A day of firsts!

Their first flight...

Yesterday was a great, but very long first day. The alarm sounded at 4:00 am (of course we snoozed a little). We arrived in Louisville at 6:15 and boarded the plane around 7:20. We flew Southwest, so the seating was open (they don't assign seat numbers). I liked this because we were able to get two window seats for the boys. Jason and Austin sat across from me and the other two, I was so excited about the boys riding on an airplane that I actually cried during take off. Why am I so emotional? Jason said that Austin asked really thoughtful questions the entire flight! I'm glad he was sitting with him! On my side, we looked out the window a lot and colored most of the trip. The kids could not have been better! They did so well! They enjoyed the flight and were very well behaved. The best part??? We were getting dressed for the beach in our hotel by 10:30 am!!!!!

The first beach trip for one of the kids...

We are only here in Clearwater for two nights. Then, we will meet Jason's family and go to John's Pass for the week. Yesterday was a perfect day at the beach. The water felt awesome! I have never been to a beach were the boats pull up, throw out their anchor, and spend the day. It was such a neat atmosphere. The ocean right outside of the hotel is a perfect spot for the kids. It is so clear and the boats kind of created a boundary to make a pool. The kids had fun playing in the sand and water. It was relaxing and enjoyable for all of us. A great start to our vacation!

Last night we walked to a restaurant called Crabby Bills. Jason and I had fish. We all enjoyed the view of the ocean and the live music. Maggie danced for everyone. This morning we ate at IHOP. Right now the boys have their trunks on and are ready to hit the beach! Me too!

Summer Fun!

Happy Birthday CCU!

We love FREE summer fun! Friday (6/26) CCU celebrated their birthday with a bounce house, carnival games, great prizes, police, fireman/trucks, hot dogs, chips, and drinks! The kids had a great time.

The boys love to see firetrucks, ambulance, and police cars, so the opportunity to sit in one was too cool! I think they went back to the truck three times to climb in! Of course the visit was complete with a fire hat.
This was Maggie's first experience in a bounce house without me holding her... and she LOVED it! I had to climb in and drag her out crying. We were the first to arrive at the party, so the kids were the only three in there. I think that helped make her first experience so great. We jumped again later with other kids in there and she did just as well.

A Romantic Weekend for TWO at the Beaumont Inn

For Father's Day I gave Jason a night without kids at the Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg. We had a fantastic, QUIET, relaxing, romantic time! It was so great just to be with him. I picked a place close by so we wouldn't spend much time in the car, as well as somewhere we'd never been. We enjoyed each other so much! We swam in the pool, played shuffleboard, ate lunch in the tavern, walked to Main St for ice cream, had a romantic dinner in the Inn restaurant, sat on the front porch, relaxed on the swing, and had a wonderful breakfast the next morning.

Happy Birthday Granny!

Jason's mom's birthday was Monday (6/29). We celebrated it in London Wednesday/ Thursday with Aprile, Amy, Caleb, and Anna. It was great to be with family, and the kids had a fantastic time playing together. Unfortunately, it was too cold to swim. We did once, but it was just too cold to swim on Thursday. The kids were disappointed, but were side tracked by getting to make and decorate cupcakes. Aprile made a chocolate cheesecake for Jackie. She had a candle on her cheesecake and all the kids had one on their cupcakes. We sang Happy Birthday together, and then everyone blew out their candle.

Maggie loved the icing!

Great decorating!

The cheesecake was delicious!!!

Maggie and Caleb love each other so much! It cracks me up! He is so good with her. She sat right by him for probably 15 minutes while he played video games. She kept putting her hand on him.

July 3rd Patriotic Concert

My favorite part of celebrating Independence Day is going to the July 3rd Patriotic concert at Transy. My parents go with all of their friends and have a big pot luck. Several of their friends go really early and get the same, great spot every year. I brought homemade banana ice cream and it was eaten fast. Everyone said it was really good. We proudly wore our red, white, and blue. I decorated Maggie's wagon with balloons, stars, and other decorations. I love the Fourth of July!
Sorry about the crop job at the bottom. See the blog update note at the top if you don't know why... :(

Maggie loves her Pap.

An Icky Fourth

Without going in to detail, we spent the 4th of July at home with a stomach bug! So far it has reached Anna, Caleb, our kids, me, Jackie, Aprile, Mom, and Dad! I feel the worse about my dad. Today (July 5th) is his birthday and he just got hit this morning! We had a family reunion yesterday and plans with friends last night that we didn't get to do. Today we were all getting together for Dad's birthday, plans cancelled. So sad... I love the 4th and 5th of July. Please pray for the bug to stop and not go any further. For now, we are doing much better in the Keith house. Pray, pray that Jason doesn't get it. With Florida next week, he doesn't have ANY sick days to spare.

