Summer Hodge-Podge

We have been super busy this summer! I don't have a lot of time to tell you what we've been up to, but I was able to upload some pictures for you (plus, I know that's really all you want to see!) We are headed to the beach again today and next weekend, so I'm sure I will have lots more pictures to share after Labor Day.

Playtime with Silas!

Arden has been able to pull up in her bed for a couple of months now. This is how I usually find her in the mornings or after a nap. She normally has a big smile on her face and is ready to go :)
We had the joy of keeping T and TT(from Lincoln Village) on Thursday nights and during the day on Fridays for 5 weeks before school started. We really loved having them in our home--they played so well together and with Arden and were also big helpers around the house! We really miss them and hope they can come back soon. (They took these pictures of themselves--didn't they do a great job?!)

At the end of July, we took Arden to her first Huntsville Stars baseball game. Even though it was extremely HOT, she had a great time--especially when she made friends with the 3yr. old boy behind us :)

Uncle Brad (Geoff's brother) came for a visit at the end of July. Arden enjoyed spending time with him--she hopes he can visit again really soon!

We spent 10 days at the beach at the beginning of this month. It's definitely a different experience now that we have 2 babies with us, but we had lots of fun. We can't wait to spend the next two weekends there too!

Arden's first experience with corn on the cob. She LOVED it--this kept her quiet and busy during dinner :) I think we will have to try this more often!

On a dolphin-watching cruise

Sorry, no pictures of dolphins (even though we did see lots!), but here's two exhausted babies!

Arden must be REALLY tired to fall asleep like this!

Eating at Lulu's before heading home. I couldn't get them to look at the camera at the same time because they were too interested in eating crackers!

"Hmmm, how can I get to that cracker piece before Silas gets it?"

"Since I can't reach it, I guess I will just eat the table!"

Boston

We had a great time in Boston and Cape Cod! I don't want to bore you with all the details of our trip, so I just tried to post lots of pictures and will give you a caption or two along the way so you know what we were doing. I will say that Arden traveled SO MUCH BETTER this time than she did in Dallas, so we were very relieved! She had no trouble with flying (except she didn't want to be held for so long!) and she slept great in the hotel crib! We are so proud of her--our only wish is that she would be able to remember these fun trips. Oh well, I guess we will have to travel lots of fun places when she's older! Enjoy the pictures!

Considering we had a super early morning flight, I think we look pretty good--we'd been up since 3:30am!

When in Boston, you've got to go to Cheers!

Hanging out in Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market
A view of Boston from outside our hotel

Great family picture (minus the giant strand of hair in my face!)

We spent a rainy afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum. Although Arden was much too young for most of the activities, they did have a section just for little ones like her.

She seemed to enjoy everything, except for this fish tank! As soon as we stood her up beside it, she started crying, and didn't stop until we picked her up! We just couldn't help but take pictures of her :)

Butterflies landing on Daddy and Arden's shadows!

The "Arthur" show--starring Daddy and Arden!

And even though we aren't Red Sox fans, I just couldn't resist this picture!

We spent one morning at the Boston Aquarium. Luckily, Arden wasn't afraid of these big fish!

"ummmm, I'm not too sure about this Daddy!"

She even got to touch crabs and starfish--how fun!

We spent some time walking around Harvard and Cambridge--can you see how much Arden enjoyed it?!

Arden and I rode a carousel one evening. She was excited to sit on the horse until it started moving up and down!

Arden's first beach experience! Unfortunately the water was way too cold for us to get in. Thankfully the beach Arden will grow up with (Gulf Shores) will be lots warmer than Cape Cod!

Everything about Cape Cod was beautiful! This was taken on Martha's Vineyard.

Enjoying God's creation on Martha's Vineyard

Whale Watching in Provincetown--we had a great trip!

This particular whale was very friendly. He stayed by our boat for probably 20 minutes. He went from side to side, "waving" and showing off for all of us--it was so exciting to get so close to a whale!

Our family picture taken by Ryan and Kelly from "The Office"! If you look closely you can see their reflection in the window! We are HUGE fans of the show, so we were so excited to meet them!

Eating dinner at The Flying Bridge in Falmouth, MA

I have so many more pictures I could share, but these were some of the best. We had such a great time spending time together and seeing parts of the country I had never experienced. I am so thankful that I am able to travel with Geoff--what a blessing it has been! And even though Arden won't remember these fun times, she will have lots of pictures to look back at!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

I've had those song lyrics in my head ever since we've been home and that's exactly how I feel! We've been home for just over a week now and I've been going non-stop this whole time! I really need to post pictures from our trip so you can see what an awesome time we had but I just haven't found time to do that while tutoring at the Linc, spending time with Geoff's parents this weekend, and working at Sylvan! Not to mention all the "catching up" at home that has to be done when you return from a trip--especially LAUNDRY! So, hopefully be this weekend I will be able to share our trip with you!
In the meantime, please enjoy this super cute picture of Arden from her 8-month photo session! Carla (0ur photographer) came over Saturday morning and got some great shots--I can't wait to see the rest of them!

8 Months

Happy 8 months to our little pumpkin! We are out of town, so I haven't been able to take her picture with the bear, but I thought I would post this adorable picture for you. She looks more like a "big girl" with every picture we take!

I was going to post tonight about the first part of our vacation, but we had trouble getting Arden to sleep and now I'm exhausted and ready for bed myself! Hopefully I will find some time in the next couple of nights to post some pictures for you--otherwise I'm going to have ALOT of catching up to do when I get home! We've had a great trip so far and I can't wait to share what we've been up to!

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful 4th of July!