A kick in the grass...

Last night Dave and I had a triple date with our two younger daughters.  (Yeah, tell me that wasn't a little weird lol.)
We got some free tickets to a Rowdies Soccer Game from a friend of Dave's.  We asked the girls if their boyfriends (well Natalie and Chris are not official yet but he's been around almost a month now so that's what we call him. ) wanted to join us and we'd all go.  I was pleasantly surprised they said yes.  It was a perfect night, not to hot and just a quick sprinkle that only lasted about 5 minutes.  The Rowdies won, always a plus but I must admit my favorite part is people watching and all the little one's in their soccer uniforms screaming their little lungs out.  Always reminds me of my girls when they were little and we would go watch the Mutiny play.  After the game we really wanted Yogurtland for frozen yogurt but they were closed and so was the Dairy Queen so we settled for McDonalds.  It was a good night hanging with our girls and their guys...

Natalie,Chris, Tristan and McKenlee

Dave and I

Dave and Tristan doing a little male bonding and enjoying their milkshakes.

Selfie of McKenlee and I 

Chris teasing Natalie

Once a month posts have got to go....

I really have to get better about this posting thing. We have just been so busy and my camera stopped working so combine the two and it doesn't make for good posting accountability. But I do have a new camera on my Christmas list and I am pretty good about taking pictures with my Iphone so no more excuses.  October will be better.  Homecoming was fun for the girls they went with each other. (Yes, this made my Momma's heart proud.)  They both ended the night out to dinner with boys.  Natalie with a new one she has been talking to and McKenlee with Tristan.  I am happy to say they are back together again.  Dave and I love him and were very happy to hear they reconnected at Homecoming.

My pretty girls in borrowed dresses. (Score!! we love borrowed dresses)

Oh, I forgot to mention we finally planted some shrubs out front. (Well, truth be told Dave's parents and Aunt and Uncle did it for us when they were here.)




Dave and I participated in a Golf Scramble tournament on Sunday.  We were invited by our good friends the Jackson's and we had a blast.  My first attempt at golfing a couple years ago in Saphire Valley, NC was not very successful I was never able to connect with the ball.  This time was much better.  I connected with the ball, managed to hit it fairly (mostly) straight and managed to hit further than Dave on the 17th hole.  He keeps mentioning when I brag about this that the hole was only a par 3 but who cares I hit further than him. Whoo Hoo!!!!!!

We came in 2nd place for mixed teams and won the prize of $60 a couple.

Dave and I 

Krista and I 

Krista, Mark and Dave.

What we've been up to...

Hello September it is nice to see you!!!

On the first Mckenlee had a birthday.  She is the big one, four now.  She is loving high school and swim team but hating the 5:30 in the morning alarm.  Her first high school boyfriend came and went (sweet, sweet, boy they are still friends) and her first homecoming week is coming up soon.  For whatever reason the girls have decided not to attend the dance this year.  But  the school  plans a lot of fun activities that week so the girls are looking forward to it.

Yesterday, Natalie celebrated her sweet sixteen.  It was a very low key day for her (we didn't do a party or anything because her trip to France was her present and party combined)  she went to the beach with friends and then last night we had a couple of her friends over plus my Mom and Aunt for some turkey burgers, fries and ice cream cake.  This year she asked for a dairy queen ice cream cake, we have never had one before it was very yummy.  At this moment she is with her Dad at the Driver's License office getting her official license.  Watch out Pinellas County my girl is on the road by herself. We are on the hunt for a car.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Orlando to visit Sydnee for the day.  Now that she has a job she is not coming home as often as she used to so we really miss her.  My Mom has never seen her apt or the campus so we will be giving her a tour and then going to Syd's restaurant for dinner, I'm so excited to have her wait on us and see her in action.

Today is my 22nd wedding anniversary.  Hard to believe I have been with Dave for 24 years.  Man, we are old. LOL  We are taking a cruise in a few days.  It is a 4 night deal ($169 a piece with an ocean view) to the Bahamas.  In fact, it is the same cruise that I took with McKenlee and my niece back in the spring.  Dave hasn't gotten to go anywhere this year because one of his weeks he used when his parents were here and the other to remodel our bathroom so he really wanted to go away.  With me starting my new job I had only two vacation days accumulated but managed to make it work by working the Saturday after the cruise and going in a little late one day.  I love how my boss is so flexible with me. (Sure helps to work for your close friend) (smile)


Well here are a few recent pictures, hope your September is treating you well...

This was taken last month when Sydnee's boyfriend treated her for her B-day to the beluga whale swim/interaction experience at Sea World something she had wanted to do forever.

