THE HAYS FAMILY: July 2014

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

July 4th

This July 4th might go down as the best yet.

I asked Bishop if he wanted to be in our town parade and he said yes. Most people decorate golf carts or 4-wheelers or power wheels but we don't have anything like that so we decorated our bikes. Since we decided to do it like the night before, I scrounged around and found some ribbon, balloons, patriotic pater and some free printables. Had my printer not run out of ink, it would have been super easy. But all the red was hot pink, so I had to color over everything with a marker. It took more time, but it was still free!

It was a nice coolish morning and it could not have been more perfect for the parade. I was a little worried about him being able to ride that far, but he did great! He never even complained! I could just see us getting half way through and me having to push him or something. I was a proud momma.

Getting ready for "the race"

Ready to go!

Ben and Daddy watched the parade

Love, love these 2 kids

After the parade, we went to my parents for a 4th of July/birthday party. Perfect weather, good food, family, trampoline, water balloons, water guns, slip and slide, homemade ice cream, and birthday cake. I mean, really, what more could you ask for?!

And, he wanted his face painted when we got home...

We ended the night with a fireworks show at the country club. And, the flash blinded him apparently :)

I'm pretty sure we could not have fit much more into the day!

Hays Beach Trip

Finally I have made to one of my favorite things we have done this year! THE BEACH! Although sometimes the beach with kids isn't really VACATION at all…it is very fun and so many memories are made with those we love. We were so fortunate to be able to go with both of our families this year which was awesome. Our trip with the Hays's was really a pharmacy conference with my sister in law. We decided it would be a good idea to go together and make it a family trip :) We missed Leon's sister and her family though :(

Although I did take quite a few pictures, I did my best to try and enjoy the vacation and not stress about pictures as much. But, I still ended up with plenty :)

My precious boys

LOVE

Crabbing is one of his favorite things to do.

Ben eating cheerios in the Go-Pod.

I can not say how much of a good purchase this has been. He sat in that thing eating cheerios on the beach and at the pool the whole trip. I use it at home at the country club and we took it to the beach with my family. Really, for a crawling baby it is perfect. I was so worried about him eating sand the whole time but this was a great answer! Thanks Alicia for the recommendation! It is lightweight enough that I can carry it myself..along with our ridiculous pool bag and the kiddos. And, toys attach to it and it has cupholders that are perfect for cheerios. I can tell it probably won't be something that would last through multiple children if I continued to use is as much as I have

(and around water and sand) and he won't stay in it quite as long now that he is more mobile but was well worth the money in my opinion.

It was great having Papoo along! Not only did we all have a great time with him, he also had a movie night with the kiddos while we went out for dinner. THAT was vacation :) Thanks again Papoo!

Snack time

A RARE, but sweet nap on the beach.

Eating at the beach is one of my favorites and the Donut Hole never disappoints! Bishop was a fan as well.

Love those green eyes and that sweet smile :)

I like places to eat with a wait that gives out hula hoops and sidewalk chalk to impatient kids :)

They had so much fun with the daddies in the sand. I can't say enough how lucky I am! I am great at making sure everyone has proper clothing, sunscreen, snacks, toys, etc but I don't do playing in the ocean or digging in the sand as well as they do!