The kids.

Kylie LOVES her cousins. She had such a great week in Hilton Head, playing and spending time with her cousins.

The 4 oldest kiddos, taking in the ocean...

Playing in the sand...

Pizza Night!

Nintendo DS lessons...

Beauty on the Beach.

(Click to enlarge)

Back to Life, Back to Reality.

(En Vogue, anyone?! I loved me some En Vogue... it was one of the first cassette tapes that I owned. Along with, Lionel Richie and Billy Ray Cyrus... apparently I had a wide range of musical tastes as a child.)

As I was saying, we are back to reality. Unfortunately. Vaca was amazing, despite being the quickest 7 days of my life. We are back in Ohio, trying to unpack the suitcases, put clothes away, get kids back on normal sleep schedules (ugh) and in my free time, I've been pouring over the 800+ photos I took. Slowly I will get to them and will share the highlights of the trip.

Until then, one of Ky on the beach.

The girl LOVES the beach. She is totally and completely in her element out there. It's so sweet to watch her, in her own little world, exploring all there is to see and hear. I just wish we didn't have to wait a year to do it again!

4 months goin' on 65.

My little man looking quite dapper...

5 years.

Five years ago, I married my best friend. It was a day much like today, cloudy skies and rain. Almost every guest told us not to worry, that rain was good luck. Well, I was quite bummed because it meant very few pictures outdoors. Maybe they were right, though, because we have been pretty "lucky" (if you want to call it that). We are so happy, have 2 beautiful kids that we adore and wonderful friends and family. Life is good.

And, I'm looking at the rain with a positive outlook today. Maybe it will continue to bring us good luck. That, and I know that I get to leave it behind tomorrow for a much warmer and sunnier state! :)

Summer Nights.

Despite the cruddy July weather, we try to spend our evenings (from post-dinner to bath time) outside. Ky loves playing with the neighbor kids, we love socializing with their parents, and Gav just is along for the ride! Thankfully, he seems to be an outdoors kid as well and is always content just chilling out there, whether he's being held, in the stroller or kicking around in the grass.

We were finally able to pull out the Dora Sprinkler the other night (where are my 90 degree temps?!?!)

Kylie Rae breakin' in her swimsuit for the beach in a couple days!

Daddy and his kiddos...

And, look, they have a MOM!

My little man... getting SO big!

The boys

Hanging in the grass...

... and enjoying every minute of it!

Gavin and KyKy

Canine Love.

Kylie has always been in love with dogs. Her best friend is, and always has been, her doggie, Carmen. Most dogs that she knows are very friendly and patient with her, so she, unfortunately, has no fear of dogs in general. We have been trying to explain to her that not all dogs are nice and she cannot just run up to a random dog and wrap her arms around their neck.

Case in point, one day we were on a walk and there was a dog on a leash. The dog looked friendly enough, so, like typical Kylie she starts to run to it with her arms extended as if they are long lost friends. The dog starts growling, hair standing up on it's back, teeth showing, etc. The owner informs us that this dog doesn't really like kids. Yea, that's obvious. But not to Kylie, she is still trying to approach the foaming beast. I get her away from the dog and we continue on our walk as Kylie tells me, "that doggie was happy to see me!" Um, hardly honey, it looked like it wanted to eat you for dinner.

But, anyway, the reason for this post is to show her with some of the nice doggies in her life. These photos were taken last month at Tim and Pat's house. Ky had a great time with the "big doggies" and I'm sure they appreciated her generosity with the treats.

Buddy, Kubota, Maxi and Ky

Giving treats with Grandpa Tim...

She was saying "Look at me, Maxi!"

More treats...

Wrestling with 100 lb. dogs... in her glory.

Nice Buddy