Monday, August 29, 2016

Life Lately - Last Week of Summer!

Sunday
Korie came over and the girls decorated Caleb with bows!  He needs some more boys in the neighborhood!
Ella needs some new PJs but insisted to wear these!

Monday 
We tried on our fall/winter clothes to see what we needed to buy 

Tuesday 
We had planned to go to the Kinston Water Park but they were closed so instead we headed to Fantasy Lake -
Fun Day with the Whitleys - Jeff and Anna Jane are friends from preschool 
Riding the water slides 
Can you find Tarzan swinging? 
He loved them all! 
On top of a slide 
Ready for the rope swing 
Ahhhhh! 
Ella's turn 
See Saw in the water 
Splashing with Anna Jane when they got off the slide 
Waiting with my girl who was too little for some of the slides 
Sweet friends 
Holding hands and walking on the beach - we better watch these two! 
We came back for cheerleading practice that night 
And Caleb had football practice and a scrimmage game

Wednesday 
Dad tracing crosses for the new "Crosses for Christmas" project in his honor 
That afternoon we went to the outlets with some of the teens 
Ella was so excited about some new clothes the girls picked for her, but especially this vest! 
Shopping with two of my favs 
Ella loves Jenna! 
Waiting to eat some Mexican

Thursday 
We worked on the teen room renovation 
Caleb helped Mr. Doug with the GaGa Pit 
Ella helped paint 
That night we cleaned up and got ready for "Meet The Teacher" at New Hope 
Ready or not - here they come! 
Ella at her table 
Her teacher is Mrs. Dixon and she has a neat reading nook that looks like a fire truck 
With the survival kit that Mrs. Dixon gave all the K moms 
Caleb in his new classroom - His teacher is Mrs. Franks
He wasn't ready for school but after meeting his teacher and seeing all of his friends in his class, he was excited to start!

Friday 
More work at church - Jenna and Caleb taking a break 
Can you spot Caleb while we did some fabric shopping? 
These kids did a good job hanging all day with us dragging them around 
Tickle fight with Anna
More prep for "Crosses for Christmas"
One of the crosses made by dad in his hand 
Party at Claire's house on Friday night 
The guys celebrating outside 
Happy Birthday Ahmpa!

Saturday 
I had to work so these three headed to the donut shop...
Licking her lips 
With their honeybuns 
Ella's reaction when I told her all the plans we had for the day 
Lego Birthday Party for our new neighbor and friend, Katelyn 
Saturday night the teens came to spend the night since Corey left for Sweden.  Ella snuggled right up to Lauren - my kids love her too! 
Sweet babies went to sleep! 
And we hung out a while longer!  Audrey came too but had already gone home to sleep in her bed :)

Sunday 
Ella went to a birthday party for her friends, Grace and Olivia.
They were in her preschool class and will also be with her in K!

What a busy but fun week trying to squeeze a little more fun out of summer!


Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Ella's 5th Birthday at the Lake - Family Time

Ella had been saying for a while that she wanted a birthday party at MeMa's lake so we decided to have our annual "Raynor Family weekend" at the lake on the weekend of her birthday and have all the cousins at the lake to celebrate.
Ready to head out on Friday morning - with her baby and all the accessories 
We got unloaded and Granddaddy crashed and Ella snuggled up with him 
Hanging out in the water with Mammy 
Fishing with Granddaddy 
Best buddies 
Showing us the fish they caught 
Boat ride with their cousins 
This boy skied and kneeboarded  - he loves it all!
Golf cart ride with Granddaddy 
Next round of riders heading out
We had lasagna for dinner and enjoyed some Raynor family time 
More swimming after dinner 
These boys jumped in over and over 
Ella too! 
Brooklynn swinging with Granddaddy 
Part of the crew heading out on a boat ride 
And they are off -I stayed back at the house with dad
Wind in their hair - life is good :) 
The boys chillin

Saturday
The boys were up early and headed out to do some fishing 
These boys love to fish! 
The birthday girl - how can she already be 5??? 
Getting bitty baby dressed for the day
Birthday muffin 
Love how she held up her hand to show me "5" all throughout the day 
Swimming
Owen and Melanie went tubing 
Caleb rode beside them 
Mammy and Ella ready to watch 
Having fun! 
Owen didn't love it so he got in the boat with us and Melanie and Caleb kept tubing 
Riding the raft 
Another birthday request - playing Crazy 8s 
More golf cart riding - this helped dad get to the water and not have to walk so far 
Owen loving on Granddaddy 
Raynor Boys 
Swinging in the shade 
With their two girl "sweet darlings" 
Cleaning the few fish they caught and then the party guests started arriving
Me and Amy taking the girls on a paddle boat ride 
Kent took the boys 
This boy loved to be thrown - higher the better! 
Mitzi and Jodi 
 Boat ride with Nicole and Eli
(Nicole surprised us all by announcing she was pregnant - so exciting!)
More boat riding 
Aiden and Caleb tubing
Evan took 6 kids on a golf cart ride to get ice 
The girls strapped in on the back 
Playing while dinner got ready 
Amy and Dad
Ready for dinner - pork tenderloins, potatoes, garden peas, broccoli and taco salad!
Dinner on the porch 
This sweet girl enjoyed it
The grown up table 
Helping with the homemade ice cream 
Present time 
Ella was excited about her money 
and her clothes... 
and her baby doll accessories! 
The birthday girl  
Playing with the bubbles she got 
Corey started spraying them with the water hose 
Homemade ice cream for dessert 
Happy Birthday to Ella! 
Ice cream time with chocolate, caramel, sprinkles and cousins!
Drinking it with a straw 
Feeding her baby dinner with her new high chair 
These kids were tired from a fun day and crashed watching a TV show 

Sunday
Lazy morning
More swimming after breakfast 
Relaxing at the lake

After lunch we cleaned up, packed up and headed home!

It was a nice relaxing weekend to celebrate our girl and spend some time making family memories!