Summer's End Part II

I was supposed to post this many, many days ago but again life took over.  Thank you to my sister Bekah who has persistently called me each day for the past 15 days to remind me that yet another day has past and I have not kept my promise of the next "Summer's End" blog update.  Thank you sister for keeping me on my toes (and quite aware of my blogging failures.)

We have had a busy couple of weeks trying to get back in to the swing of school and Mother's Day Out.  Hannah has started her 3 day a week 4K program and Lily goes to Mother's Day Out twice a week.  Fridays are now my day with just Lily and it has been quite an adjustment for my little one.  Lily is used to having Hannah by her side all day when she is home and has been a bit thrown off by her solo time with Mommy.  She asks quite often where "Hannie" is and does not like having to drop Hannah off at school.  I am working hard to show her though that solo time with Mommy = lots and lots of fun!!!  Here are my girls on their first day of school last week...

Ok so now as promised I want to finish up my posts on our August adventures...

A few weeks ago my friend Melissa and I packed up our kids and left Birmingham for a quick overnight trip to Huntsville. Our sweet friend Rachel and her family just moved to Huntsville from Columbus, MS at the end of July and she was nice enough to invite us up to see her new home and let all of our kids have some play time.  Rachel, Melissa, and I are friends from high school and we, along with a few others, always make it a point to get ourselves and our children together a few times a year. 

This is Rachel's beautiful almost 3 year old daughter, Campbell...

and this is her sweet son Davis...

They live in a very cute neighborhood built around several ponds. The ponds are stocked with fish so we were able to take the kids fishing after supper.  This was Hannah's first time to ever fish and can I just say that after catching 3 fish she is now hooked :)

Her first priority when we arrived back in Birmingham was to figure out exactly how she was going to get her very own fishing pole.

The Franklin boys, Thomas and Hudson, were both great fishermen...

I am pretty sure that the worms were not big fans of Campbell's but she sure liked them...

The fish were actually tiny but I don't think the kids would have been any happier catching a giant snapper...

Rachel was such a sport putting on all the worms and taking off any fish that were caught...

All the kids were worn out after our evening of playing and fishing and so thankfully everyone, including Lily, slept soundly all night long.

The next morning we headed to Earlyworks Children's History Museum.  It is a beautiful children's museum full of really fun stuff like a talking tree, an old general store, a keel-boat, and a great children's play area.  I wish I had better pictures but the talking tree greeted us when we walked in and terrified Lily so she was on my hip the rest of our time at the museum.  Oh and my poor Hannah was having a massive allergy attack so I was handing out tissues right and left.  The camera took a back seat to my kids and so I don't feel like I did Earlyworks justice with my pictures...it really was so interesting and pretty.

This colorful tree was in the atrium and was a great place to sit and have a little snack...

The kids could climb on a wagon (that is the huge boat in the background)...

and explore the process of making cotton...

They had a giant building area with huge tinker toys and legos...

The kids learned about the history of music in Alabama with larger than life instruments...

and had a great time in the play area for the little ones...

This is a great little museum and definitely worth a visit if you have children and are ever in Huntsville.  We left the museum, had a yummy lunch at a little restaurant in downtown Huntsville and then after a super quick visit to our favorite store Dirt Cheap...yes Dirt Cheap...we headed home.  (If you ever come across a Dirt Cheap store make sure to stop in.  Rachel introduced us all to the store when she lived in Columbus and they just opened one in Huntsville.  They get the overstocks, etc. from stores like Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  We have found some of the biggest bargains EVER at this little hole in the wall store.)

Our trip was over way too quickly but it was lots of fun for the kids and the adults.  Thanks Rachel for a great time and we hope to see you again soon!!!

I will be back soon with our final post Summer's End Part III. 

Summer's End

We have been trying to make the most of the end of summer by enjoying as much time as possible with our friends.  School starts next week for Hannah and Mother's Day Out for Lily and I must admit that I am a little sad.  This August, with no Mother's Day Out, no school, and no schedule, has by far been my favorite month of summer. We have played, baked, gardened, traveled and just enjoyed being together all day morning til night.  We have actually had so much going on the past couple of weeks that I haven't had time until now to go through all of our pictures and sit down and write a post.  I can't possibly fit everything in one post so I am going to have the next few posts recap all that we have been up to lately.  So without further adieu....

We celebrated National Aviation Week by taking advantage of free admission to the Southern Museum of Flight.  For those of you here in Birmingham it is located close to the Birmingham Airport and is worth a visit.  There were lots and lots of airplanes to see and thankfully most all were inside so we did not have to brave the August heat.

