Ahhh...the summer of relaxing...

I have always loved summer...there is so much time to just sit around and relax and do a whole bunch of fun things. OK, maybe that was true when I was 8!! Not so much now. I feel like life gets busier as the summer goes on. The Palmer family has accomplished so much just since the beginning of June!!

First we went to St. Augustine, Florida which was heaven on earth for a week. No computers, no cell phone and no work!!

When we got home I started a 2 week swimming lesson set. I had almost 50 children registered to swim Monday - Friday for 2 weeks. I was in the water 6 hours a day!! I have not taught that much since...well, EVER!! What was I thinking?????

In the middle of all that was a birthday party that Bryden and Hayden were invited to. We have this neat place in town called "Pump it Up". It is a whole warehouse filled with "jumpy toys". You know...those big balloon type things that the kids can climb into and jump around in. The
cool thing is that the parents can join in too. The party was fun and the kids were worn out which in turn means that it was fun for me!!



Father's Day also fell in that time...which we celebrated in grand style. OK, not really grand style but I made dinner (which is an event in and of itself) and we had a picnic outside (which the kids love). We filled up our oversized plastic pool and set out the "Slip-n-Slide". Jim had a good time playing with the kids.

Jim's mom and dad arrived on June 29th for a 2 week visit. It was great to have them here. The kids adore Grandma and Poppa. Every time we hear an airplane Hayden says "Poppa come here?" We took them to Charlotte, North Carolina which is about 3 hours south of us. There was a HUGE outlet mall that we did some shopping in. Good thing I have the excuse of needing to buy school clothes!! Then came July 4th and the fireworks show on the street in front of our house :-) The kids hate the fireworks because they are too loud but we do it for the tradition.

Poor Bryden has a December birthday which means no party with friends year after year. So, this year we decided that she would have a 4 1/2 birthday. We had a beautifully sunny day with about 12 kids here. We rented one of those "Jumpy Toys" for the day and the kids had a ball. The really funny thing is that all of Bryden's friends from school have become swimming students of mine :-)

Then came the FAIR. What an exciting (and expensive) outing that turned out to be. Pony rides, funnel cakes, roller coasters, petting zoos and silly fair games...but it was all worth it!! The kids had so much fun. At the very end of the day the kids wanted to go and see a magic/kids show. So, off we went. The very last act called for someone to JUMP and someone to DANCE. Bryden went up on stage to do the JUMPING and Hayden went to do the DANCING. At the end of the "act" the audience cheered for the person they felt did the best. Our sweet Hayden won the gold medal :-) After a bit of talking about second place and how everyone can't win at the same time...Bryden was OK with Hayden being the star. Someone said that her behavior reminded them of ME!! I was offended :-)



Well, there is a month's worth of updates. Now ya'll can stop bugging me to update pictures f the kids. I have lots to tell you all still....the trials of potty training Hayden....Landen's obsession with food...Bryden swimming the length of the pool "freestyle" and "backstroke".

So, all is well in the Virginia Palmer's house...would love to get some updates from our friends and family who are all over the place....except Virginia :-(