New Floors

With our house being 10 years old it was in need of some new flooring.  We've been talking about it for a while and it has finally happened.  After much discussion we finally decided to go with hardwoods all downstairs and upstairs in the hallway along with the master and replacing the carpet in the other three bedrooms.  We got 53 boxes of wood delivered which was enough for the entire downstairs and the hallway but at the last minute we decided to do the master bedroom so that will be done at the beginning of July.    

The kids and I went to the beach for a few days and came home to our downstairs completely transformed.  The hardwoods look absolutely beautiful!  So excited to get rid of the old builder grade flooring.

Just need to get everything organized and back in place but very happy with the way it turned out.  

Pensacola Beach...Day 3

Spending as much time as we can at the beach since it was a short visit.  On our last day at the beach Andrew enjoyed sitting up on a little hill and playing and then sliding down it on his bum.

My silly little guy doing some exercises on the beach.

Here's Andrew sliding down the little hill on his bum.  He's so funny!

A quick visit to the beach on our last night before dinner.  It was actually quite windy since rain was coming in.

Victoria enjoying her last trip to the beach for a while.

The water was really rough and choppy but it didn't bother us since we were just playing in the sand.  Enjoying all those last moments!

Photo with my sister and our kiddos.  Whenever we get together we always take a photo like this.  It's so fun looking back at these since we started having kids.

Team Dennison on the pier after having an ice cream treat for dessert.

So long Pensacola Beach!  We had fun but definitely missed Daddy.  Looking forward to our next beach trip...definitely my kind of vacation!

Pensacola Beach...Day 2

Our first full day at the beach and the kids were ready for some digging with their shovels.  Julia has been asking for a bikini so I ordered this cute one online.  Of course it had to be pink!

Alexander and Julia did lots of digging...they were hard at work!

After all that work they were ready for a snack.

Here goes Andrew carrying lots of 'stuff' again.

Cute little beach bum!

Having fun playing with the sand.  Julia loves playing in the sand and even rolled around in the sand which made for cleaning up a bit of a challenge.  Let's just say she had sand in her hair for a few days.

Alexander isn't much into taking photos so this was the best one I got.

The water was more greenish brown on this trip compared to last year when it was very blue but it was still great!

Victoria makes an appearance on the beach.

Looks like she's happy to be on the beach too!

She even got to experience the waves!

Pensacola Beach...Day 1

Kind of a last minute decision to go to the beach and meet up with my sister but so glad we went...we had heaps of fun!  Thomas couldn't go since he took off time for our trip to Disney and then he missed about a week of work since he was sick.  We could only use the condo for a few days since it was already rented out but since our floors were getting done it worked out perfect for us to be out of the house.  Don't quite know what we would have done with our whole first floor under construction???  I was a little concerned about the 5 1/2 hour trip alone with two kids but it went very well and we were thrilled to be at the beach!

Since we only had a few days we didn't waste anytime and headed to the beach once we got settled.

Alexander joined us for some beach fun and of course played with his truck...this boy LOVES trucks!

Andrew was all about carrying around lots of 'stuff.'

She really is under that hat....somewhere!

Cousins working together to fill up the dump truck. Teamwork!

Just like last year Andrew would get excited as the waves would come and crash up on shore.  He would just giggle...it was so cute.

Julia obviously doesn't mind getting sand everywhere.  Everyday she was absolutely covered.

Enjoying the waves crashing up on her as she relaxed at the beach and loving every minute of it!

Love this!  He had a blast and I loved hearing him giggle as the waves broke on shore.

Hardest working boy at the beach...shoveling away.

Since Andrew's birthday is coming up and we won't have extended family in town we decided to celebrate with my sister and her family with a cookie cake decorated with emergency vehicles.  Happy almost 3rd birthday Andrew!  What a great first day at the beach!

Strawberry Picking

Normally we always go strawberry picking as a family but Daddy was still recovering from the spinal tap test he had done and didn't want to be out in the sun for a while bending over so he stayed home and relaxed.  Instead we went with Grace and her mom and sister while her Daddy was busy mowing the lawn.  We bought two buckets so Mommy had a lot of picking to do and it wasn't all that easy since the field was picked over a bit but nevertheless we headed home with two full buckets of strawberries that were delicious.  Nothing better than fresh fruit!

Andrew was more of a helper this year and didn't smoosh the strawberries as he picked them nor was his shirt completely covered in red strawberry juice from eating so many strawberries.

Andrew, Grace, Julia and Ava not really helping us pick strawberries but having fun!

Andrew and Julia are ready to go home and clean the strawberries so we can eat them.  Yummy!

Love these two kiddos with all my heart!

Allowance

Julia has always been quite helpful around the house and she's always had chores such as picking up her toys and making her bed.  She has even helped out with laundry, cleaning, setting the table and clearing the table and things like that.  We've heard and read at the age of 5 or 6 is a good time to start giving your kids allowance.  We decided to give her $1 for every year old she is hence she is 5 years old so she gets $5 a week.  It sounds like a lot but she's going to be responsible for paying for more of the stuff she wants as compared to us paying for it.  We're hoping to teach her the value of money and how to save and spend it wisely because you only get a certain amount.  Thus far she has saved all of it and put it in her piggy bank.  I need to get to the bank and open up a local account for her so she has easy access to her money and start teaching her about interest.

Sims Lake Park Playdate

Now that school is out for the summer it's time for some play dates!  One of the best things about summer is not having to get up early and rush out the door.  Instead we meet up with friends around 10:00 or 10:30.  Today we met up with dance friends at a park we don't normally get to during the school year since it's a little farther away. We planned on playing on the playground, feeding the ducks and having a picnic lunch.  Unfortunately you aren't allowed to feed the ducks anymore but it's still a great park and the kids had heaps of fun!

Lots of laughing from these girls and even Andrew joined them on the tire swing for some fun.

Picture Day at Ballet

Cute little Julia all ready in her tap costume for picture day at Cumming Dance Academy.

Looks like everyone is all ready for pictures.  Don't they look cute?

Such a pretty and sweet girl!  Love how you can see me in the mirror.

Julia with her best buddies from ballet/tap this year.  McKinzley, Ava, Julia, Reagan, and the twins Peyton and Presley.  They are all so cute!

Exercise Anyone?

Look at this silly boy!  He said he was doing some exercise...I guess he takes after Thomas in the exercise department.  Maybe he can teach me some of his moves.

Julia's Last Day of Preschool

After our Disney trip we got back and Julia had only two days of school left.  They had a graduation program at night for the 4 and 5 year old classes.  Julia and Grace all ready to go upstairs for the program.

In addition to singing some cute songs they had a slide show along with handing out their certificates.

Look at cute little Julia!  Love this girl!  She did great singing and I could even hear her voice at certain times throughout the program.

All smiles with her certificate.

Hard to believe after two years at Cumming First Baptist Church Preschool she's moving onto elementary school.  She's growing up rather quickly for me.  We're so thankful for her time in preschool...Julia absolutely loved going to school and we hope that attitude continues as the years go on.  

Julia with some of her friends from ballet.

We're so proud of how hard Julia has worked and how smart she is and more than ready for Kindergarten.

Julia with Grace and her older sister Ava.

Silly girls and all smiles!

We absolutely love that Julia and Grace became best friends and were in the same class two years in a row.  Julia made such a great choice by becoming friends with Grace and we hope she continues to become friends with girls like Grace.  We're sad they won't be going to the same elementary school next year but so happy they'll be in the same dance class together in the fall.  Love these two girls and their sweet friendship.