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

Summer Bucket List Days 22-28

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

Day 22: We went to Eli's school so he could test on some books he read. He's working hard towards his summer reading goal. Then it was off to the doctor for a well visit. He survived the finger stick and had a great checkup!

Day 23: Eli had a dentist appointment and what says "Yay, no cavities!" like getting cupcakes to eat after supper and snowballs to eat immediately. YOLO! Hope his dentist doesn't see this 😳

Day 24: Board games, swimming, and a front porch picnic lunch were on our agenda today. Even Barkley joined in the fun!

Day 25: Coffee and Battleship this morning followed by swimming later this afternoon. It was a lazy Saturday, with the exception of the hour we worked in the garden, but we all enjoyed the downtime!

Day 26: Today we celebrated my hubby! He does so much for me and for our family and I am incredibly grateful! He takes care of us, provides for us, leads us, and makes us laugh every single day. Watching him father Eli has brought so much joy to my life! We appreciate him every day but especially today! Happy Father's Day!! We love you!!

Day 27: Excited about spending the week with family :) We stopped at the mall before leaving town and finally found Eli a hat he liked...he's such a cutie! When we made it to Tinsley and Jameson's house, Eli couldn't wait to teach them how to play UNO Moo. He's too old for it now so he decided to pass it down to them :) These three are precious together and I'm glad they are going to get some cousin time this week!

Day 28: Today was a busy but very fun day! Golf, swimming, playing with Tinsley and Jameson, watching Finding Dory, and we ended the night with ice cream! We ❤️ summer!!

Fun Spot America

Monday was our last day with our friends but our flight didn't leave until late that afternoon so we spent the morning at a fun little amusement park called Fun Spot America. It had all the old school carnival rides that I grew up with as a kid and more! Plus, they were celebrating their anniversary so we got tickets for me and Eli really cheap :) 

I think Eli loved the car rides because he got to watch movies. We haven't had a DVD system in the car for several years now so Eli LOVED the one in Nicki's van.

We arrived at Fun Spot and the first thing we did was head to the Freedom Flyer, a roller coaster where you sit and your legs dangle. Eli is a little thrill seeker so he loved the ride. I loved that there were absolutely no lines so we were able to ride it twice within 10 minutes of arriving at the the park!

After a couple of rides on the Freedom Flyer, we headed to White Lightning, a wooden rollercoaster. Micah was thrilled because he was finally tall enough to be able to ride it! 

We rode White Lightning twice and then ventured into the rest of the park so the boys could ride more rides. They did several spinning rides and I opted out on those. I'm not as young as I used to be and I learned the hard way that I get motion sickness really easily now! Jonah, Eli, and Micah did Rip Curl, the Screamer (it takes you up and drops you), and all the old school fair rides-Scrambler, Paratroopers, Tilt-a-Whirl-and then all the boys came to us looking very sick. All that spinning had gotten to them, too. We decided to take a break and head to the mall for some air conditioning and lunch and then head back to the park afterwards. 

Once the boys rested, drank some water, and ate some food, they started to feel much better. We all got an ice cream treat and then headed back to the park. The plan was to stay away from any rides that went around and around! 

First up, were the bumper cars. I rode with Micah and Eli and Jonah drove their own cars. Eli LOVED being in control of his own vehicle. Micah and I had a lot of fun smashing and bumping into everybody else. 

Then we headed to the go carts and raced each other. I don't remember who won but we all had lots of fun!

Our last ride of the day was the big Ferris Wheel. We all grabbed a cart together and enjoyed resting and looking out over the amusement park. 

It was such a great way to spend our last day in Orlando with our friends. We loaded up in Nicki's car one last time and headed to the airport where we said our teary good-byes. I love this family like they're my blood and I'm sad every time we have to part ways. I'm so thankful we got to spend a week with them and I can't wait until we get to do it again!

The Three Amigos

Love this sweet boy!

Micah's hand, Eli's face...It all makes me laugh :)

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We had a little snack, rested a bit, and then it was time to board our plane. We were headed home!

Our flight got in to New Orleans late and while we were taxiing down the runway to our terminal this dude crashed. He got about a 10 minute cat nap and then it was time for us to leave. We'd had a great week in Florida and it was a great way to start off our summer vacation!!