The rest of our GREAT day!!

Got me a ball!
Lookin' a little sleepy, Rach!

future golf caddy

smiley face

BF since 1993!

Jen and I

The boys...they couldn't figure out how to drive it,

so they sat on it.

Watching daddy play football with the guys

Taking the boys on a ride!

Can you feel your legs, Thomas?

Sooo fun!!

WAIT FOR ME!!!

The girls

Me, Jen, Erin & Angie

Tommy, Erin, Thomas and Heather

Angie, Nick, Bradley and Rachel

Jen and Micah

The 30's (plus Rach and Thomas)

The guys

Tommy, Nick, Brian & Micah

Being silly

We're tired of getting our picture taken!!

The Whole Group!

Sleepy cousins!!

Catchin' up on some boy talk

Rachel-RUNNING...

the kids decided to run around the house for a good 10 minutes...

they were having so much fun even though they collided,

got tackled and slipped and fell!

Bradley...in action

Thomas...running away

The cupcakes Rachel and I made...can

you read the names?

YUMMY!!

Cute cousins

Little Cuties

Rachel teaching Heather a trick

Heather

Thomas

Sweet hug!

Bradley

Today at 5:00, our dear friends, Jen, Micah, Brian, Angie, Tommy, Erin, and their kids Thomas and Heather all came over. We had a small birthday celebration for everyone who turned 30 this year. Jen, Micah, Tommy and Nick all turned 30 in May and Brian turns 30 in June. Everyone brought GREAT food and we had a nice time chatting and playing. The kids had a blast playing together. Rachel LOVED being the big girl...the helper and (she thinks) Heather's babysitter. Bradley was funny...he was very clingy and insecure with all the people in his house. If he couldn't see me, he would call me, "MA" very loudly. He was a little high maintenance, but I didn't mind. He just needs his mommy...LOTS!!! :) Thomas ran everywhere, playing with everything and seemed to enjoy his cousins. Heather really took it all in. I'm sure she'll be right in the middle of the mayhem very soon. We took several pictures outside...of course of the 30's and of most of the families. Of course, it turned into playtime outside with the kids and then the guys decided to throw the football too. Rachel was very cute playing with her ball along side her daddy. She also took Bradley and Thomas on a joy ride in her jeep. We had such a fun time with friends that we have all hung out with for more than 10 years!! (We even had some quite hilarious old pictures to prove it.)

What a GREAT day!

We decided to start today off with a good swim! It was hot and humid outside, but the pool water was quite cool! We only swam for a couple of hours because we had to get ready for our busy evening.

Rachel did an awesome job of floating around in her float and even taking the float off and standing on her toes in the water. She was so proud of herself for standing all by herself and walking around with no float. Bradley combined his minimal pool time with a trip on the kubota with papa, alot of snacks and a tidbit of a movie (YES! Gege and papa have put a tv/dvd combo at the pool for Bradley!). With Bradley, everything has to be on his terms! Little stinker!

Anyway, it was a refreshing start to the day. We came home, let Bradley take his nap, and cleaned up for our guests that were coming over. Rachel and I made cupcakes and lemonade and baked beans and we were ready...

First Swim of the Year!!

Look at the girls SWIM!!

Raquel

Rachel

Bradley eating his lunch

The boys taking a break

I couldn't wait any longer...we HAD to go for a swim today! I was worried that it might be a little cool, but the weather actually turned out to be perfect today. We invited Rachel's friend, Raquel, her brother Eli and her mommy, Layla. The water was a little cool, but nothing we couldn't get used to. The girls had a blast holding onto the wall and "swimming". The boys were very brave and tried to walk right in several times. Bradley's going to have to be watched EXTRA closely this year...he seems to have no fear about walking right on in. All of us enjoyed the water, though and even Bradley enjoyed me holding him and bouncing him up and down in it. I have to say, it was so fun that it makes me really look forward to going back...SOON!!