We prepared for our visit by making our own paper airplanes with Daddy...

Hannah and Lily had a good time flying these around the house and carried these little planes with them everywhere we went for about a week.

When we arrived at the museum we found planes all around us.  They were inside and outside, suspended from the ceiling...

and on the ground...

Hannah and Lily were even able to sit in a cockpit and pretend to fly...

The museum also had a children's area where you could build your own airplane out of things like legos...

I was surprised at how large and family friendly this little museum is and we will definitely go back for another visit.  Fyi...I also think this would be a great place for a birthday party (particularly for a boy) if you are looking for something a little different and fun.

That same week Hannah's classmate Mary invited all of the girls from her upcoming 4K class over for a little swim party.  Hannah was so excited to see all her friends and of course spend some time in the pool.

The girls (along with a few younger siblings) had a great time swimming and playing together.  We are looking forward to seeing all of these sweet faces on a regular basis when school starts back next week!

I will be back tomorrow with our Summer's End Part 2...

Public Service Announcement

It is going to be bright and sunny out there today so don't forget your shades...

A visit from Rachel

My sister Rachel came to visit last weekend...

Rachel lives in Nashville and is a student by day and an employee of one of my favorite stores in the whole wide world, Anthropologie, by night.  She is super busy and so her trip was quick but filled with fun.  Hannah was so excited about Rachel's visit that she woke up early, dressed herself and came in to the kitchen and asked "Is she here yet, is she here yet?!"  This from my oldest child who usually appears in the morning still half asleep, hair going every which way, and drags herself in to my bed.  She was excited to say the least.

Hannah and Lily had a great time with Rachel.  They laughed...

They cried...

They played...

They read...

They celebrated (Rachel had a birthday last week)...

By the end they were pooped...

It was a fun but, as always, way too short of a visit and we hope Rachel will come see us again very soon.

Lots to report

We have had a busy past couple of weeks in our house and I stepped away from the blogging world so that I could keep up.  I am back, life is seemingly under control and I have LOTS to report. 

First up I was able to leave for a girls weekend at the beach with some of my precious college friends while Matt stayed home with Hannah and Lily.  My sweet friend Susannah graciously allowed us to stay at her parents house in Rosemary Beach.  It is always such a treat to stay in this beautiful house...

It really is like a dream when you wake up to this view out your bedroom window in the morning...

The house is beautiful inside and out.  The decor is beachy, open and airy and I am told that Susannah's mom gets all the credit.  I am thinking that she might need a career as an interior decorator and that she might need me as her first client.

I seriously want to spend the rest of my life in this house.  It is beautiful and restful and perfect in almost every way.

I went to the beach with these girls...

We had such a great time visiting, reminiscing, staying up late, eating yummy food and enjoying good wine. It was a great and very quick trip but we enjoyed every second of it.  I am so thankful for good friends!

Back home and in the real world we have been trying to entertain ourselves inside our house. It is miserably hot outside and we rarely spend time in the heat except for early morning and late evening when the temperatures are somewhat tolerable.

We have been enjoying time with friends including a play date with our friends the Whites.  Lee is a friend of mine from high school and she has two girls Harper and Evie.  They came over and the girls made spoon dolls and presented them to us in our mini-theatre...

I bought this little puppet theatre at Bargain Carousel this past year...

and we prettied it up with contact paper and some new fabric...

We love having little puppet performances around here and it was perfect for the little spoon dolls.  We have enjoyed pulling the dolls out the past few days and Hannah and I make up silly stories about the adventures of our dolls who have been named "Hannah" and "Lily" :) 

The White and Brown girls :) had fun in Hannah's toy box too...

It was a great day and we hope to do it again soon!

Hannah has some school time each day and has been working hard on her writing...

School time is always followed by play time around here and so we have taken up afternoon bowling...

Hannah and Lily stay entertained and I get a workout chasing around pins and setting them up every 10 seconds :)

And finally, when we do venture outside in the evening it is usually to check on the watermelon that is growing in the garden!...

Our watermelon plant has been growing immensely all summer but has never produced any fruit.  I was beginning to give up hope until we finally saw one tiny sprout.  The watermelon seems to double in size each day and Hannah is VERY excited about the day when she gets to eat this treat.

Ok so that is all for now...so sorry for the very long post.  I am off to get ready for some special guests who are stopping by this weekend!