4th of July Week at the River

Ahh...the River!! Daddy had the entire week of the 4th off and after spending a weekend in Guntersville, we headed to the River on Monday to stay until Saturday. It was a great week full on sunshine, swimming, boating, golf cart riding, lots and lots of good food, throwing hickory nuts into the water, playing in teh sand along the river bank, sitting around visiting with family, and relaxation.

Caleb stays so wound up when we are at the River, he absolutely loves it up there. He adores everyone, but he especially loves his special time with Pops, they are buddies :) During this trip, Caleb grasped the concept (warning- TMI) of peeing standing up and wanted to go everywhere- on the tree, in the water, on the rocks...it was hillarious. We decided to let him move up to the "big boy" life jacket this week instead of the life jacket with the baby neck roll. He did great! In fact, he started swimming on his own when he was wearing it. It was lots of fun to watch him gain this confidence in the water. It turns out to be a great thing because he now asks to wear it, which means he realizes that he needs it to swim.

Kailyn had a good week too, she got to visit with lots of family members, including some from Indiana that we only see a couple of times a year. Unfortunately, this week was also her first cold. It was pittiful. On Monday and Tuesday, we could tell her sinuses were just a little clogged when she was breathing sometimes. And by Wednesday, she was misserable. Most of the day on Wednesday (her first 4th of July), she napped and Mommy stayed inside with her. The rest of the week Mommy and Daddy took turns with our sweet girl. On Thursday, she got a little better and kept progressing each day. She was definitely a little trooper though! Other than that, she really had a good time. She loves being outside, which is great. We think she likes the boat, but hates the life jacket. And of course, being held by everyone and getting lots of extra snuggles- what's not to love?!

Welcome to the River!

Caleb was so excited to play with Pops.

Caleb...stay out of the rocks!!

Captain Caleb and his Co-captain Pops

Nana trying to keep Kailyn happy during a boat ride...she just does not like the life jacket.

Mommy to the rescue! When all else fails, feed her :)

Best Buddies :)

Nanna and her baby!

Bill (Nana's son) and his girlfriend, Ciara

Bill skiing.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Pops and Kailyn on the 4th, poor baby did not feel good! This was her only appearance that day.

Sweet cousins, Melissa and Stephanie. I wish I had gotten more time to catch up with them...

Uncle Great excited about the 4th of July lunch :)

Pops and Brooksie enjoying the spread.

Pops and Caleb with the sparklers...Caleb was SO excited about getting to stay up late for the fireworks.

Watching the fireworks with Pops...from a distance. He has never been good with loud noises.

Caleb said that he did not like the fireworks, they were too loud. We tried watching some from the golf cart, but ended up watching most of them inside the camper looking out the window.

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Happy 5 months, Kailyn!! (These were taken on July 5th since she did not feel great on the 4th.)

Love the silly faces she is making now :)

Caleb's favorite- beach time!!

Parker dug a big hole at the beach...

And Caleb wanted to fill it back up!

He was so proud!!

We love spending time at the River, especially our little water bug.

Until next time....