Family Summer Fun & Precious Moments

So most of our big fun has had to wait until the end of the summer due to Tom's schoolwork, a small baby and a HUGE house re-organizing project (which is still in progress but the end is near!). Next weekend we head to the Outer Banks for a week with my parents, sister and her family and a few friends! I am sure we will have fun and I will post about it but for now, I will catch up with Seabreeze and Niagara Falls/Buffalo. Also, I REALLY want to be a mom who captures every moment with the camera. I LOVE to look back at fun pictures, but I find that I get lost in enjoying and soaking in the moments so often that I forget to take a picture. Trying to get better at that!

 Last Saturday, we took Keira and Libby to Seabreeze (an amusement park about 25 minutes from our house)...here are a few pictures. Janessa enjoyed a day with my Grandma, Aunt and any cousins or other family that stopped by their house that day...I am sure she was much happier there than in a hot stroller with no naps! Also, we spent 3 hours of our day in the water park (though I have no pictures of that) which we would not have been able to do with our sweet babe!

At the start of the day, Libby was a little unsure of whether she liked rides or not. Keira loved all but the ride pictured above in the bottom right corner. She said it made her tummy tickle too much. I think that if she had tried it later in the day, she would have liked it much more! By the end of the day, they couldn't get enough. I thought we'd leave Seabreeze by 5pm and we ended up staying until past 8! We had a blast though!

Mommy gets to ride with Kiddos on anything that goes in circles so daddy doesn't get sick! Keira LOVED the acrobatic show that they did (picture above with gymnasts who she now aspires to be).  She LOVED going on the log ride with daddy and is still talking about how brave she was. Libby got to ride on the train many times while Keira was going on some bigger rides, but she loved it!

We will definitely be making seabreeze (or some other amusement park) part of our summer each year!

Today, we were headed to visit Tom's grandparents who live in Buffalo, as well as some of his cousins...one of whom was visiting and is in the Air Force and headed to England for the next 4 years! So, we wanted to catch him before he left. We decided to leave earlier than anticipated and stop in Niagara Falls to show the girls and have a picnic lunch. The kids were great and Keira was sooo cooperative with eating a lunch that she didn't love and her willingness to walk so that I didn't have to carry the baby (It was REALLY hot!) They don't quite understand the enormity of Niagara Falls but I just love to reflect on how God gave us such amazing things to enjoy. Also, it is amazing to me how many different countries and states are represented there in the tourists. I think we take it all a little for granted living so close.

Then we headed to Buffalo. Keira and Libby had a blast with their second cousin, Autumn who turns 5 tomorrow! They took turns on the swing and slide, jumped on the trampoline and took some rides on a kid size (and speed) 4 wheeler! Janessa hung out mostly with mommy and daddy and rolled around on a blanket!

On our way home tonight, we were looking at how amazing the moon was (it was HUGE), and out of nowhere, Keira said, "When I am big, I want to be a gymnastics like the girls at Seabreeze." (We giggled of course at her lack of knowing the word "gymnast." She went on and on about how she just loved how they jumped and did tricks and how when she was big, she wouldn't be scared if it tickled her tummy. She said that the girl "gymnastics" were so pretty.

Then she prayed. "God, please let me be a gymnastics when I get big...etc."

After she was done praying, she said, "God liked my idea."

I said, "Did you hear Him tell you that."

Keira said, "No, I just...know that He liked it. I can feel it."

Precious moments!