He is so very unpredictable that we agree that knowing what to do if he finds himself under water is crucial!

After a few weeks we took a break from swim class to go to Jackson Hole WY. It was definitely the highlight of our summer!
We were so excited and very worried about Cole's first flight! I brought so many activities and performed a literal circus act to keep the kids quiet and entertained. And then so did Cole. Before we had to put our seat belts back on when flying into Jackson Hole, Cole was on Jack's shoulders hoping up and down! If you have ever seen a wild monkey in a cage it looked a lot like that! Thankfully our first born has a pretty good sense of humor and was in a fit of giggles! I was so happy to be staying in Jackson Hole for 8 days for many reasons but one of them was that I would have a few days to psych myself back up for the flight home!
Jackson Hole is so very special to us! Brad and I honeymooned there and a main reason we decided on the name for Jackson. It is so beautiful there and peaceful! We were so grateful and forever thankful that Papa(Brad's dad) works for Lee Beaman who offered for the whole family to stay at his house there! And of course to Papa and Gigi who took us!
Each morning I woke before everyone put on a thick robe and fixed hot cider. (it was in the low 60's) I walked down by the river and down a little trail to some over- stuffed chairs with an ottoman and read! That is my favorite spot ever! I truly did not want to leave! However, we did not just rest on that trip! We had amazing adventures every day that will stick with us forever! At the house we fished, hiked, and soaked up the amazing Teton backdrop!We went on a wagon trail ride and were "attacked" by Indians, the rodeo twice, Yellowstone (where we saw a grizzly bear and old faithful), over Teton pass into Idaho where we had huckleberry milkshakes! We saw "Annie Get Your Gun "and an old fashioned "shoot out" in the town square! For the first time, we took a tram up the side of a mountain where we saw a moose below and the ski trails that people who must be slightly unhinged ski down each winter! At the top there was a ton of snow and ice and we had a snowball fight in June! There is a small lodge that serves waffles with Jam and hot chocolate so we huddled in there to get warm until the next tram came! It was an unforgettable trip that I am forever indebted for! I can not believe the charmed life that my children lead!
Then over the fourth (my birthday) my parents took us to a great place northern Alabama. It is a cottage community a lot like Seaside without the beach! It was a lot of adorable houses with great porches and southern charm! We had a lot of fun grilling out, watching fireworks, swimming, playing games and rocking on the front porch! It will forever be "our place"! We just loved it there!
We took a couple of smaller trips and had more family come stay with us which was very fun and then at the end of July I went on my first ever girls trip. We went to Charlotte NC. We had so much fun I barely could stand it! We shopped until we literally dropped into bed each night. We had amazing food, giggled like school girls, never quit talking, and truly did what we wanted every moment of every day!
I am not sure weather to call this summer lovin or lovin' summer but whichever it has been simply wonderful!