St. Simons with the Ellis Clan!

Connor (11), Carson (almost 6), Spenser (almost 5), and Jake

My little surfer 

  

 Sweet boys...they kept jumping back in birth order for pictures. :)

 MaMa and Granddaddy with some of their great-grands

 We got to celebrate MaMa's 81st birthday together that day!

 Feeding the turtles...right before Walker fed his face into the pond.  Nice.

No more pictures!!  Hahaha!  Actually the sun was in their eyes, but I thought it was cute anyways.

The boys and I just got back from a short trip to St. Simons to see my mom.  Mom and I try not to go over a month without seeing each other, so it was about that time.  We also got to spend the day on the beach with my cousin, Chris, his wife, Renee, and their sweet boys.  

My boys had so much fun with the Ellis clan!   I'll tell you what- having 5 little boys (4 of which are 5 and under) running around my parents' condo got a little wild, but it was the best time my boys have had in a long time.  Maybe Jake and Walker need some more brothers? Well, then again, cousins will do.

We also had a little visit with my grandparents while we were at the beach.  At first, they just met us at the food pavilion off the beach, but as soon as they realized how much fun we were having on the beach, they quickly joined us.  We were trying to figure out the last time MaMa and Granddaddy had been to the beach, and they think it was like 1984.  Crazy, huh?  I wish I could've gotten a picture, but my camera had already been put back into the car by that point.  I sure hope it's not another 28 years before my grandparents get back on the beach! ;)

Cocoa Beach with Jill!

 Jill and I

 Jill building sand castles with the boys

 Happy Father's Day, Tyson!!

 Ansley's friend, Megan, and Ansley (Jill's daughter)

Playing with my boys in the ocean.

One of my best friends, Jill, came and spent this weekend in Cocoa Beach so that she could see the Summers family prior to leaving for a cruise.  Cocoa Beach is only about 45 minutes from Orlando, so we woke up early Sunday morning, headed over, and spent the day with Jill and her family.  So much fun...so much sun!!!  It was like ole' times with Jill...well, plus a few kids and a hubby, who by the way sacrificed his Father's Day for a bunch of girl talk. :)  Love him.  Happy Father's Day, Tyson!  Thanks for the awesome visit, Jill!  Love you!

Picture Day!

 I think this could totally be a kid GQ ad! :)

 A real smile from my big boy!

 Walker used to be my go-to man for the smiles, but then he turned 2.

 Photos taken by Jake Summers. :)

Our church was having a photography fundraiser for a mission trip for the youth this weekend, so the boys and I took advantage of it and got some pictures taken.  (Tyson had to work, so we had to miss out on a family photo op...I did jump in a few pics because I don't have many of me and my boys).  I sure hope the photographer got some better pictures than I did; Walker was OVER it by the time I got them home and pulled out my camera.  I just couldn't resist taking some pictures in their cute outfits, though, which took lots of bribery to get them in.  Since when were a 4 and 2 year old old enough to pick their outfits and dress themselves?  Ha!

On a side note, people down here totally don't dress their kids in outfits like this...well, maybe the polos, but definitely not with the monogram.  In fact, nothing is monogrammed down here; there is no smocking, appliques, bubbles, jon-jons, cute little dresses for girls, NOTHING!  If I dress the boys in things like this (which like I said is rare because Jake thinks he is too big for it and little brother does whatever big brother does), people automatically call me out for being from the South.  Hahahaha!

Some Firsts for Walker

My poor second child definitely doesn't get enough camera-time sometimes.  I remember Jake's first time sleeping in his big boy bed, I had the camera all up in his face before and after the nap and even later that night.  Walker, on the other hand, has been sleeping in his big boy bed for 3 nights now, and I haven't even managed to snap the first picture of him in it!  Poor baby, but yes, Walker is now sleeping in a big boy bed, and he's doing great!!  He did get out of the bed the first night a few times, but my overly-sensitive child doesn't like being reprimanded, so he quickly cut that out.  Love my little pleaser. :)  And he is so stinkin' cute in the big boy bed; and what's even cuter is that he stays awake for like an hour every night just singing at the top of his lungs like no one is listening.  He's such a mess.

