Kyle Turns Four

Kyle is about to be 5.5 but I have to blog about when he turned four (7/31/15). We were at the beach so I planned to have a little party there, Lightning McQueen style. I ordered the cake from the beach Publix and everything. He just loved it! He thought it was just the best to celebrate his birthday at. the. beach. Our kids are not short on being spoiled on their birthdays. Brice and Kyle have now celebrated one at the beach and Anna turned five while at Disney World. Rotten kids!

The rest of these pictures were taken with my camera so the quality is a little better. Kyle was a fun four year old. He is always up for a good time and loved celebrating himself! Ha. He is a lot like Brice though and likes to celebrate with those he is closest too, his family.

Now that I look back on these pictures as I post them, I realize this was the last year of that baby face and chubbiness. He still has some pretty kissable cheeks but man I will miss that "chubb"! Happy 4th Birthday, Kyle! So happy you were able to be at the beach on your birthday!

July 2015

So, June was all about Taylor Swift and some baseball. I already blogged about the first few days of July too which was NYC with Brice. In mid July we headed back to Charlotte (had gone the end of May for the arrival of Miss Sarah Catherine) for Sarah Catherine's baptism and some fun on the lake.

Also, Anna caught sight of the previous post with her as Taylor Swift and was completely embarrassed and made me delete it. Stood over my shoulder until she saw the word "Delete"...

 Hanging around in Jonathan's room as we used to always do as kids. Since last summer, this bar has been taken down. ;(

 I took this picture for Aunt Deb. She let us stay in her house so I knew she would enjoy seeing them eating breakfast there!

Lake fun!

 Grandad is in on the action!

This is the first time they have ever all been on a tube together. Of course, they all loved it but I think Brice and Anna could have had the boat go a little faster. ;)

Random Summer Happenings

Let me start off this post by saying Happy New Year 2017!!! I will still be blogging the last half of 2015...oh well. I am bound and determined to catch back up. Although, this has been easy while we have been at the beach and our schedules have been "quiet".

So, along with events throughout summer 2015, we also just had days to hang out. We also went to a lot of baseball games...baseball. always.

The biggest happening for Kyle that summer was just prior to his fourth birthday, he learned to ride his bike without training wheels!!! It took him about fifteen minutes to figure it out and then he was off. I attribute this to the use of a balance bike or strider just like Anna used before learning to ride a bike.

We always try to go to the neighborhood pool as much as possible...

 ...and use pretzel sticks as cigars.

When at baseball games, all Anna and Kyle care about is the playground situation. If it has a good playground, then they are okay with going. Obviously, this makes it difficult for me to see all of the game if the playground is out of the area of the field Brice is on. But, with some awesome help from grandparents, we try to rotate who takes them to play.

 Random day at the mall and then of course dress up time for Anna and me.

 Yes, this is my wedding veil and an old dance costume. We were having a tea party.

 Above is what happens when you eat blue Ring Pops. They know they get one per game. And, below is Kyle's poor face after slamming into the bleachers at one of the games. He was trying to clean up empty Coke bottles underneath and stood up and started running before looking. I was so glad his eye was okay. This picture was actually from the next day. The day it happened, it looked awful!

Anna did a tennis camp for the second summer in a row. She seemed to really enjoy it but for summer 2016, she opted out because the sessions were an hour longer than these and "it's hot"...

Another random summer day where we met friends to play in some fountains. The old married couple shrieked and giggled the whole time.

And, last but certainly not least, Brice's All Star team made it to state this summer. This place was oh so hot, I don't even remember where exactly we were except south Georgia near The Little White House. Brice's team did very well and I was excited for them to be able to compete in the state tournament for the second summer in a row.

New York City!!

Last Christmas (2014), we gave Brice a trip to New York City. Well, we weren't able to actually take the trip until the summer time! There are several reasons for this but I would have to say the biggest reason is: baseball. So, we decided we would be able to squeeze it in over the 4th of July which meant, I would get to be in NYC for my birthday!! Awesome.

My parents were kind enough to take Anna and Kyle and have their own kind of fun up at my sister's house on the lake. In the end, all five of us had a fabulous 4th of July! My birthday, the 2nd was on a Thursday so that was the day we headed up there. We hit the ground running even though we had a super early flight which meant being up super early. Our hotel was about a block from Times Square so we headed there first, walked through the Toys R Us and then went to Central Park and over to The Met.

 He enjoyed the Egyptian period the most, which of course I think is the most creepy but, I was glad he got something out of it and we were there for quite some time.

For my birthday I wanted a NY pizza and a beer and so we found a restaurant that was in kind of a creepy part of town and we couldn't see the restaurant without going in and up some stairs. We were nervous going up those stairs but it turned out to be a very small place that was very delicious. After dinner, we headed to The Empire State Building. I can't say this was Brice's favorite as the height got to him. I love being atop there though and being able to look out on the whole city. Even though there are always lots of people up there, it seems so quiet compared to the busy streets.

On the 3rd, we had tickets to Statue of Liberty and I think Brice enjoyed this the most. We got up early and headed to Battery Park to take the ferry. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky and there is such a beautiful, patriotic feeling I get when approaching Lady Liberty.

View of the new Freedom Tower from the ferry.

We also went to Ellis Island which I think any of us should appreciate. I mean, this is where our ancestors entered America!! It is so hard for me to imagine what it had been like on a boat coming across rough waters and battling sicknesses. And then to get off at Ellis Island would have meant being so close, yet so far away with the lines and paperwork.

 We tried to hit all of the highlights, Financial District, World Trade Center Memorial (very emotional but very important for those who were not alive during that time to see), Grand Central Station. It was great being there over the 4th because everything was very patriotic! For the 4th, we went on quite the adventure and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to watch the fireworks explode over the city. It was extremely crowded, so much so, that they shut down the park area and were not allowing any more people to enter. While this sounds like a good thing, Justin had left the boundaries of the park to find food and was almost not able to get back in! So, we watched the Macy's Firework display from Brooklyn and then, yes, had to walk back over the bridge and quite a ways before we were able to find a taxi. Our dogs were barking to say the least!

The World Trade Center museum is quite impressive. I had messaged back and forth with a childhood friend about visiting this beforehand. She has lived in NYC for some time now. If I remember correctly, she told me that she cannot bring herself to go into this museum. Having lived there during 9/11, I can only imagine. The museum is not just a museum but quite like Pearl Harbor, it is where these people lived their last moments here on earth. Several of the visitors were crying. They did a beautiful job with the displays but after an hour of being there, even Brice, who did not live through 9/11, wanted to leave. There is something about it that makes you feel as though you are invading loved one's grieving space. At the same time, I feel as though all Americans who were not alive during 9/11 should visit this museum.

 The new Freedom Tower.

 Grand Central Station below.

 Once were settled in the Brooklyn Bridge park, this was our view of the bridge and the Empire State Building. Below, is a picture of it that night, lit up in red, white and blue.

 Waiting around for fireworks...

 God Bless America!!!

Happy 4th of July, 2015!!!

This was a great trip to take a kid Brice's age on (10 at the time). We have now told Anna that we would take her when she turns 10. I do hope this actually happens because I would love to visit NYC at Christmastime and go see the Rockettes! While Brice's trip catered to the boy interests of the city, Anna's will definitely be a trip in girl version!