See post below for May, here I am on June...look out, I might actually get caught up just in time for this baby to arrive! :)
June was every bit as busy as May. Abby decided she wanted to do the summer play. It's a big to-do around here. Every summer the Clinton County Showcase kicks off their year with a children's play in the park. The entire cast is made up of children, ages 6-16. Abby has been asking to do the play for YEARS, and this year was The Little Mermaid and she REALLY wanted to do it...So, we said okay. (Our only reservation in the past was the HUGE time commitment, but I have to say she NEVER complained or said she didn't want to go to rehearsal, she loved every minute of it. The play was this last weekend so I will put it in a future post with LOTS of photos and details.:) Anyways, she was cast as a member of the Sea Creature chorus, and was a singing and dancing fish. Rehearsals started in late May/early June and took up LOTS of our summer evenings.
This little rotten mess also had a big change at the start of summer. I know I have mentioned before that she LOVES tumbling, and that she is REALLY good. I truly try not to talk about it a lot because I don't want to be one of 'those' moms, especially since this is my area of work, also...BUT, I knew it was time to move to another gym and have some other coaches look at her and let her give gymnastics a shot, not just tumbling. And, sure enough, she is every bit as good as I knew she was! ;) So, she started at a new gym and was placed in a select class for girls that are basically in waiting before they can start progressive/team gymnastics. You can't start that until age six. There are only 3 classes of girls this level, each class has 6-8 girls, so she is really doing awesome. They are the only class of kids under the age of 6 that work out in the big gym with all the team gymnasts, etc. I was proud, to say the least, especially since she had never been on the beam or bars. BUT, as I knew she would, she LOVES it, and she continues to get better and learn more and get more and more comfortable on the equipment. She LOVES floor and bars, and is still a little timid on the beam (which really surprises me, actually) BUT, they don't work on a little beam, they work the medium and high beams. No kiddie stuff. And, I just LOVE watching her flip around in her little leotards. Cutest little leotard butt I've ever seen! :)
In early June we went on a short family vacation to Lake of the Ozarks, MO. We had a great time. The weather was crap the whole time, but it sort of forced us to do other things we wouldn't have done otherwise, so it was a nice change. No pool or lake, but we got to hike a lot and go see and do other things.
We spent all afternoon one day at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It was SO cool. Starting our hike to the castle ruins.
There were over looks down into this natural spring. It was so beautiful.
The castle. Some French man built this and it burned in the 70's. It was so neat to see, and I am usually not a big hiker or really into this sort of stuff-ha!, but it was really cool!
And, no surprise, she found a rock to balance on and practice her arabesques! ha!
After the first hike to the castle ruins, Scott found another trail he wanted to do. A little more rugged, but we were up for it! (Insert me saying it probably wasn't a great idea, but I went along against my better judgement! ha!) We found a natural bridge and cave...very cool, girls loved it!
This gives you an idea of how far we hiked...see waaaaaaay over there. Yeah, that's the castle where we were earlier! HOLY MOLY!! I was feeling it by this point. 3rd trimester hiking...maybe I should patent a new prenatal exercise program! ha!
The girls did great, though, and there really was minimal complaining...from me or them! ha! True scary story, though...Liv slipped off the side of the trail at one point and fell. Thank God her leg got stuck under a log or she would probably still be injured today from the fall down the side of the mountain! I have NEVER seen Scott so shaken up. I, thankfully, didn't see it. I was at the back of everyone. I just saw as Scott was getting to her. Abby was upset, Scott was upset and Liv was totally fine! haha! That's Liv for ya! After that and the fact that we had been hiking for hours, I made the executive decision that we were DONE! ha!
Really, Liv, really?!?! haha!
We did get to do some fishing from the beach area at the condo.
We also went to an indoor theme park of sorts one day. And, what do you know....Abby hit the 1,000 ticket jackpot! REALLY!!!!??? hahaha! She was like a celebrity. Everyone was gathered around, cheering for her! ha! It was hysterical!
