Beach Bums

I think I'm going to pack up and move down to the beach.  I love it down there!  Danny and I used to spend so much time at the beach.  We'd even make random weekend trips during the fall and summer.  Since having Ruston, the trips have become few and far between.  It was just hard packing up everything a baby needs...and we couldn't just go spend the day laying out with a toddler to entertain.

This summer, we've been able to go quite a bit.  Ruston is at an age now that he enjoys the sand too.  He'll sit out there and dig all day.  We just got back from a trip down with Danny's family.

Ruston and Dillon spent some time digging in the sand.

We tried out another craft I found online.  Plaster footprints in the sand!  We mixed the plaster and let it sit for a couple hours.  It really only needed about 30 minutes, but we went ahead and let them sit.

Look how great they turned out! Absolutely precious.

We added twine to some of them so they can hang on the wall.  As you can see, we made quite a few sets... had to make sure all the grandparents got a pair!

I don't think this little guy would argue moving to the beach and being a bum. :)

Silly faces and oreos on the balcony.

We snapped some family pics before heading home.  We'll be back down again in just a few weeks!!

Craft Time

Summer is quickly coming to an end... We've been busy trying to cram as many fun things as we can into our last few weeks together.

Ruston is really into books again (he seems to go through phases with them), so we've been spending time reading in his room.

One evening, I'd gotten all our supplies ready to make a sun catcher and called Ruston to come from his room.  This is how he finally emerged....he's so goofy sometimes!

We got some plastic beads and poured them into a bowl.

Ruston stirred them up to make sure the colors were mixed well.

Next we spread them out into some different sized, round pans.

I'd read online that these guys let off some pretty stinky smells when they're melting.  So we opted for doing them outside on the grill.  I'm glad we did, because oh, did they smell!

Ruston and Daddy worked on some batting skills while we were waiting.

They popped right out of the pan once they cooled!  It was so easy!

Ruston thought they were pretty cool!

Daddy got out the drill and made the holes to hang it with.

I didn't have any fishing line, so we had to wait until the next day to finish it up.

It looks so pretty hanging outside!  And of course, Ruston is quite proud of his project. :)

Friday we took a Field Trip to ChuckE Cheese!

Ruston was a pro this time.... Ran from ride to ride and I swear, never slowed down.

He even went over to the big kid side with Tyler and shot some dinosaurs.

He and McKenzie had a blast on the roller coaster ride.  They held their hands up and screamed the whole time. :)

They did a little shark whacking...

...and saved the day on the fire truck.

Ruston drove Bob the Builder around probably 12 times.

And the Monster Truck got just as much attention.

They posed with ChuckE....

...and danced with him for some bonus tickets.  It was a great trip and fun to get out of the house with friends! 

Over the weekend, we worked on another fun craft.  I used stickers to write our verse on a big canvas.  I think Luke 2:40 is an appropriate verse for all little boys to learn and live by.

I stuck the stickers down as well as I could and let him paint away.

We let it sit out for a while to dry and then pulled all the stickers off.  Once they were all off, I had a lot of touching up to do. :/ The stickers didn't keep much paint off.  Luckily, while I was looking for a really thin paint brush to touch up with, I found a bottle of puff paint.  I used it instead of a brush and it turned out really well!

The puff paint gives it a little more texture and depth than if I would have just used a paint brush and touched it up.  It turned out fantastic!  We put it in Ruston's room, on his dresser.  Each night when we say our prayers, he says his "poster" too.  He's so smart and memorized it so quickly.  I'm really proud of him. :)

Tuesday was Ruston's last day of the summer session at school.  McKenzie will be going to PreK there in the fall, so she came to check it out.  She stayed and hung out with me for the rest of the day.  We went back up to the school that afternoon for Ruston's ice cream party. 

While we were at the house, we did a little crafting. :)

It was fun to finally use some feminine colors!  We turned her little feet into a butterfly!

She wrote the verse, Ecclesiastes 3:11 (He has made everything beautiful in it's time) and added some little details.  It turned out so cute.

We stopped for snow cones after picking Ruston up from school and headed outside for some fun.

They ran back and forth playing between the pool...

...and jumping on the trampoline.

When we came back in, they were pretty tired. :)  They laid on the floor and watched a movie until Amy and Tyler came with pizza. 

Yesterday we went to Home Depot to grab some paint for my parent's shed.  Ruston had it pretty good... he just kicked back, played some Angry Birds, and let us push him all around. :)

It's hard to tell, but I spent 7 hours on this darn shed today.  I'm burnt and exhausted, but I'd say it turned out pretty well.  The picture doesn't do it justice... I should have taken a before pic... 

We are headed to the beach tomorrow! I should be packing, but this recliner is much too comfy. ;)

Summer Shenanigans

We had a busy, fun-filled week!  We started off at the Bounce House place on Monday morning.

We got there right when it opened and had the place to ourselves for a good 10 minutes.  It was a nice facility....very clean and there were tons of different bounce houses.

There is an elementary school right down the road, so we had lunch out there at the playground.  Ruston and I used to play at that playground while we waited for Danny to get released from the Academy.

Friday we hit up the park in Taylor.  They have a 0 entry pool, which was great for the kiddos.

Ruston is still pretty nervous in the water, which is fine with me... I'd rather him be cautious than crazy. :)

We had been swimming for all of 20 minutes when they shut the pool down because of thunder.  We waited for over an hour until they opened again (ate some lunch and played in the grass).  We got back inside, had a restroom break, and got in the water for a good 2 minutes.  And then the whistles blew again.  We weren't going to wait it out again, so we just packed up and headed home.  But we still had fun with the 20+ minutes we had. :)

Friday night and Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to see Beth Moore at the Cedar Park Center.  We are currently doing her Esther study.  She is such a wonderful speaker and insipiring writer!

Megan and I got to go with our Bible Study group from church.  Every seat in the Cedar Park Center is a great seat, but our group got to sit in a suite! Complete with snacks and drinks.  We were so thankful and blessed to be there! :)

We met Danny and Ruston on the way home so we could get my shaggy haired boy a fresh cut.

Now, don't judge.... his hair is particularly crazy in this before pic because he had just woken up from a carseat nap.

We normally have a "heck-uva" time getting his hair cut because he screams, kicks, cries, shakes, and just throws an all around fit.

This time, Jennifer armed him with a squirt bottle and he was good to go.  He squirted each of us and the floor the entire time she cut.  Success!

Look how handsome this guy is.  He looks like such a big boy!

He says, "My love my hair."

The rest of the day was spent taking care of the yard.

Saturday evening, Gigi and Pawpaw took us to the Elgin rodeo.

He liked the cows, horses, clown, and cowboys for a little while, but this sword was much more entertaining. :)

My Uncle Steve used to team rope at the Elgin rodeo.  Since he passed, there is always a picture of him in the program.

I can't believe the summer is more than halfway over.  We've been having so much fun!!