Happy Anniversary my love!!! (Taken Labor day when we were invited to spend the weekend with our best friends in the panhandle to help celebrate their 20 years, Congratulations Tricia and Mark) 

Happy Sweet 16 Natalie.  (This picture with their swim "mascot" was taken last Sat at a swim event)

McKenlee and her boyfriend now friend Tristan on her Birthday dinner night.

Two Prince Patriots...

High School swim season started tonight. This is the first time I have had two girls on the team. Since Sydnee and Natalie are four years apart they were never on the team together. I love having two swimmers on the team. I love that they both love the sport, I love that it is something they can do together,  and I especially love that I am not sitting for two hours with my kid only in two events that are over in less than two minutes. lol   With two daughters I get to see one of them in FOUR different events Woo Hoo!! Yes, I get eight minutes out of two hours. (smile)

 Both my girls are Butterflyers but right now Natalie is a tiny bit faster than McKenlee (McKenlee is determined to change that so there is a little competition in our house) so she got the individual event plus a relay on the A team. McKenlee got to swim Fly for the B relay team and Freestyle for the 200 relay, again for the B team. I would love to see my girls on a relay team together.  Because McKenlee is a Freshman she will probably always swim the B team but time will tell.  Both the girls did a great job and I am happy to say the Patriots won the meet!!!


 Go Patriots!!!!

Go Patriots!!!

Finally, some pictures from France...

Yes, I am finally posting some pictures of Natalie's trip. I'm not going to lie though my girl took over 347 pictures and I'm posting just a few.  It is just so much work to try and load more than just a few, so I picked my favorites.

 The first one is taken at a water fall at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains.

 The others were all taken in Paris.

 Of course, I couldn't resist the Eiffel Tower. I have to tell you that the day she visited the Eiffel Tower she Face Timed us.  It was about 6 am our time and noon Paris time. I heard the buzzing of the I-pad in the family room, Dave said "you better go and get that because you know it is probably Natalie." So half awake I stumbled to the I-pad and answered.  She said "Mom, I want to show you something." I expected it to be some little trinket she bought or some delicious dessert. She loved sharing pictures of those.

 I was not prepared to see the Eiffel Tower and it took my breath away.

 I know that sounds corny because I wasn't there or anything, but I have to tell you it was amazing just seeing it live on my I-pad.  I remember I just said to Natalie over and over again "wow, that is really cool."

  I also love the pictures of the lock the girls put on the bridge.  Tradition goes that if you hang a lock on the bridge going over the river Seine that your love will last forever.  Of course, it is not limited to romantic love but also friendship. So the girls bought a lock and put both their names on it then together they locked it on the bridge.   As tradition requires ,they threw the keys into the river Seine.  Now Chloe and Natalie's friendship will last forever.  :)

I definitely want to do this one day.  I think it is one of neatest ideas.  I guess there are places all around the world where they do this lock tradition on bridges.

Enjoy the pictures, I will be posting soon with a catch up.  There is a lot going on in these here parts.

Until then:

One of my favorites of the 347. LOL

Eiffel Tower lit up at night.

Luck, lucky girl..

Nat and Chlo's lock.

Can you spot it in there among-st all the others

Posing in front of their spot on the bridge pointing to their lock.

Those keys are now forever at the bottom of the Seine.

Picture of the bridge with all the locks.

A quote...

"Time is too slow for those who wait,


 too swift for those who fear,



 too long for those who grieve,


 too short for those who rejoice,



 but for those who love, time is eternity."

Henry VanDyke

I love this quote a friend posted on Facebook yesterday.

My girl is coming home tomorrow and I love that even more!!!!!

France...

So my girl is in France and having a blast.  She has been there a week today.  I was so worried about the flight and her getting nervous but everything went very smoothly.  Of course, I will be more nervous this time next week when she will be flying back by herself.  She has shared some pictures on FB but I am waiting until she gets back to share the pictures on the blog because I want to be able to share the one's taken with my camera.

She spent the first few days in Lille (I hope I am spelling that right) at Chloe's house and then headed to the south of France to Charlotte's house. Tomorrow they are heading to Chloe's Aunt Delphine's house and then back to Paris to stay with Chloe's grandparents.

 They have been having a ton of adventures. Ziplining, canoeing, biking, boat rides in caves, shopping. (my girl's favorite bit no doubt)

Can I just say that I love technology.  It's been so nice to be able to talk to and see her everyday on FaceTime.  (I really loved being able to take virtual tours of the French homes, Gorgeous!!)  Also free text messages on Viber.  I love feeling so connected even so far away, especially because I am such a worry wart.

Let me just close this post with Happy Friday I am so looking forward to the weekend!!!  Enjoy!!