Most American families are very busy during the summer months, and we certainly have been no exception. Between lake trips and having family and friends in town, June has flown by!! I think Kit is wishing the days would go by a little more slowly; I know Rayleigh & I are. August seems to be just around the corner. We kicked off summer by having almost the whole crew here for Memorial Day weekend. Cameron couldn't come because he was extremely busy planting cotton. (Side Note - This is his first year to farm his own crops. I am so excited and PROUD of him! I know how hard he has worked for so many years to finally be able to do this. Pray for rain for him and the other farmers in St. Lawrence!) Anyway, most of us had a great time at the lake. I say most of us because Rayleigh really wasn't into the whole boating thing. She hated her life jacket and just generally did not enjoy the experience.
She half slept/half cried most of the afternoon unless we stopped the boat and gave her some breathing room. Mom was gracious enough to stay home with her on Sunday and Monday while the rest of us went out on the water. I know it was really tough on Mom to have to spend so much quality time with Rayleigh, ha ha.
The rest of us had a great time! Thank you so much to Mom, Doug & Makemma for bringing the boat, to Sallye for driving all the way to Granbury twice in one month, and to Tom & Natalie for coming down from Lubbock. We really enjoyed having everyone here.
The 2nd weekend in June found the three of us in Sand Springs, OK to see my Dad, Piper, Paige & Wyatt. We had a GREAT time while we were there. The ride up there and back, not so much. Rayleigh has decided that she wants to cry in the car for pretty much the duration of any ride, be it 5 minutes to day care of 5 hours to Oklahoma. I think she slept about 40 minutes on the way up there and 25 minutes on the way home. At one point on the way home, I was sitting in the back seat with her and had pretty much reached my breaking point. I told Kit, "Pull over and trade places with me or I'm jumping out." Ha ha...
Wyatt has grown up to be such a cool guy. He'll be a freshman this year and is just so fun. He's also very strong, as he so lovingly demonstrated by wrestling me to the ground and picking on me any chance he could get.
Saturday night led us to the race track to watch Dad race his car. I have to admit that Kit, myself, Wyatt, and Piper's nephew Tanner are pretty much the best pit crew ever. Dad would have gotten third if he didn't have some guy hit him with a cheap shot in the last turn and send him into the in-field. Piper, Paige, & Rayleigh were a little wiped out after a long day of shopping, so they stayed home and cheered us on from there!
Last week, Kit & I took Rayleigh to the zoo for the first time. We thought we would be the heat by getting there right at 10a when it opened, but as most of you know, Texas heat in June starts early and by noon we'd had enough. Rayleigh did great though, and she seemed to enjoy the zoo. I think she was still too young to really get much out of it, but hopefully in a year or so, she'll really love it.
Kit wore the Baby Bjorn most of the day, and Rayleigh seemed to enjoy that much more than the stroller. She really never cried or fussed much at all. She even left her hat on most of the day, which was a miracle!
(I think this is her, "Mom. Seriously? Don't make me wear this." face.)
Finally, Rayleigh had tubes put in her ears on Friday, so Mom & Makemma came down to help out and make sure everything went well. After 9 ear infections this spring, it was time to just do it. While the surgery went well, that is something I hope I NEVER have to do again. Even though it was only a 10 minute procedure, it made me very thankful to have a happy, healthy child. And I will continue to donate to St. Jude's and other children's charities to help make it easier for families who have to go through that process over and over again.
Mom found some really cute matching dresses for Makemma & Rayleigh, so Sunday before they left, we decided to snap a few shots. While Makemma looked beautiful (as always), Rayleigh just really wasn't into it.
These turned out OK of RayRay and really good of Mom & Makemma; hopefully we can get some more when we come home in July to see everyone and meet baby Abigail!
Mom & Makemma also got to witness my very first swim meet ever. Kit & Rayleigh were there to cheer me on as well. I posted April that I am going to lose weight and get healthy. I intended on posting my weight loss results every week, but decided that I am just going to post the final results when the Weight Loss Challenge is over. (Which is next week by the way! ) Here are a couple of shots from my very first swim meet ever. I was pleased with the results. I got first in my age group in all of my events (I was the only one in one of them). But overall, it was a really great experience. It feels amazing to be getting in shape and more healthy for me and my family!
This is me almost to the finish in the 50m freestyle. I kicked booty in this race!
Everyone knows who I am in the water because of my awesome zebra print swim cap. I figured if I am going to swim, I am going to do it in style. I am almost to the finish of the 50m breaststroke here.
As you can see, it's been a busy month for us. We are loving life right now and really enjoying getting to spend more time together as a family. Watch the blog next week for my weight loss numbers and overall challenge results!
