Summer of Magic

 Well we are almost into October and Summer feels like a distant memory, but one that I am determined to hold onto.

Before we get to far along, I need to to mention a few highlights of last Spring...

Collier will hopefully be pushing a real one of these in a few years.  If daddy loves doing it, he loves doing it, so our yard should always be well manicured, thanks to my boys!

 Dance parties are what we love to do!

 Easter lunch with cousins!

Collier agreed to smile for the camera.  No tears!  Big moment.  We have reached a major turning point!

 Isabelle's dance recital.  Doesn't she shine?

Isabelle, aka "The Brick Wall," on the soccer field.  Another fun season on the Reds Soccer team.  It has been so fun (and amazing) to watch her improvement over the years.  She started at age 4, skipping and dancing down the field, trying her best to avoid the ball.  Now is so into it, so focused and intense!  Defense is her position of choice and she is determined not to let a ball go past her!

Not sure they won a game, but scores don't matter when you're surrounded by your best friends!

Lots of baking camps and classes got my summer off to a fun and busy start.  It was so nice taking a break from cake orders and giving my creative mind a rest.

I hosted several "Cakestravaganza Camps" as well as an American themed baking camp, as seen below.  We made apple pies, sugar cookies and the famous flag cakes!  So fun working with these young, eager and excited girls.  I LOVE sharing what I do with kids and love being able to mix it up.  I don't get totally burned out with cake orders when I mix in some kids classes and I don't get totally burned out of teaching when I can go back to just making cakes for people!  Best of both worlds. 

 Isabelle's 7th birthday came upon us and you know what that means.  Beach week!!!
Once again requested that she paint her own birthday cake... Works for me!

 Besties find a common bond over the microphone.

 We celebrated Izzy's birthday a few days into our annual beach trip with the Barksdale side.  Chicken pot pie and flag cake make her birthday complete!

 Poor little rosy (burned!) cheeks but she is the most beautiful 7 year old I know, inside and out!  I couldn't be more proud of my sweet angel, Isabelle.

Sweetest cousins...never enough time together so this week was really special!

Collier agree to smile for a posed family photo so we took full advantage!!

July 4th parade and way too much candy accumulated!

 Collier was my little buddy during most of our days at the beach.  He's like me and can't be on on the beach for hours on end (unlike his father and sister).  So the 2 of us would hang on the beach for an hour or 2 and then head back inside for a break from the sun and sand.  It was a HOT week at Litchfield, but that did not keep Isabelle away from the sun and water!  She was a little fish, and Brooksie's side kick.  It was hard to keep those 2 out of the water long enough to reapply sunscreen!  

 Collier still refuses to go (voluntarily) under water, so he clings onto me for dear life when in the ocean.  Next year will (hopefully) be a different story because I intend on suffering through enough swim classes for him to finally voluntarily go under.  I was a big wimp and gave up on swim lessons last Spring.  I couldn't take the crying and the complaints.  Or maybe I just wanted to enjoy having his precious little body wrap around me for one last summer.  These moments are fleeting!

 Isabelle lives for her cousins, so when they're around I'm pretty much chopped liver.  But occasionally she needed a mommy hug, and when she did, I was there and ready.  These are the moments I live for.

This was a big first for our big girl.  Real Summer (Day) Camp at Thunderbird.  It was a long day in the heat but she was doing so many fun things that I think it was a success.  

We joined our dear friends back at Seabrook this year for a wonderful long weekend with the most well behaved and sweet kids, The Rayburns.  Hoping they are rubbing off on my own!

Isabelle and Emmie have been best buddies since babies when we met in the neighborhood.  It has been so fun watching them grow up together!

We had the most fun with Isabelle's Native American inspired birthday party!  She LOVES Pocahantas and has always been fascinated by the American Indian culture, so we had such fun planning it and I even surprised her with a pony that came to our house.  It was so much fun!!!  Maybe just a bit of a childhood dream fulfilled (and that's mine I'm talking about!).  

I love making my girl a special cake for her parties!  I LOVE parties!

Collier and his cousin/best bud, Jamison love getting dirty together.  So that means bath time togetherness too!

Isabelle got a BIG bike for her birthday.  She is finally getting the hang of it and I'm pretty sure we'll all be enjoying this one for many years to come.  Riding bikes is one of our favorite family activities.  Right now its kids ride and parents jog, but I think we are about a year away from all 4 of us riding together and I can't wait!  

Cousins and little brother came to Isabelle's performance at Imaginon summer camp and we had fun taking the light rail back to my car.  These kids LOVE each so much.

Glenora!  This year marked a big moment when Cici and Granddaddy drove the kids up to the lake a few days early!  It was a wonderful success and everyone can't wait to do it again next year.  Especially mommy and daddy who got to enjoy a few nights at home sans kids!  

These two truly bonded this summer.  They played together so happily and I had to pinch myself many times.  Most mornings they woke up, eager to see each other and would run out of the cabin together making plans for the morning.  They found common ground in "doggy school" where Collier apparently was able to digress, crawling around and whimpering or barking to communicate.  And Isabelle successful gained her position of power over her little doggy student (which is rarely the case when Collier is around).  It was a bizarre little game, but they LOVED it and looked forward to it every day!

I can't get enough of this natural light...and these sweet faces.

Angels I say.  Sweet little angels.   Until....

COUSINS CAME!!!

It is my kids' greatest happiness when these cute cousins show up, but it also creates their greatest fury and jealousy.  Isabelle and Collier are particularly obsessed with 2 year old Jamison right now (afterall, he talks and walks and completely idolizes both of them).  But they do not want to share him.  Quickly the bond was broken and doggy school games ended. It was time to compete for Jamison's attention.  Game on!!!

I think next year Leeora will be an active part of the cousin ring and hopefully will help to diffuse the sibling rivalry!

Right when we got home from the lake, it was the much anticipated Solar Eclipse!  We grabbed out glasses and watched it at the Tuck Compound.  Pretty cool stuff.

And then I blinked and Isabelle was a 2nd grader.  

And Collier was a goofball. (seen with best bud, Henry)