Princess Camp

We made it through day one of Princess Camp today! This is an introduction to dance, where they focus on a different princess every day. There's a story and craft to go along with the dancing during each hour long session. Let me just tell you, our girl was giddy about Princess Camp!! This is her first exposure to dance (other than what we do at home to the radio) and she's loving it. I didn't have time to take pictures before we left the house, and she was so excited she wouldn't stand still once we got there, so this is the best I could get today.

Jumping with excitement while we were waiting for the other girls to arrive.

Dancing (don't think they learned this move today, though).

The last 10 minutes, parents got to go in and see what the girls learned today, so here she is showing off her moves while sporting her crown (today's craft).

Giving her new friend (and everyone else - the other classmates, the teacher, the parents and siblings in the lobby) hugs goodbye.

Princess Camp definitely seems to be a success!

Swimming Videos

We survived a week of swimming lessons - finally! It was HOT, but Anna and Sam had fun playing in the kiddie pool all week while Jack was swimming. He really did a great job and greatly improved throughout the week. I took a couple videos for the family. The first is him swimming with the bubble on, and in the second one he's jumping off the diving board. He had a great time and learned a lot. Next week . . . princess camp for Anna - at least it's inside!

We're All Smiles

Sam

just

can't

stop

smiling

because . . .

McCravy baby #4 is on the way!! Baby is expected to arrive sometime late January and we are all smiling from ear to ear!

Swimming Lessons

Jack started his first day of swimming lessons today. I thought he would be a little more timid, but he did a great job. A good friend of his from school was there and this was her second week so she knew just want to do. She grabbed Jack's hand and he went with and never looked back!

Looking a little forlorn that she can't go in the kiddie pool.

See how talented he is, he can swim and scratch his nose at the same time!

I finally just let Anna sit on the edge of the kiddie pool and splash - she loved it!

13 Months

Our babe is 13 months today - wow! I skipped a 12 month post because, other than dropping bottles, nothing had changed. Now my boy is a mover and a climber. He climbs on everything - even things that don't stand still (like Hank). He's mastered the art of climbing down steps, which makes my life a little easier since we have two staircases in our house. Just over the past few days he's really starting to stand alone for longer periods of time. He's taken a couple steps here and there but definitely isn't a walker yet. He will, however, walk behind a push toy all day long! He has eight teeth now and eats pretty much anything. He loves green beans, grapes, and bread. He's finally become what I consider a great sleeper - hour morning nap, 2+ hour afternoon nap, and wakes up happy and content in the morning to play alone in his crib a while (except for this morning, he woke up at 6:30 screaming). I still only give him credit for saying "mama," "dada," and the occasional "uh oh," but we all know I'm a little picky about what I consider real words. He's into absolutely everything, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

We certainly do love our sweet Sam!

Father's Day Weekend

We went home to visit over Father's Day weekend. We were only there about 26 hours, but we had a lot of fun!

We went to church with Pop & Grammy Sunday morning, and then came back to their house to play. We took a lot of pictures that all turned out a little like this:

Then we tried to get a picture with Pop and this is as good as it gets!

Jack & Anna fought over who got to "walk" Sam, and then we went to Granny & Grandy's house.

Daddy played in the princess tent for a long time and read lots of books with his oldest two.

Then we played outside while Sam napped.

Dueling bigwheels!

After lunch, Anna gave Grandy lots of stickers "for being good."

And there was more playing outside. I think he needs to work on his for a little!

We enjoyed popsicles - mmm!

After dinner, we had baths and then picture time with Grandy for Father's Day.

We made a quick stop at Pop & Grammy's to watch the trains go by from the porch before heading back home.

It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed spending Father's Day with some of the best father's I know!

Happy Father's Day . . .

to the BEST Daddy ever!!!

We love you even though we won't pose nicely for pictures with you!

Love,
Jack, Anna, & Sam

Fireworks

We decided to finally take the horrendous brass faceplate off our fireplace last weekend. Marshall was examining how nasty it was on the inside and his "helpers" all gave him tips on how to clean the "fireworks." For some reason, Jack keeps calling it the fireworks instead of fireplace! Notice the two big kids have their flashlights handy to help out Daddy!

Daddy and Jack got a little silly with the soot later that day.

Not sure if this is his tough guy face or if he's getting ready to plant a sloppy kiss on someone!

Fighting the Heat with Fashion

Since it's chilled down to 90 degrees today, Anna felt the need to wear this shirt in honor of our cooler weather. At least she paired it with shorts and flops!

Photo Shoot Bloopers

We attempted our annual photo shoot on the beach again this year. We didn't get a single "keeper." But we did get lots of bloopers, with an occasional cute one thrown in here and there - just not one that included all of us!

We started out trying to get a good one with the grandparents first because we usually attempt theirs at the end when the kids are melting down. Jack decided to melt down from the first second - it was just lovely.

Hmmm. No comment.

This is probably the "best" one of our faces - seriously.

I have no idea what Jack is doing here!

I think I was just trying to get the hair out of my face, but that's probably a pretty good picture of how I was really feeling.

Look at Sam!

What does it say about us when the best picture is of our backsides?
(and blurry)

Enough!

We finally declared our photo shoot a bust and pulled out the kite.

Our faithful photographers.

The End.