Fancy Free and Five Years Old

Wouldn't it be great to be five years old again? It would definitely be much less stressful than being 35+!! I think five is a great age - old enough to be somewhat independent, yet young enough that you aren't TOO independent yet. Jenna turned five on July 2nd...and she is really good at being "fancy free" and "five". This was her outfit of choice the other day - a black tank top, lime green shorts, a hot pink tutu, and pink flip flops...she picked it out herself. She played house with her dolls in her playhouse on the patio and I couldn't resist taking photos to try to capture her just being five.

Mr. Baseball

Jacob absolutely LOVES baseball and was so disappointed when this year's season was over. They start the season in early May, so it is over by mid June. He would have been happy playing all summer! There was a tournament in Van Wert last weekend and he was asked to play on one of the "all star" teams. He was so excited to play again. Unfortunately they ended up losing all three games and did not get to play on Sunday. His team had fun and Jacob played really well. He is finally hitting the ball (although he still gets walked a lot) and had several good plays at second base. Here are some pictures from his tournament game. He loves the last one...he says it looks like a photo of a major league player.

Last ones

This is the last of the Texas photos. ....our family. We took these at the same time I took Brenda and Jill's family photos. I set the camera up on the tripod and used self timer for some of them and Jill helped with some. As you can see, I totally have a thing for feet photos. Don't know what it is - but I love them - and I take way too many of them!

Brenda's Family

We had lots of fun trying new photo ideas for Brenda's family. She has such a big "yard" that we were able to spread out. Unfortunately our first attempt at family photos for them didn't turn out so well - it was way too sunny and hot and everyone was squinting or crabby. Our second attempt was much, much better! It helps not to take photos in the middle of the morning in Texas! Late evening works much better. :) Anyhow...here's a few of our favorites...

Technical Difficulties

For some reason my blog was messed up yesterday and you could only see a small part of it. I think it's fixed now and you should be able to view all of it. Please email me if you have trouble viewing it still.

Jill's Family

I'm down to the last of the Texas photos....family photos of each of our families. Here's Jill's family - Marc, Jill, and Luke. We went to a park near her house one evening to take these.

Marcus

Meet Marcus....he is my nephew (Brenda's step-son). He is truly one of the best kids you will ever meet...he's just an all around good kid. He has been through a lot in his life, especially during the last year, but somehow he has managed to come through it all shining! Even though there is a 4 year age difference, he and Jacob get along so well when they are together. I'm sure Marcus thought he was going to get away with not having his photo taken by me...but we managed to sneak a few in on my last night there. We told him that it just wouldn't be right if there were only pictures of his sister's on the family photo wall. :) Look at those freckles - isn't he the cutest??

Luke

This is my nephew Luke. He is such a funny little boy...he's so happy and constantly on the go. I love to listen to him talk - he says some of the funniest things. Unfortunately, he's not too thrilled about getting his picture taken by Aunt Amy. I did manage to sneak in a few while we were at the park. He was throwing rocks off the bridge and I couldn't pass up the photo opportunity. The last one is my absolute favorite - it is 100% Luke!

My new "do"

I spent Tuesday night and all day Wednesday in Urbana with my cousins Kara and Lori. We spent most of the time scrapbooking and stamping. It was so much fun to scrapbook with someone and share ideas. While I was there, we took a trip to Lori's salon and she gave me a fun new haircut. I was so tired of the old one...it was boring and plain...but this one is much more fun! THANKS LORI! I love it!

Naptime Interupption

I could not get enough of Payton while we were in Texas...I just had to have my baby fix! One afternoon after Brenda had put her down for a nap, I walked past Payton's room and saw her standing up in her crib...very much awake and babbling away. She looked so cute that of course I had to run and grab my camera and start snapping pictures. The light pink walls in her room made the perfect backdrop. Luckily the photos turned out great, so Brenda wasn't too upset that I interuppted naptime. Oh - and I did let her sleep after I was done. :)

Little Miss Payton

This little girl is an absolute sweetheart!! I am totally missing her chubby baby legs, her fuzzy hair, her babbling, her big blue eyes, and the way she just cuddles up to you when you hold her. Brenda had me take photos to use for Payton's 9 month portraits when I was visiting. We were really happy with how they turned out...she was so cooperative! These are just 3 of my favorites.

San Antonio

We took a side trip to San Antonio during our Texas trip - just a quick overnight get away. We took Marcus with us so he could spend some more time with Jacob. We stayed at the Emily Morgan hotel which was right next to the Alamo. It was the perfect location - we could walk or take a trolley everywhere we wanted to go. The hotel had a lot of character - it had been a hospital at one time. It even had a stainless steel pool that the kids swam in (it had been the therapy pool for the hospital). Our first stop was the Alamo. Jacob was fascinated by the whole story and the history.

Then we headed to the Riverwalk. It is such a neat place to walk around. If you've never been there, I highly recommend taking a trip there sometime...you won't be disappointed. We ate ice cream on the steps while we listened to the band playing. They've been there (or a similar group) everytime I've visited and I love to sit and listen to them. I even had my parents buy me one of their CDs when they visited San Antonio over Christmas. Then we took the boat ride on the river - the kids loved that!

Later in the afternoon we took a trolley to El Mercado (Market Square) and looked through the shops that sold Mexican imports. Then we ate at Mi Tierra - a yummy mexican restaurant. The men in the picture were going table to table playing music. They asked if we'd like a song and we said yes...and then one of the men leaned down to Chris and said "It's $5...hope that's okay." The kids thought it was fun, so it was worth the $5. Later we went back to the Riverwalk and watched some Mexican folkdancers and listened to mariachi music.

The next morning we left to go back to Brenda's...but made a stop at the outlet mall in San Marcos first. WOW - I wish it would have been cooler and we had more time to spend there. It was truly the best outlet mall I've ever seen. I think we could have done some major damage there!

The photos from our trip are below. I couldn't get all the writing AND the photos in one entry.

San Antonio Photos

At the Alamo:
























The Riverwalk:

























Mi Tierra restaurant:

July 4th

We spent July 4th at Brenda's with her family and Jill's family. Scott made beer can chicken on the grill for us (YUMMY - if you haven't tried it...you need to...click on the link for a recipe!) for dinner. We attempted to get a picture of all the kids. I think they turned out pretty good considering how many kids and personalities are involved. Notice the DARK sky in the background?!?! Before we ate it started to rain . We ended up going to the fireworks in the rain....and it stopped right before they started. YEA!

L to R : Marcus (holding Payton), Carsyn, Jenna, Luke, and Jacob

...AND STILL MORE TUTUS!!

Oops - too many pictures for one entry. Here are some more of my favorites.

JENNA





















And one more of CARSYN that wouldn't fit in the first set.