Cardboard Box House

The same day we did the Splash Park we all drove back to my parent's house to see them. Mom and Dad were having trouble with their air conditioner and ended up having to purchase a new unit. Not fun for them, but the box that the unit came in provided lots of hours of play for Eli, Tinsley, Jameson, Kaelyn and even some of the puppies :) Pop is just like a big kid so he got really into the construction of the cardboard play house. The kids couldn't wait to get in and decorate and draw on the walls!

Eli made them a street sign for their house. 

Jameson LOVED talking to Kaelyn :)

Three little monkeys :)

Eli loves a good challenge and about this time the Cheerio Challenge was really popular. Eli decided to see how many Cheerios he could stack on Kaelyn's head :)

This was also the day we found out that getting 4 kids of various ages to take 

a good picture was next to impossible but hey, we tried!

Splash Park with Cousins

We signed Eli up for LSU Golf Camp and since all my family lives in the surrounding area Eli and decided to have a little mini-vacation while we were down there. Golf Camp lasted from 8:30-11:30 every day. The kids played golf for about 2 hours, then got time in the pool, and finally had lunch. Eli really enjoyed his time there. After golf ended each day, we made plans to meet up with all his cousins so they could play. I love that they got some good play time together :) One day after camp we met Tinsley, Jameson, and Kaelyn (who was still very new) at the splash park near my parent's house. The kids had such a fun time running around playing in the water!

Tom Cruise better watch out :)

Haha, his expression reminds me of Mr. Bean!

The Splash Park was exactly what we all needed on such a hot summer day. The kids had a blast and it was a great cool down for everyone!

Summer Bucket List Days 29-35

*The captions are taken directly from my original Instagram posts.

Day 29: Another whirlwind of a day...Golf and swimming this morning, lunch, AREA 51 with Tinsley and Jameson, and tonight we visited Kaelyn. Eli and I were exhausted by the end of the day, but we're glad we got to see all of his cousins today and have fun! #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 29: I was asked tonight by Caleb and Kailey (my youngest brother and sis-in-law) to be Kaelyn's godmother. I'm not going to lie; I got all weepy about it and heartily agreed. I'm so thankful for this sweet angel and I can't wait to watch her grow up. I'm blessed to be her "Manna" and her Godmother 😊 #proudaunt#proudgodmother

Day 30: It was a golf playing, pool swimming, playground swinging, splash pad splashing, fort building, and having fun with cousins kind of day. #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 31: And that's a wrap for LSU Golf Camp! Eli had a blast this week and begged to go back next week as well. I can't say enough good things about the coaches, the facilities, the instruction, the activities, everything. Eli loved it all! He even won in the putting and driving competition in his group today! After a full week of golf camp, we were ready to be home and see Josh :) We ate at Newk's and then hit the road. It was a wonderful week full of fun!

#thewilsonssummer2016

Day 32: Saturday at home...Family movie, grocery shopping, grilling, baseball, washing cars and most importantly...SNOBALLS from @thesnoco. We needed a restful day at home and today was perfect :) #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 33: Four wheeler riding to a fishing pond and spending about 3 hours catching more fish than we ever could have imagined. Watching Eli catch fish after fish was so much fun, especially when he reeled in the only big bass of the night! What a fun summer evening! #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 34: The highlight of our day was certainly making homemade ice cream. Yum-O!! Magformers and Snap Circuits have also been huge hits around our house lately. Eli amazes me daily with what he's able to build and create with both of these :) #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 35: Magic Show at the library this morning, which prompted Eli to check out 4 magic books 😳 I can confidently say he's not going to be the next David Copperfield, but he did perform two magic tricks successfully for his dad when he arrived home for work 👏🏼 After lunch we spent our afternoon at the bowling alley with our friends The Atkins. It was a great summer day! #thewilsonssummer2016

Our Spring/Summer Garden 2016

Josh and I look forward to each spring when the weather begins to warm up because that means we can get in the garden. Some of the first crops we plant each year are new potatoes, corn, and garlic. 

Bless my heart, corn about kills me every year because of all the times I have to go stand up the plants after a thunderstorm or strong wind, but it's worth it in the end. Just know that if you ever eat corn at my house a lot of hard work and love went into getting it to the table! 

This was our first year to plant garlic

2016 New Potato Harvest

This is our guest bedroom closet after every potato harvest. We've learned to keep the room cool and dark and the potatoes last a long time. We rarely have guests and when we do, they laugh but don't seem to mind :)

Sadly, the birds ate all the blueberries and these bushes didn't make it. I was really looking forward to fresh blueberries too! Maybe we'll try again sometime in the future. 

Our squash and zucchini plants go crazy every year. We usually give them some fresh homemade worm tea a couple of times and that stuff makes them grow so much!

Our row crops-purple peas and lima beans

Corn is ready to harvest!

I love playing around with different arrangements in my flower pots around the pool. I usually try to follow the formula of having a "thriller", a "filler", and a "spiller" in each pot. 

I restained our Adirondack chairs and they look so much better!

Pole beans...sadly, these did not work either. 

I'm switching back to the bush bean variety next year!

Onions

Garlic...almost time to harvest!

My sweet Barkley. He follows me step for step when I'm working in the backyard. 

He doesn't want to miss out on anything!

He's just the cutest :)