Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Carl is a wonderful father to Evan and Preston and I am certainly lucky to have him as my husband and best friend. We were really excited to celebrate with Carl on Father's Day, as he really is the best and we are so grateful for all that he does. Unfortunately, the day did not go as planned. First of all, the special t-shirts we searched to find, did not fit. That was a bummer. Thankfully, at least the cards and the sign we made were a hit! Next, we spent most of the day at the swim and dive meet. That part was fun and I know Carl enjoyed cheering for the boys and watching them compete. The bad part was that a storm delay made the meet unusually long and by the time we got home to celebrate, the boys were exhausted and cranky. It was not a fun evening and I felt really bad.

The next day we were able to make up for our botched celebration. We went on a hike, played at the new playground and enjoyed the yummy brownies that the boys made. It was a MUCH better way to spend time together and celebrate Daddy/Carl. He really is an amazing guy. He loves our boys so much and he is a great hands on dad. He is a great husband too and I am fortunate to have him as y partner!

Grandpa and Bonnie Mom came to the dive meet. Due to everyone being really busy, we are planning to celebrate with him in Key West, when we visit in July.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! We love you!

Father's Day - Part 2

The Nickel Family Visits - Summer 2017

We were fortunate to get a brief visit with my sister and her family as they were passing through town a few weeks ago. The boys loved seeing Jackson, Caleb and Emily. It was such a short visit, so there were lots of tears when it was over. Thankfully, they were back in town for a week while Jackson went to an oncology camp for kids. This means we had LOTS of time to spend together with Aunt Heather, Caleb and Emily!

Our first adventure was to the Big Four Bride. The kids played on the playground near the base of the bridge for quite some time and then we walked across the bridge.Our plans were to cross the bridge and then get lunch and ice cream treats. Unfortunately, both places were closed. We found a map that showed another frozen treat shop, but it was closed too! Thankfully, we found a small coffee shop that offered smoothies, candy and specialty ice pops to tide us over until we made it back across the bridge to get lunch! After a pop up shower, we went back and decided on Subway for lunch. The kids also got to play on the slip and slide AND they were invited for a sleep over with their cousins at Grammy and Granddaddy's house!

We went to Kentucky Kingdom together, which was lots of fun. The boys had never been and I had not been since it reopened a few years ago. Preston was super adventurous and wanted to ride just about everything. He really liked the roller coaster that he was able to ride, as well as the big log flume. He was not able to ride any of the big roller coasters yet, but once he is tall enough, I have no doubt that he will really enjoy them. Granddaddy was a good sport and took Caleb and Evan on a few big roller coasters.

Later in the week, we were able to enjoy a relaxing day at the pool. We had lunch together and all of the kids played together for hours. They really liked when Granddaddy joined them in the pool! Evan and Preston also enjoyed another fun sleepover that night!

After Jackson returned from camp, we all got together. All five of the kids were happy to be together. We also celebrated Father's Day with Granddaddy. We had lunch, played and hiked to the waterfall. It was a fun, but exhausting way to end the day!

We will be out of town when The Nickels visit next, but it looks like we will see them at the end of the summer. They have another Kid's Cancer Alliance event in Louisville that they have been asked to attend, so we hope that they will make an extended visit.

Summer Fun

Summer has really just started, but we are having lots of fun! We spend a lot of time together as a family and the kids are also having fun playing with their neighborhood friends and with their friends at the pool. We are also lucky to get to spend lots of time with our extended family and friends.

We recently visited the science center. It has been several months since we visited, so the boys were really excited to go. They built really cool structures, played in the water table, made a mirror maze, and MUCH more! Preston even got to put together a really cool puzzle of the human brain! It was complicated, but he persisted and he was SO excited to get it together!

Carl and I also attended Devin and Eric's wedding. They live in Florida, so we don't get to see them very often. We were happy to get to enjoy their special day!

We recently discovered a really cool waterfall near our house. We enjoy kayaking and/or hiking there. We recently went there and we had our water camera, so we got some pretty cool pictures! I am sure we will be going back sometime soon!