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

Eli's First LSU Game

At the beginning of October, Josh and his friend Guy took Eli and Hayden to their first LSU game. These two boys had the BEST time! Josh said they didn't quit talking from the moment they left. Eli wanted only two things...a big foam tiger paw and nachos. My sweet boy got both of his wishes as well as an experience to remember with his Daddy and one of his best buddies! This will probably become an annual tradition for these guys! 

Eli ran into one of my running partners, Carrie, while they were down there. 

She forced him to take a picture with her! 

Foam paw...check!

Enjoying the game with Hayden

Enjoying the game with his Daddy!

What a fun time!

July Summer Fun

I posted all the fun we had during the month of June, so now here is our July recap. At this point in my life, it's probably easiest to just do bullet points. My poor blog is so behind. I've got about 10 drafts of posts I need to blog about, but I just haven't had time. I'm going to make time this weekend though because I'm ready to see something different when I go to my blog's homepage. 

1. We had a bumper crop this year of beans and peas. Oh my goodness. I had lima beans and purple hull peas coming out of my ears! This was the Instagram picture I snapped after my first picking of the lima beans. We planted 3 rows of lima beans. This was just from the first row! I picked the other two rows the next day and then had to leave to go to Dallas for the John Mayer concert. My sweet mother-in-law shelled and put up every single one of those lima beans for me. That's love right there, folks! 

2. Eli and I loved going to the library each week to see all the special guests. The last guest this summer was the Snake Man. He came to the library last year, but Eli was just a little too young to make it through his entire presentation. This year, Eli did much better. I learned a lot about snakes in my area and more importantly, Eli learned what to do if he ever saw a snake. Here's hoping he never has to use that little bit of knowledge!

Clayton and Eli with the Snake Man

3. Eli spent a weekend in July with my Mom and Dad to spend some time with them before school started. He had so much fun! I'll say it again...I'm SO HAPPY they live closer to us now!  When we picked him up, Josh gave Eli a surprise-his new LSU hat. Shortly after getting in the car, this is how I found Eli. I snapped this and put it on Instagram with the caption "This is how you know your baby had a great time with his Grammy and Pop."

4. Well, we are now two time champions of the Yard of the Month club :) I never thought when I was growing up that I'd ever be excited about seeing that little sign in my yard, but I truly am. Keeping our flower beds looking nice and taking care of them are something I really enjoy doing. Every year I learn more about plants, what grows best for us, and how to take care of our yard. I'm by no means an expert when it comes to flower gardens, but I do enjoy it and take pride in keeping my yard nice and weed free. Maybe next summer we'll be three time champs :)

5. Little Miss Tinsley had her one year pictures taken this month before her big party next month. It's hard to believe this little girl is already one. She is such a fun baby and I'm in love with her! I also secretly LOVE the fact that everyone thinks she could be mine :) I can't wait to post about her first birthday party. It was over the top CUTESY!

That's July in a nutshell. The only other thing I could probably add would be that I spent a lot of July going to my classroom for a couple of hours at a time trying to get my room ready for the first day of school. Whew! That was a lot of work, but somehow I managed! I have more to post about later, but for now I think this is a good start. Stay tuned!

A Visit from Friends

This weekend some of our college friends, Shane and Beth, came to visit us along with their kids Grace and Collin. We have not seem them since Grace was born about 3 1/2 years ago, so it was so much fun to catch up on each others' lives. Eli was just enamored with Grace and tried to follow her around everywhere and do everything that she did. Grace was a doll! She was so sweet to Eli, even when he didn't share so well. Beth had to explain several times to Grace that Eli didn't exactly know what sharing was yet, so she wouldn't get upset with him. It was so much fun to watch Grace and Eli interact with each other. Grace's little brother, Collin, is almost 5 months old, so she's going to have to get used to someone following her around copying her every move. Eli just helped prepare her, I guess :)

Grace and Eli playing together

We went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and that was an experience. Four adults and three kiddos! I think that's the first time Josh and I have gone out to eat with someone else that had a kid. All the kids did great. Eli had eaten before we left the house, but that didn't stop him from chowing down on some of my spinach quesadilla. He loved the rice and the spinach as you can tell!

Good to know he likes spinach!

Beth and I wanted to have some girl time, so the boys offered to watch the kids while we went and got pedicures. We got back and the four of them were involved in a nerf ball war. There were balls going everywhere in the house. Josh, Eli, Shane and Grace were all having a great time, and Collin was watching all of them entranced. He'll be up moving around before too much longer!
I think Josh and Grace had the most fun though. They were both running all over the house pelting each other with the balls and laughing hysterically while doing it!

That night we went over to B and Memaw's house for the LSU game. Shane and Beth are big LSU fans like we are, so they fit right in. Grace made herself right at home and started playing with anyone that would play back. I hope that Eli is as personable as she was one day. She wasn't nervous or shy about not knowing anyone at all. It was so sweet! She even said the blessing for all of us before we ate our food. It was precious!

What a game!

Sweet little Grace

Isn't she just too precious?!

Beth and I and our babies left early to get the kiddos in bed, but the boys stayed for the remainder of the game. Poor Tigers! Hopefully, they'll do better next time. Shane and Beth had to leave the next morning, but we made plans for them to come over Sunday morning before church and have breakfast with us. They did just that and before they got on the road, we attempted to get a picture of all the kids. That didn't work out so well. Grace and Eli bumped heads, she started crying, Collin started crying, and Eli was ready to bail and go play. Beth and I decided that Josh and Shane could take the picture while we held the kids. Collin was still upset and Eli didn't smile, but Beth, Grace and I did our part :) Fun times!

We are so glad for such wonderful friends. It was so much fun to see how much God has blessed each of our lives. We can't wait to see them again!

Collin was not into picture taking.

Beth, Collin, Grace, me, and Eli

Football Season Begins!

Saturday Eli and I made our way to Grammy and Pop's house to visit them for Labor Day weekend. Eli and I got there around 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon. He traveled great, as he always does, and was in the best mood when we got to their house. He immediately started playing, chasing the dogs and cats, and checking things out around the house.

Sleeping on the way to Grammy and Pop's house

That night was the first game of the season for the LSU Tigers and our family had a little LSU party. My brother Josh, and his fiancee, Andrea came and brought LSU cookies. Yummy! The whole family was decked out in LSU shirts, including Eli! I thought the yellow football on his booty was too cute to pass up without taking a picture! Eli, Grammy, and I made a quick run into town to get some pizzas for the game and while we were out Eli scored some new toys from Grammy and Pop. It pays to be cute, I guess! He and Uncle Caleb played with them when we got home and Eli decided to show Caleb a thing or two about baby toys.

Cutest little booty ever!

Andrea's LSU cookies

Playing with Uncle Caleb

Before putting Eli down for the night, we all took a picture together. We were ready to cheer our Tigers on to victory! Unfortunately, we were all EXHAUSTED from the day's events, and I think everyone crashed before the end of the fourth quarter. I didn't even make it past the first quarter. Oops! The Tigers didn't need us though, thank goodness, because they got their first victory of the season. I'm so excited about college football. Eli already has several LSU outfits for all the games he's going to attend in the comfort of our living room :) The start of football season is a sign that fall is just around the corner! Cooler weather, we hope, is on it's way!

The Dixon Family