Lake Martin Getaway

To kick off a summer of fun, we loaded up the van with all 5 of us (yes, even Piper!) and hit the road for Alabama!  We were able to spend a few days first at Neal's aunt and uncle's home on Lake Martin.  Their son, Winston, is just a few months older than Meredith, so it was so much fun!

There was lots of time in the boat and on the lake of course!

Our first trip out was on Father's Day - we took the boat to church!

This was slightly more fun than our typical church commute!

And the view at church was pretty amazing too!

Later, we took the boat out for more typical lake activities, including tubing!

Jillian loved helping Uncle Ken drive the boat

Piper was an excellent skipper

Hanging out with Bubbie who came down to spend some time with her whole family!

Jillian was practicing her "thumbs up" to get Uncle Ken to go faster while she tubed.  Her uber careful sister didn't do this motion as much as Jillian did!

When we weren't in the boat, we just played in the water!

 So much fun swimming with Jilly Beans

 They could have jumped off the dock for hours!

The backyard was also lots of fun!

 Stargazing with Aunt Mimi

 Waterballoon fights!

Piper was in heaven!  I think she was hoping we would move in! She was really good while we were there and could run around the non-fenced yard and without a leash just having a blast.  But one morning I went for a run and turned around to find a little follower.

So, there were lots of times when Piper looked just like this - pooped on the porch! 

A little phone blog update

Sassy Beans

Sweet sisters reading together

Student of the week and her puppy!

Muffins with Mom at School

Piper's first week with us was on the tails of Jillian being in the hospital.  She decided to help take care of her new sister while she was doing more breathing treatments.

The girls loved walking their puppy to the park

Pool Time!

One of Piper's favorite poses

Celebrating Gigi's birthday

Family time at the Ranger's game

Tree climbing at Bubbie's

A little post swim lesson bribery....Jillian was hysterical at swimming lessons the first day.  So I pulled the candy card to get her to calm down just a bit.  It worked...and by the end of her lessons, she was a fish!!

Big girl got her ears pierced

The girls loved jumping off the diving board together - over and over and over!

Good-bye Kindergarten!

The last day of Kindergarten really seemed to come out of nowhere - it seemed like we had just started the year!  But she had a great year - she made some sweet friends, had an amazing teacher, and learned so much!  Here is a comparison of her on the first day and the last!  She really looks like she grew up a ton in those few months!

Before leaving Hill for the last time as a Kindergartner, I made sure to snap a pic with Mrs. Hoelscher.  She was an amazing answer to prayers for us this year and we were so blessed!

Right after school, we headed to the mall for a special end-of-school treat!  Meredith got her ears pierced!  We picked out the perfect earrings (green, of course!) and just as we were waiting our turn, Meredith watched someone else get theirs done.  Quickly, she started to question her decision.  We had to have a pep talk and go for a walk before she would go through with this big step!  I was pretty sure we were going home with the same holes in our head we left with, but she got a burst of bravery and we went back.  She cried, but she did it and they look adorable! Such a brave, big girl!

Let's Go Purple Sox

In the Spring, Meredith played another season of Purple Sox T-ball and had a blast!  I somehow went the whole season without ever taking my camera to a game, so I made sure to bring it to the last game.  Funny thing about that was that it was also dress rehearsal/dance recital day, so she squeezed the game between them and rocked stage makeup and a stiff-as-a-board hairsprayed bun to the game!  

 After the game, we went out for snow cones and she was super excited about her medal!  Looking forward to next season!