Metamorphosis

Tonight was night one of Southland Christian's Metamorphosis program. I think the kids enjoyed it. It was quite a production... dancing, gymnastics, singing, costumes, drama, and a lesson. We plan to go Wednesday and Thursday too.

Tonight was about letting God transform us from the inside out, like a Caterpillar. Not only on the outside, like a chameleon.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

Sweet, sweet Father's Day!

We spent some time in London this weekend celebrating Father's Day with Jason's family. I just wanted to give you a glimpse of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law's sweet, sweet talents!

Let's see if I can remember... three layers of chocolate cake, peanut butter mouse in between the layers, layer of chocolate ganache on top, covered in chocolate icing, topped with Reese cups, and drizzled with peanut butter ganache. Can you tell it's a Paula Deen cake?
Oh yeah... with a side scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream!

Life Group

Our life group came over last Friday night. If you remember, it was soooo hot on Friday, so we had a little water fight! I made a bucket of water balloons that day. Needless to say, it took me 100 times longer to make the balloons than it did for the kids to go through them!
We filled up the baby pool, set up the dog sprinkler, and threw water balloons. Great food, great conversations, and great friends.

Just too much fun!

Maggie is trying so hard this summer to keep up with the boys, but sometimes it's just too hard!

Run, Jump, and Roll

Today we started gymnastics! The boys did great and had a ball! The boys were too young for T-ball this spring, so we decided gymnastics would be something fun for them to try. We plan on doing soccer in the fall. Has anyone done LYSA? Let me know what you think. I saw today that registration for 4 year olds starts soon. Anyways... We thought gymnastics would be good for their balance, strength, and coordination. Austin was a little timid, but he will get more comfortable as the weeks go by. Matthew was a monkey from the start! He did great! He wasn't the best listener, but that's no surprise! While Miss Kristie explained the stations, Matthew was busy jumping on the trampoline behind him, walking on the balance beam, or watching the big girls flip. We talked about it at the end. It was hard for me to be up above them sitting at the observation deck. I felt like Austin would have done more and Matthew would have sat still if I'd been there. I guess that's why they send the parents upstairs!

Stretching

They did a table, a bridge, and various other stretches. We'll have to work on flexibility at home!
Miss Kristie set up little stations. After explaining them, the kids went round and round. My boys liked to pick out one thing and do it several times before moving on. Not exactly following the directions, but they're 4!


I think this was Austin's favorite station.

Walking sideways on the balance beam.


Matthew did great on the bars... of course the teacher called this move "Spiderman." Next he did a forward flip off. Austin wouldn't even try this station!

The boys hopped down the trampoline, jumped in the foam pit, and ran on the grey mat back. After class I asked them what they enjoyed the most, and Matthew said jumping on the trampoline and Austin said running fast. This was the last thing they did, so it ended the class well.

When I put Matthew to bed tonight he asked if we could go back to gymnastics tomorrow. I told him we will go every Wednesday. He said, "But it's not far from our house." Although that's true, once a week is all we can afford! I'm trying to talk Jason into letting Maggie and I do the Parents'n Tots class!

The Mad Potter

I have wanted to take the kids to the Mad Potter for months. Yesterday I decided it was time. All morning the boys were saying they wanted to get their faces painted. I'm not sure where that came from, but I told them I didn't know of a carnival in town to go to, mommy's not that talented, and that I wasn't sure if our paint would break out their faces. I thought telling them about the Mad Potter would end the face painting issue. It did.

I first took them to the new pottery place closer to the house called, "The Art Box." I felt so stupid leaving, but they charge a per person studio fee. It was going to be $18 for the kids to paint without even picking out a piece of pottery. I quietly told the kids that we were going to another store, and they left without complaining.

Things went very well at the Mad Potter (aside from spilling both bowls of water). Everyone painted a 4 inch tile with a hand print in the middle. I plan on hanging them together in the basement (which is almost finished!!!).

Maggie's Slide

Maggie going down the slide was a little difficult to do with a camera. So, the beginning of this video is me hold the camera and placing Maggie on the slide. Jason was at the bottom to catch her.

Great Wolf Lodge

Here is a quick video of the boys on one of the water slides. They spent most of their time racing eachother on these two slides and two bigger, longer slides.