First Day of School

Well school started today. It's hard to believe another summer has come and gone and a new school year has started. SO hard to believe I have a 3rd grader and a kindergartener!

These first pictures are from Meet the Teacher night last week. We have been so happy with the school and all the teachers the kids have had so far, so we are hoping this year is no different.

Rhett with his teacher, Mrs. Pyburn.

 My big Kindergartener by his "cubbie"

Hollace and Mrs. Rowland

 She has been SOOO excited to start back to school and I think one of the main reasons was because she gets a locker this year. It's all I've heard about the last few weeks. Did you know they now have wallpaper, carpet, and even chandeliers for lockers???  We got some things to decorate, but I had to draw the line somewhere. 

 With her besties

And FINALLY the FIRST DAY is here!! 

 I give you my THIRD GRADER and my KINDERGARTENER!!!

 Our THIRD GRADER!!

 If I've heard about anything else lately more than the lockers, it is these BLUE boots. Aren't they special?? She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES them.

(Nana is partly responsible for them. We took Hollace to Justice last time they were here and they had a ball picking out some new things.)

My big boy! He was excited to go. Didn't really act nervous or scared at all. I am a little nervous for him, but no tears yet. He is so ready, I just hope he has a great day and loves school!

Love these pictures of these two- and LOVE that Hollace will be at the same school as Rhett. I think that makes me feel a little less nervous for him. She is a great big sister.

 Daddy went in to work a little late today so he could walk to school with us

Love these three so much and just can't believe how fast they are growing up. Thad will start pre-school next week, so we'll have more first day pictures then.

Beach Vacation: Part II- Fun on Land

While it was a "Beach" Vacation, we had a lot of fun on land too. It was fun just to be together and RELAX! We watched movies, ate, sat around and ate some more. 

Hollace and Brynn

 Our fam on our first night there

 The girls relaxing, watching a movie

 We LOVED the area where we stayed. It was a little past Destin and not quite as busy. We went into a little area called Seaside one night and walked around and checked out all the quaint little shops and eateries.

The Seaside, FL post office

The Carpenters let Bryleigh bring a friend along, since she was the only older one. Her name was Kelsee and Rhett developed a little crush on her. It was so funny and pretty cute too. She was a really sweet girl, but we'd never seen Rhett like that before. 

 Dinner one night at AJs. The kids had lots of fun everywhere we went.

 Ok, the grown ups had fun too!

 My handsome husband and I

We went for a walk along the boardwalk in Destin. The kids spotted this self-service snow cone stand. It was a hit. ALL the syrup you want!

 Me with my favorite girl!

 Margo and I

 Rhett and Kelsee again :)

 Our family. We had such a great time being together!

 I LOVE these four SOOOO much!!

 More of Hollace and Brynn. These two could not get enough of each other.

Beach Vacation: Part 1-Vicksburg

We went on vacation this year at the very end of July with our great friends the Carpenters. It was our first family trip to the beach and the kids were SO excited to visit the "beach and the ocean"!  We drove half way the first day and stopped in Vicksburg, MS. Bryan wanted to go by the Vicksburg National Military Park before we left the next morning. We thought it would be really interesting too so we stopped by. Our little stop on the way out of town, ended up being over three hours. It was actually very interesting even though it took way longer than we anticipated. Surprisingly, the kids didn't whine and complain the entire time and it was probably a great experience for them.

They had a presentation including the firing of and actual cannon from the war. 

 All the kids with some of the "actors".

 Our fam in front of actual cannons from the Civil War.

 The park was 17 miles of battle grounds and statues erected in honor of the Civil War Heroes and soldiers.  Here is one of the actual battle grounds from the Civil War. Amazing to think that young men actually gave their lives right here.

 There were many statues given by the different states in honor of the men from their state who fought in the war. The largest monument is this one from Illinois.

 Inside the walls are covered with the names of over 36,000 Civil War soldiers from Illinois. We found a few Hubbards.

 In front of the monument.

 This was called the "Shirley House". It is the only war time structure still standing inside the Vicksburg National Park. It was owned by a family at the time war started, but they evacuated and the home was used as a Union headquarters.

 This doesn't really do it justice, but the land in this area was beautiful.

 The boys' favorite part was this gun ship.

 It is the USS Cairo, which sat on the floor of the Yazoo River for 102 years before being raised and restored. It was the first US marine vessel to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

 The Vicksburg National Cemetery. There are over 17,000 Civil War Union soldiers buried here.

 Some of the markers had names.

  But many were marked only with a number. 13,000 of the soldiers are "unknown".

 It really was touching to see all the markers and be able to visualize just how many lost their lives.

 The ones with names were grouped alphabetically.

 View of the Mississippi River

Obviously I can't do justice in one blog post, to the history that took place here. If you ever get the chance you really should stop here.

We enjoyed to stop and all learned a LOT about the Civil War, but we were ready to HIT THE BEACH!!  

Beach Post to come soon!

**Happy Birthday today to the best Grammy ever!! We love you!**