New Boat

After literally three years of searching for the right boat at the right price, Phil finally found one!!  He was so patient and researched and researched and searched craigslist and boat dealerships all over the southeast.  He was torn between a fishing-type boat with a center console and this type of deck boat that we got, so he said whichever one came up first as a good deal was the one we would go with.  And a few weeks ago he found this Hurricane deck boat on craigslist from an Air Force guy over in Fort Walton Beach that was moving to a new assignment.  He and my dad went over to look at it, found that it had hardly been used and was in great condition, and since it was the exact model Phil had been wanting...  SOLD!  We are so excited!  Here he is changing out the engine oil or something right after we brought it home (in the blazing heat in our driveway in the middle of the afternoon)... getting it all ready to take out that night. We couldn't wait until the next day to take it out... had to go that afternoon.

We keep it up at the Navy base that's about 5 minutes from our house, which is perfect.  Here are the boys just leaving the dock...

Hooray!!!!

Happy Captain...

We took our friends Mike and Kelly from across the street (and baby Andrew) out with us.

The men dropped us ladies and kiddos (sans Jackson) off at the marina across the street from our house so we could go home while they went back to the Navy base to load up the boat.  Very convenient.

Then we went out again after church the next day...  Same positions.  Lol

This time we did some tubing... Well, the boys did tubing.  I did not. Lol.  Davis was upset because he thought the boys were in trouble out there... We had to keep explaining that they were having fun.  And the first time one of them fell off both Davis and Reid started freaking out!  They were so scared that we were just going to leave Emmett floating out there in the water!  They eventually got used to it, though (for the most part).

Heading home...

Crazy windblown, salty hair!!

This beautiful crane was hoping we had some fish guts while we were waiting to load up the boat.  He got so close to us!

The boys were enamored with him, but he didn't want them getting too close.  This was right before Reid fell into the water right there as he was trying to climb back into the boat from the dock.  Lol.  He can swim, but he grabbed onto the side of the dock and I think it kind of freaked him out that the water was so dark and there was nowhere to get out.  I pulled him out quickly and he was fine after a few minutes.  He is such a mess!  Lol!

Busy May and June

We have had a cah-razy second half of May and all of June!!  SO busy!  I'm looking forward to July and August which will hopefully be a little calmer.  Here are some highlights...

Bernie got groomed and was all fuzzy and shorn...

And Nana and Papa Swoop came to visit!!!!  We were so excited to see them!  We first met them over in Destin at Nana Juilene and Papa Chuck's house.  Phil had to work that day but the boys and I drove over.

Nana and her boys...

Juilene and Chuck recently got a pontoon boat so we took a little cruise...

Emmett relaxing after the boat ride...

And fishing with Nana's brother, Craig...

Juilene gave the boys individual bottles of Sprite and they were SO excited to each have their own bottle.  They were so cute sitting out on the dock just chatting with each other... I think they felt very grown-up.  :)

Craig helping Davis with the "ring the hook" game... Before D ripped the string out of the tree.  :(

More fishing with Nana's nephew, Chris, after dinner.  He was so sweet to help the boys with their rods and get them all set up.  He even threw a net in to catch some little bait fish which really helped them catch a few things later.

Emmett was the first to catch a fish!  Hard to see here, though.

Then Jackson caught a blue crab!!  We were all SO excited!  Lol!  That crab would NOT let go of that little fish! He was trying to eat it even as he was pulled up onto the dock!  He was the most beautiful color of blue.

Jackson was beside himself.  :)

Then Emmett felt something big on his line!  And when he pulled it up we saw he had caught a catfish!  Lol!  I have the best video of him catching that fish and he was absolutely so excited.  And Chris was so good to help him just a little but make sure it was actually Emmett that reeled it in. It was such a fun experience.

Juilene bought the boys the "Snakeez" cups they had been waiting for for years.  Here they are enjoying them the next morning.

Date night (with another couple who wasn't there yet) at our favorite restaurant...

It is amazing the number of boys around our boys' ages in our neighborhood.  Makes it very fun.  Here an impromptu water balloon fight is taking place.  

Nana had been waiting forever to buy these shirts for the boys.  They turned out so cute.  

We went to the beach to watch the sunset and get some cute pictures.  

It was a beautiful evening... That's J out there swimming...

Getting so grown up...

We always have such a great time when Chris and Charlene visit!  And we are super happy they will now be closer (they are moving to FL since Nana just retired!) and we can see them more often!  

 

Other things we've been up to... Lots of swimming...

I got to have a girls' weekend away in Orlando for the Florida Homeschool Convention.  It was truly an amazing weekend.  Very motivating and inspiring and informative and I had the best time with the group of ladies from our CC group that I went with.  We laughed so much.  I also ran into my good friend from high school, Kristen, and it was great to get to catch up with her a little bit.
Here is my friend, LB on the way to dinner.  I wanted to capture the beautiful atrium in the hotel and made her stand there. :)

And then LB was entranced by the herb garden we passed...

We took several group pics at dinner that night trying to find the best light and a picture everyone was happy with.  Lol.  We had such a great time.

Another beautiful boat day with our neighbors... The boys caught a starfish.  :)

 Reading books before bedtime... Then Davis got upset when he had to go to his bed because he thought that he was going to get to sleep in our bed the whole night.  Nope!  Lol.

Summer is just exhausting for little ones!  (And Mommies and Daddies!)

Another weekend, another swim meet.  This was a hot one!  And the boys' second time doing long course... 50 meter lengths.  They had fun this time playing with friends during the break, which made me happy that they are starting to make some good friends at swim.

Here's J after his backstroke heat... This is right about when I realized that I had just taken one picture instead of a video like I wanted to.  Whoops.  :(

Whew!  That's May and beginning of June in a nutshell. And then a few days after this my sisters and their families and my parents all came to visit, so I will have to post about that soon!