Rachel's 4 year check-up

Since Rachel is such a big 4 year old now, she had to have her yearly check-up. We haven't been to the doctor in awhile, and it's been nice not having to pay those co-pays (or be sick for that matter!), but we really LOVE the nurses and our Pediatrician! I've never met a nicer group of nurses than at this office. They LOVE Rachel and Bradley and the kids love them back, so our visits are very pleasant even when they're sick. Today I left Bradley at home since Rachel's appointment was during Bradley's nap. Gege came over to watch him. I also remembered the nurse telling me that Rachel would have to get 4 shots at this appointment, so I figured I would need to be able to give her alot of comfort. I also invited Nick along since he's never been to a doctor's appointment with me before and I knew he would be a big help comforting Rachel. When we got called back, it was one of our favorite nurses, Jenni. She was so glad to see us and Rachel was excited to see her too. First she was weighed and measured. She weighed 43 lbs. (91 percentile) and was 42 in. tall (88 percentile). Then we had to do a simple eye exam. First, Nurse Jenni showed Rachel a chart with picture symbols on it and asked her what she called each thing. Then, she hung it on the wall about 15 feet away and pointed to different symbols at different sizes and asked Rachel what they were. Rachel was so cute during this. She was so excited to be taking a "big girl" test and looked at me if she wasn't sure what to say. She was precious. Nurse Jenni gave her lots of praise and she loved that. Her vision is perfect, 20/20. :) Then it was time for her to go pee-pee in a cup. This was new to us too, but it was another "big girl adventure" so Rachel thought it was so cool. She kept asking me "why they need to check my pee-pee?" I honestly didn't know and forgot to ask, but I'm sure it's to check some type of levels...maybe glucose??? (I'll have to call and ask.) Anyway, once that was over, we went to our room and the nurse had Rachel count from 1-10 and name several colors that she pointed to. Rachel did great!! Then she asked her what her name was and Rachel said, "Rachel Jane Migilan". I admit, that's a tough name for a little kid to say...I thought her interpretation was great! Nurse Jenni asked her "who made her so smart?" and Rachel said, "my mommy's tummy." She said, "that's where I was and then I came out" (and pointed to my mouth as the exit point). I thought this was hilarious and all of us were chuckling at her. This has definitely been on her mind since Juju's baby has arrived. (We've talked for months about how her baby was in Aunt Wendy's tummy.) Throughout the whole visit, Rachel was giddy and excited and happy and enjoying all the attention! When Dr. McCorkle came in (for about 5 minutes) she was again good and sat still and cooperated while he listened to her heart, looked in her ears, mouth and nose and checked her tummy. He was very nice and asked about her pre-school that begins in August. His part was over and it was finally time for the "bad" part. We had not mentioned shots at all, but Rachel asked, "why Dr. Corkle not give me a shot?" So, I finally said, "the nurse is going to come in and give you a shot." She was a little nervous about it and knew it was going to hurt...and it did. She received a DtAP, MMR, Chicken Pox and HepB. I think it was the chicken pox vaccine that hurt really bad. The nurses said it feels like fire in your arm. So, poor Rachel didn't move her arms away as she got 2 shots in each arm, but she cried her little eyes out. It was sad having to give her a shot when I knew it was going to hurt. But, she was a champ! We left the doctor and went to Sam's to get diapers, but we also got her an ice cream sundae and grape drink. She felt much better after all those sweet treats. It was a great visit, but hopefully we won't have to go back until her next well visit...when she turns 5!!

A Picnic at Memorial Park-- UPDATED w/pics!!!

feeding the duckies
that duck is huge!

this is fun!!

Rachel leading us to the zoo

look at those bobcats down there!!!

Yesterday the kids and I decided to go to the park for a picnic. There are so many great parks in Athens and we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather. We chose Memorial Park since it has so many trees and is so shady. It also has a lake where we can feed the ducks, a playground and a small zoo. The zoo's nothing extravagant, but Rachel and Bradley LOVE it! This was Bradley's first visit to the zoo where he actually walked around and enjoyed himself. The last time we went, he was much younger and stayed in the stroller. He LOVED walking around and looking at the animals. He also loved feeding the ducks. There were 6 school buses there with TONS of 4th and 5th graders, so the playground was pretty much overtaken. But, we had so much fun doing all the other stuff so it didn't matter. After we visited the zoo, we decided to have our picnic, so we picked a grassy, shady spot and sat down to eat. We were pretty close to some of the school kids and Rachel and Bradley loved watching those big kids run around and play. She did ask me, "mommy, why those kids don't want to play with us?" I thought that was cute since she assumes that everyone wants to play with her. Anyway, we walked our legs off and were SO tired when we left. Bradley conked out on the way home AND let me transfer him to his bed to finish his nap when we got home. Rachel and I rested and I swear, my back and arms were so sore! I think it was from carrying Bradley around when he got tired of walking! :)

(Can't post pics...what a PAIN!!!)