Neshoba County Fair

We just returned from spending the opening weekend at the Neshoba County Fair.  It's become a tradition to spend some time in Philadelphia for this event ever since 2000, when my dad and Betsy got their cabin.  Times have certainly changed since then, especially after having children! We don't stay out as late or do all the things like we used to, but the kids sure have a lot of fun.  JM has already hit his terrible two's, so we headed back home a little early.  Here are some photos from our weekend...

The midway in the middle of the hot July day = not such a great idea!

Obviously, Caroline picked out the pink car, but JM loved it regardless!

Caroline's favorite part of the petting zoo - she loves ponies and horses.

I must say that I probably liked the petting zoo more than the kids - plus, I treated the animals SO much better!

JM kept saying, "AWWWW!"

Sweet little bitty chicks.

Chillin' at Dad's cabin.

Are we done yet?

My guys:)

MAFP Convention Sandestin

Last week we spent some time in Sandestin with my dad and Betsy at the MS Academy of Family Practice Convention.  Everyone had a lot of fun, as can be seen by the photos. . .

Caroline's mermaid tattoo

This one didn't hurt, but Shawn and I threatened her life if she EVER gets a real one!

Bungee Jump

The after effects of eating rainbow ice cream.

Sibling love?

Papa, Caroline, JM, and Bee on our way to have our beach pictures made.

Our little family :)

I had to capture the moments when they were being sweet to each other...

Concentrating hard at the children's mosaic workshop, where she created a beautiful horse.

Beach time!

This one LOVES the beach!

He had a pretty good time too!

Feeding the fish at Baytowne

Caroline on the zip line - she's a thrill seeker.

The statue is only holding her hand because she gave it a dollar!

Waiting for Sissy to ride the zip line...

He's my man:)

My baby girl

JM loved this zero-entry pool.  He just skipped back and forth constantly.

Bug Bite to the Eye

Poor little man got into a fight with a mosquito while he was mowing the grass with his daddy last week, and unfortunately, JM lost.  The swelling lasted most of the week, even after being treated with round the clock Benadryl and as much ice as he would tolerate.  Pitiful fella.  :(

Surprise!

We celebrated our Fourth of July by surprising my dad with a birthday party.  I'd hate to publish his age on this blog, but let's just say it was a milestone birthday.  Betsy had invited a lot of his friends and family, and there must have been about forty people waiting for him out at the fair cabin at the Neshoba fairgrounds.  None of us were convinced beforehand that Dad was going to be surprised, but once he and Betsy drove up to the cabin, we knew that he was shocked.  Apparently, he was even complaining to Betsy as they drove up that someone was parked in his spot, and he was wondering who in the h#@* were all those people on his porch!?  Classic Dad!  The surprise was a success.

Me and Dad

This pose was painful for Dad - he hates W.  :)

"SURPRISE!"

Our Little Getaway

   Shawn worked the Young Physicians convention in San Destin a few weeks ago, and we headed to Florida sans kids for a few days.  This was the first time since before John Michael was born that Shawn and I had gone anywhere alone...sad, I know.  (It was much easier farming out one child to go somewhere - not so much two!)

   The kids stayed with my dad and Betsy, and when we returned, JM was broken of his pacifier habit!  Shawn and I had a nice, quiet time at the beach and hope we won't have to wait another two years to do it again.  :)

Disney World

American Idol Experience

Caroline dressed as her favorite princess - Sleeping Beauty - and Fairy Godmother

The Family

It's a Bug's Life

Starting the day at Animal Kingdom

The past two weeks have been a total whirlwind!  I spent the first week of June at the Mayo Clinic trying to discover the cause of all of the mysterious symptoms I've been having.  Thankfully, all of that turned out okay, and I'm not dying of some weird neurological illness.  I just have to adjust to living with a "new normal" of numbness, difficulty swallowing, and neck pain.  Oh well, I guess it could be worse.

Last week, Shawn and I took the kids to Disney World.  We met up with Shawn's family, and spent some time with them at the parks as well.  They treated us to a day at Sea World, and the kids had a blast all week long.  Caroline was very brave and wanted to ride every roller coaster, however immediately after each ride, she'd say that she never wanted to ride it again!  :) Her favorite ride was Peter Pan, and JM seemed to be enthralled by everything.  (He wasn't too fond of the Pirates of the Caribbean though!)

 

Upon leaving, Caroline talked about how she wanted to live at Disney World, but she'll be lucky if we'll get to go back anytime soon!  Disney LOVES its magic, and I suppose it's worth the price after seeing our kids' faces.

Tiny Dancer

Always posing....

Ready to perform!

On our way to the recital

Caroline danced in her third recital on Sunday.  I can't believe she's been dancing for three years!  She and I had a lot of fun this year getting her ready for the stage.  We pretended she was at a beauty parlor.  I put her hair in rollers and even let her choose the colors of her makeup.  It was a blast!  But she looked like she was about sixteen...it was nice to take the makeup back off and to see my little girl again.  There will be enough of that in the years to come!

This year, she tap danced to a song entitled "Personality."  She did great, of course!  We were happy to be joined by all of the grandparents and even happier that she got to dance at the beginning of the recital this year, so we didn't have to hang around for two and a half hours!  John Michael was enjoying watching all the pretty girls so much that he was highly upset when we left early.  He didn't want to take his eyes off the stage!  :)