The Last of Summer’s Cell Pics

So a lot has gone on during the last part of our summer through Labor Day, but I didn’t always have my big camera with me- thank goodness for camera phones!



July 22 was a big day for the UK, and for a lot of American women who keep tabs on Kate. Ava and I woke up early on that April morning when Will & Kate were married, so it was only natural that we watch the showing off of the new Prince!



Now I know its trivial, but I also know one day she will be able to say, I was sitting in my Mama’s lap, in her office while watching Prince George make his first appearance. I mean he is the future king and all…



A Princess game + Daddy = SUPER FUN!  (he looks real thrilled doesn’t he- you can’t even see his tiara! haha!)



We took to the beach with Lisa and her boys one Friday- the water was beautiful, the weather was great, and the company, well you can’t be it!

The kids all had a great time and were worn out by the time we left, of course they weren’t too tired to stop and get some ice cream



We went bike riding in Fernandina.



Did some crafts…



I couldn’t find any basket liners I was super crazy about (without spending a fortune) so I decided to make my own. And its even reversible!  

I even opted to ride my bike to work one morning, but who wouldn’t when it looks this cute! haha!



We were eating at the Chicken House one day and  a little boy apparently won a stuffed kitty cat from the machine and gave it to Ava. I’m not sure who the boy was, he disappeared as soon as he came, but I did make sure Ava told him how nice it was.



Caroline started her first day of her Senior Year!! So naturally, we went to lunch since she gets out of school before lunch. We love this girl!



Ahhh… Jaguar games…remember when, on second thought, I’m not even going to go there…. Trevor and Brody came to one of the preseason games- Ava was glad to have her buddies!



Adam and I are horrible ‘selfie’ takers.



Happy Sunday!



We received a sweet, sweet letter from our girl we sponsor in India, Nithya. She told us they eat watermelon to stay cool and that she has a banana tree in her yard. She also said she prays for God to bless our family more and more. Of course at that point I have to fight back tears, because here is a girl who has nothing but prays for us to have more…



With the first week of pre-k complete we met Jenny and Trevor for lunch at the Chicken House.



We saw them again the next week- unplanned.

Apparently my jewelry has gotten a little out of control. It pulled my bar out of the wall, it was a mess trying to sort through all of it, and it didn’t motivate me to get rid of any of it- A girl needs her accessories…



Listen, I love s’mores, but I have a new addiction- its called Ritz Crackers and roasted marshmallows. I had been wanting some for a while, so I decided since its summer out I could roast them inside- which is exactly what we did- and we enjoyed it too! haha!





We also had an ice cream sundae night, complete with all the toppings AND homemade salted caramel sauce (I’ll post the recipe soon!)



Ava took her first trip to the dentist! She gets so nervous at places like this, but she did great, and of course Dr. Stratton was so good with her. It broke my heart, but at the same time made me so proud, when I could tell she wanted to cry because she was so nervous/scared, but she didn’t, she was such a big girl!



Ava ready to walk into a Jaguar game!



This time of year is always an extremely busy time for me, at work and at home. We have our annual Vendors Conference in St. Augustine. We went to dinner at The Floridian and it was delicious. Their food is different, but its all from local sources, so a farm-to-table type restaurant. I ordered the ‘Not-so-Mac-n-Cheese’ which was actually farro grain and spring veggies with a dairy cheese and dijon cream sauce. It was topped with a tomato-bell pepper salsa and since I don’t eat meat or seafood I ordered Tempeh. It was really good.



And I had to make a confession, Adam does all my ironing (I don’t own/wear much that needs to be ironed, but he does it all for me) so I had to do my own while I was away at the conference. I really missed him at this moment…



My parents always bring Ava down with them and I get to spend time with her when I’m not in meetings or heading up dinners. On Tuesday of that week we went to eat dinner with a group at Caps and it was a beautiful evening.

Wednesday morning, while the vendors and dealers are out golfing or fishing, mom and I took her to ride the merry-go-round and play at the park. Then, because it was August in Florida, we went to get ice cream.



Wednesday night is a big event we have with all of the vendors and dealers and then some. Ava enjoyed the dessert the best



It’s also a big deal as we raise money for Children’s Miracle Network.



After dinner, we went for a carriage ride. I was soooo exhausted by this time in the evening, but Ava had been dying to ride and I promised her if she was super good at the dinner we could go. She was perfect and even helped pick the tickets for the doorprizes. It was a good week, but I’m always so glad for it to be over! After this night I still had another full day of meetings before it was over!



This is called tired…. she fell asleep while I was in the shower.



Brody was baptized, so Ava and I went to see him. Adam was playing at Access, so he couldn’t come, so it was just us girls.



Since it was Brody’s big day, he wanted to go eat and play putt-putt. We rode over to Jax Beach and ate at Cruisers. As we were walking in, Adam had all the kids in hand, I thought for a second, Jenny, Jason, and I should run the opposite direction and leave him with them



We let them grow-up a little and have their own table, fortunately we kept checking on them and they all did great- this was at the very end of the meal and their true colors were starting to show- haha!  After eating we drove over to play putt-putt and that’s when the bottom fell out. We even sat in the truck for a little while hoping to see it slack off/stop but it never did, so we headed back home.



However, the next day was Labor Day and I think Adam made it up to Brody. He had been asking when we could go out on the boat again.



Adam thought, why not, so he texted Jenny and Jason first thing the next morning and they were glad because it got them out of doing work around the house- and of course the kids were excited since they were going out on the boat and getting to play. We rode down to Fort George Inlet and pulled up on a sandbar with every other person in the world..haha! It ended up being great. The kids had a blast jumping and swimming and running and jumping, and swimming, and running..did I mention jumping and swimming and running?



When clouds started to build for Florida’s notorious afternoon thunderstorms we headed in. It was a good way to ‘end’ the summer!