Photo Overload

(and just a day and a half to the beach!!!!!)

Thought I'd share some photos with you, since I haven't given an update yet on my nephew Garrett's birthday party or our Fourth of July celebration! Both events were BIG successes, with lots of fun, food, friends, fun, and laughter! (What better ingredients for a good time?)

My adorable nephew turned seven on the 5th, but we celebrated early on Tuesday. It was a Harry Potter celebration which, of course, made me very happy!! (LOL!! Yes, I'm still all a-twitter about the movie coming out this week and the book in just over two weeks!!) We had a yummy cookie cake (my favorite...or one of my favorites!) that I ate WAY too many pieces of (I have NO self control where those are concerned!),cool HP goody bags (how cute is that one with a pic of Harry Potter as a baby on it? that was Sydney's), and even a HP trivia contest.

A few pics from that celebration...

And then we celebrated the Fourth of July with a big lake bash! We went to the lake with Delaney's softball team and all their families, and had a great time! Hanging out on the pier, soaking in some rays, watching Gary ride (or attempt to ride!) this big giant raft that's pulled behind a boat (not sure of the "official" name for it, but it was fun to see Gary ride it!), watching the girls ride that and the sea-doos and the boat MANY times over and over, eating some of the best ribs I've ever had in my life, playing with Scout, reading some by the lakeside, and watching an awesome fireworks display over the water... just a good way to celebrate the special day!

A few pics from that celebration...

And then I just had to share this pic too, although it's almost a month old now. It's a picture that my sweet friend, Lola, took of Scout and I at the writers conference last month. Lola is 92 and, no doubt, has the most energy of anyone I've just about ever seen! She comes to the conference every year, still writes all the time, and looks at least twenty years younger than she is! When she saw me holding Sydney at the end of a very long day, she whipped out her phone and took this precious picture of the two of us. She emailed it to me yesterday, so thanks Lola!!

And now...

I'm SO excited because we have just over a day until we head out to the Beach!! We will be spending the next eight days in Panama City Beach; we're going"officially" to attend the USFA World Series with Delaney's softball team (there will be around 30 teams, from as far off as Indiana and Texas, so it will be a ton of fun just being around so many girls and teams and seeing how we play!), but we're "really" going to have a beach vacation!! LOL

We all love the beach and can't wait to get our toes in the warm sand!! Of course, I will try and get online when I can to upload with some of our memories and photos!

For now...

I am in the midst of washing, drying, and packing clothes for all of us. (I'm actually acconplishing it pretty well and am proud that I think I will be done a little early!). Because McKenna will be spending the two weeks after we get back from the beach everyday from 8-5 at color guard camp and then at band camp, we're taking time tomorrow to go to the art museum. It's something we wanted to do this summer, but not sure when we'd have the chance to do it again anytime soon! So...since I've done so well with my vacation packing...we're going there in the morning! The kids are taking sketch pads (they like to try their hand at painting what they see in the museum) and we may also try out one of those ethnic restaurants I had on my 20 Things to do This Summer list.

I am getting around to getting to all of your blogs, but the Fourth kinda wiped me out and I'm taking a while getting back to my routine. I do hope all of you had a wonderful holiday, and I'll pop back in here one more time before we head to... The BEACH!!!!! (Did I tell you I'm excited about it?)