Walker had another first this week...his first movie!  Tyson got off work early today, so we took the boys to see Madagascar 3.  Walker did great for his first time and actually sat there for an hour and a half without getting up.  He was really into the movie (and the popcorn!!) and thought it was hilarious.  Poor baby had to sit in my lap, though, the whole time because the seat kept folding up on him, but I wouldn't have had it any other way (other than getting popcorn all over me!).  It doesn't get much better than being at the movies with my 3 boys!  Fun times!

Cute Little Faces

 While I was working out at the YMCA, the childcare workers did a little face painting for the kids.  Walker wouldn't participate, but Jake chose Batman.  Super cute!

Walker as Santa Claus. :)

 As you can tell by my pictures, we've had a slow week this week.  The boys finished up school last week and have 2 weeks off until they start the summer session.  I had originally planned to do some traveling these 2 weeks to see family and friends in Georgia and Alabama, but my ENT wouldn't let me out of my weekly post-op follow-ups.  Plus, Jake is playing t-ball this summer, so we have to stick around for that.  So we've been stuck at home this week and it has rained every single afternoon here.  :(  We have hit the pool pretty hard in the mornings and made lots of trips to the YMCA and some other fun places, though, so I guess I shouldn't say we've been stuck at home...it just feels like it with all the rain.  Thankfully, we have some fun things planned this weekend and next week to help pass the time.

Ok, so this is like the most boring post ever.  I hope y'all have a great weekend!!    

Coach O'Leary's Beach House

 Walker was trying to dump the water in the hole, but ended up dumping it on himself instead.  Zoe wasn't impressed. ;)

 Notice anything funny about this picture?

 Here is a close-up for you. :)

 Jake LOVES Miss Megan!!  She is one of his all-time favorite babysitters.

 Some of the girls- Kristy (director of player development), me, Sophia (engaged to coach O'Leary's son who is director of football ops and asst AD), Danielle, and Megan (who are both coach's assistants)

Tyson with Kirk (our secondary coach), who insisted on having his photo taken.

This weekend, Coach O'Leary had the UCF football staff over to his beach house.  We couldn't stay too long because this nasty storm rolled through, but the water and sand there was beautiful for being on the Atlantic!  The boys loved it!  Jake asked Coach O'Leary if he could spend the night there. Hahaha!  

Jake is so cute towards Coach O'Leary; he said at one point during the party, "let's go find Coach O'Leary...I want to talk to him."  Ok, Jake...I'm pretty sure most people are scared to death to approach the man, but you go right ahead.  And he did. ;)  Jake and Coach developed a special little relationship during their first meeting at a basketball game.  You see, it was right when we first moved here, and Coach O'Leary had invited our family to sit in his box for the UCF basketball game.  I was sick as a dog, so I stayed home with Walker and Jake and Tyson went on to the game.  Well, apparently, Coach O'Leary has his own designated row in the box and prefers to sit alone at the game to be able to concentrate.  Sure enough, Jake decides to plop down right next to Coach and starts eating out of Coach's popcorn!  Everybody got a good little chuckle out of it, though, and Jake was in tight with Coach after that. :)  Super cute!

We sure are lucky to be here at UCF.  I know I'm awfully down at times on Orlando and Tyson's crazy hours, but how many times do you get fired from a job and actually end up with a better one?  Not many, that's for sure!  I'm so proud of my husband and so thankful for Coach O'Leary for giving us this opportunity.  (And I'm not just saying that because I'm pretty sure Coach doesn't read this blog...I truly am that thankful). Football season is definitely going to be more exciting this year for sure!  Not much longer!!

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

Ok, so this video is a little hard to understand what Walker is saying, but my sweet boy is singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."  This song is by far one of Walker's favorites, and he sings it constantly.  Silly boy even changes it up in the end and adds a line from Dora by singing "How I wonder what you ate for breakfast?"  This little boy sure does make me smile!

Summertime!!