Friday at the Customs House Museum

 On Friday we met my friend Summer and her son and daughter at the Customs House Museum in downtown Clarksville.  They have a nice play area for the kids and it's also a great place to chat with a friend!!  We were going to meet her at 10 am when it opened so I thought we could run by Target quickly beforehand to pick up a few things for a package for Brendan.

At 8:15 I have everyone fed, dressed and ready to go.  I'm in the downstairs bathroom putting lipstick on when I realize there is water all over the floor.  So as I'm asking the kids who put water all over the floor I realize there is only water around the seams in the "wood" flooring and when you step on the floor more water comes up! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!  You have got to be kidding me!!!!!  I know instantly what is wrong because this happened upstairs in the hall bathroom 2 years ago when Brendan was gone before.  The toilet seal is leaking.  I call maintenance and they want me to stay but there is really no reason for us to be here.  I lie and tell them that I have a very important appointment because my morning with an actual adult it is VERY important to me!  OK - so by this time Target is out of the question.  I text Summer to let her know we may be a few minutes late because now I have to CLEAN MY HOUSE so the maintenance guy won't think we live like slobs.  Good thing the kids are good at picking up!  By the time we left 20 minutes later it only looked like we are a little slobby although there is still water all over the floor.

After a nice morning at the museum we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and by the time we got home the toilet was fixed.  There is still water coming up out of the floor.  Thank goodness we don't own this house!!!!

Bambis

There were at least 5 fawns in our backyard today!  They are sooooo cute!!

Basketball Camp

 I signed Aidan up for two day basketball camp at Clarksville Academy and then as sort of an afterthought I signed Emmy up too.  WOW - turned out to be such a great decision for both of them.  They are both in love with basketball.  It is incredible - I never thought that they would latch on to it like they did.  Emmy, especially, has this incredible drive in her.  She worked so hard to get the ball in the hoop and after two days she can do it and scores almost every time!  It makes me really happy to watch them work hard and improve.  So many wonderful lessons!

Pickin' on the Porch

 We went to our second Pickin' this year on Saturday.  We decided to eat at home and then just enjoy the snowcones when we were there.  It was a LOT easier not to have to bring food along with all of the other gear that we tote along - 4 chairs, blanket, stroller, diaper bag, bag of random things (toys , suncreen, bug spray, wipes etc).  We had a great time.  It was hot but not too hot and the kids just love the freedom to run down and get snowcones!  Declan is crawling now so it's not quite as easy as before but he doesn't move too fast so it's not too bad - plus I have 3 other sets of eyes to help me out!

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July this year was a bust!  It was pouring rain all day.  We took this picture in the drizzle between thunderstorms.  YUCK!  We were planning on having a BBQ but canceled.  My friend Mel and her son and sister came over.  It was fun to see them but it would have been more fun outside in the sun!!!!

Goodbye Navarre :(

 We left Navarre this morning.  It was great to have my Dad to help us pack up the car - he did a much better job than I did on the way down!  My mom, the kids and I left around 10 am and we had an uneventful trip other than the kids being sad to leave and Declan being more mobile and less happy about being in the carseat than he had been on the way down.  We didn't get in until pretty late - 9:30 or so and the kids were so happy to be home.  Aoife went right upstairs and pulled all of her dress ups out and got all princessed up.  She kept saying, "Oh!  I remember these toys!"  Poor kid - it was like she had been away for a year instead of two weeks!!
It was a great vacation.  It was nice to get away from reality for a while and to have so much help and adults to talk to.  It was just what I needed.  We are 1/3 of the way through this deployment and only 2 more months until R&R.  I think we are going to make it.

Dinner at Peg Leg Pete's AGAIN!

 Woohoo!!!  We got to go to Peg Leg's again.  Ahhhh - I can still taste the fried oysters.  So amazing!!!  Emmy wasn't feeling great but she was a trooper and Aoife wouldn't stay still so there aren't any pictures of her!  Declan is a great subject - he is a captive!!!  Aidan still humors me which is really sweet of him because I know he doesn't like it. Declan decided to swipe Aoife's pickle off of her plate and he seemed to really enjoy it!  Weirdo!!
It was a nice way to spend our last evening in Florida.  Boy do I NOT want to get back in the car tomorrow.