Summertime

It is still August and in some parts of the country kids are continuing to enjoy the last few days of summer vacation, so I think it is somewhat excusable that I am just now getting around to posting some of the highlights of the summertime.

After a quick 4th of July in Atlanta (where we were rained on every single day - including before and after the Peachtree Road Race) the kiddos geared up for our Disney Dream adventure.  We spent two days in Orlando before the cruise departed (one day at Hollywood and one day in the Magic Kingdom) and then 3 nights on the Disney Dream cruising to the Bahamas and Disney's extra-special, private island, Castaway Cay. 

I was a totally reluctant cruise-goer.  I protested this cruise for a few years and last December, during a weak moment, I said I would go.  Papa-T called my bluff and 6 months later there I was on the veranda, staring out at the beautiful water, wondering why I ever protested.

Here I am with Jamesy on Castaway Cay - doesn't it even look fake (that's because it basically is):

More to come - there is only so much time in the day. 

Yikes...Time Flies

I never did this with Lu and am really kicking myself.  I love taking and seeing these photos of James in basically the same place each year almost at exactly the same time (give or take a few days). It is always amazing to me that time passes so quickly.  I was warned.  I said I understood.  I really had no idea.  It is so quick, in fact, that some days I feel like I got shorted a few hours.  I wonder how it is that the day is over already and it is pushing 11 p.m. and I am gearing up for another week that will pass in the blink of an eye.  Oh well, I am a broken record.  I know.

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

And the look in the last picture captures this 4 year-old personality perfectly - following mama's orders is such a chore.  There is so much sweetness and wonder inside of there, but there is a also a decent amount of boundary testing and patience testing and sleep deprivation (yeah, at some point over the summer J started having nightmares) and insistence that he just be allowed to grow right up and skip all of the years between 4 and 14.  Not so fast, little guy.