Indoor roller coaster. I was skeptical, but they loved it and said it was just as fun as an outdoor one! :)
And, I LOVE this picture of Liv. She had her little toys all set up and she's reading to them! So sweet!
A few days after we got home from vacation, the girls started their (first) cheer camp of the summer at the gym where I teach/taught tumbling for the last few years. (Clearly, I'm no longer coaching with this big belly, and not sure if/when I will go back!) But, they had a GREAT week and learned a lot and had a lot of fun!
With coaching, I have worked with girls and coaches from just about every local cheer squad and gym, or the girls have cheered for me at World Class, Carlyle or KC, and since my girls go to work with me 80% of the time, everyone knows them, and they might get a little special treatment at most of the camps! ;)
And, I'm moving right along. I think this was around 29 weeks?! Give or take a week. For the most part, I have felt great. Late June/early July brought about the only 'rough' week of the pregnancy because of iron poisoning! Sounds like fun, huh!? It was a very NOT fun week, but thankfully we figured out the problem quickly and I was feeling better after a few days.
FATHER'S DAY!!! My Dad was here that weekend, too, and we were able to treat the guys to a wonderful dinner at a local place called The Chop House! Yummmmmm! We also spent the weekend swimming and just having fun with Scott and Dad.
Lots of outside work around here. Between the landscaping and garden and 4 wheeler riding around the neighborhood and fishing...we have nice tans! :)
Some silly summer fun with my wild girls!!
June was also the start of Little Miss activities. It all wraps up at the end of this week, so again, a post for July! ha! But, Liv was one of the 20 little girls from the county selected for Little Miss, and they had to go for photos and a tea party. She was SO excited!!
We also made a fun (but too short) trip to Paducah, KY to visit with Scott's sister, and to love on 'Baby' Will! Sara, my sister in law, is also pregnant!! She's due about 9 weeks after me, and they are having a girl. It's an exciting time in our family, for sure! :) Two new babies by Thanksgiving...I can't wait!
Scott's parents have 3 sweet grandbabies now...can't believe it will be FIVE in just a matter of months! We love our Will! Look at that face...how can you NOT give him anything he wants!? ha! And, the girls do...and he ADORES them.
The later part of June contained the moment I have been waiting for for moths!! The Package Tour with Boys II Men, 98 degrees and NKOTB!! The night before the concert our friend Colette, the brunette :), scored us Meet and Greet and After Concert Party passes from an old college friend that works with 98 degrees on this summer tour! SCORE!! We were so flippin' excited. It was like we were 13 again! ha! This photo is from 98 degrees website!! Yep, we are THAT cool! hahaha!
And, me with the band. It was super cool! They were all very nice and friendly. After the concert, Stephanie and I headed home, but Julie and Colette started for the after party and me Donnie and Joey, too! DAMN!! I totally should have stayed! *sigh* haha! But, at least I got to meet the ones I did. It was so much fun. We laughed and danced and sang all night long!
Boys II Men did not disappoint. They. Were. Awesome. I could have listened to another hour of them!
98 degrees were okay. I love them, so it was still fun, but I wasn't overly impressed.
But, then...then the New Kids came out...and they performed their butts off for 2 hours! It was great!
Hangin' Tough! ha!
So, there is June in a nutshell. Also in June, and I can't believe I only got one not so good photo with my phone, was real deal swim lessons for the girls. We have done lessons in the past, but Abby is wanting to do swim team in the future so I wanted them to get in some REAL lessons. We did 2 weeks of lessons to get them American Red Cross certified. They had to test to pass their current level, and I was nervous, but they both passed and can now advance. Abby to level 2, Liv to preschool level 2. They learned SO much! Both are doing so well. Abby has so many new floating techniques and she learned all the strokes. Liv is doing so great, too. They really had a good time. I might even do another round before the pools close for the summer, or another indoor this winter, just to keep it up.
Play practices were also just about every Sunday-Thursday night in the month of June. So, we spent a lot of time there. I also started summer practices with my new squad at KC, so between all of that and all of the other every day fun, we are having a GREAT summer and this baby boy will be here before we know it!! :)
