6 Kids, 2 Dogs & a Cat

For nearly a month this summer we had the privilege of my nieces Kenzie (7 yrs old), Addy (2 1/2 yrs old) and my nephew Ayden (4 yrs old) staying with us.

Photo courtesy of Jadyn's Photography :)

Due to the chaotic nature of the month I do not have near as many pictures as I would like.  I will recap our adventures though.

• Swimming at the Collins/Mosley pool multiple times.  All 3 Scanlon kids are nonswimmers.  10 kids, 5 non swimmers. Chaotic fun.

• Fireworks and concert.  Chaotic fun.

• Zoo trip with the Kaisers, Burress', and Scanlons.  2 adults, 8 kids.  Chaotic fun.

• Bowling with the Kaisers, Collins, Burress', Scanlons.  3 adults, 10 kids.  Chaotic fun.

• Camping Trip to the Collins/Mosley residence on Lake Livingston. 10 kids, 1 lake.  41 splinters.  19 stitches.  Boating, tubing, fishing, swimming.  Ice cream.  Campfire and s'mores. Fireworks over the water. Chaotic fun.  (more on this trip later).

• Dinner out.  Chaotic fun.

Mornings were early, naptimes were short, dinners were wild, and bedtimes hard, but I know beyond a doubt cousin relationships were strengthened.  And this aunts heart was happy.  and tired.

Dog Days of Summer

The kids won.  A couple months ago Colton told me he was bored and had no one to lick him. This was his attempt to sway us into a dog.

Long story short...someone posted in Facebook from our neighborhood that two dogs had been found together.  Many attempts to locate owners, none found.  Home needed.

We are now the proud owners of Annabelle (vet has confirmed Yorkie Terrier mix and she is approx 5 years) and Bentley (still needs his first vet visit).

They are sweet, fun, gentle dogs and the kids are in love!

Mustang Island

At this point, if you know us at all, is it any surprise that we would kickoff the first day of summer vacation with our camper?

via Etsy

This seriously has become our motto.

This time we loaded up and headed off to Mustang Island State Park for a few days with our camping buddies The Collins.  Photo overload ahead.

After our Destin camping trip last year, we have learned a few beach camping tips that we strongly took into consideration.

1. Kids want to just be at the beach.  That is it.  Kids are rarely cranky if they are in the water. This beach trip, we only went out for the basics once (Sam's Club to restock ice) and dinner/souvenior shopping once.  Beyond this you could find us near the water.
2. Breakfast time seems hotter than dinner time (to us). We did not plan to make large breakfast meals every morning.  We tend to eat like kings when we camp so this is definitely a new modification for us.
3. It will rain.  Almost everyday.  Just expect it and plan for it.  No need to be annoyed, frustrated, surprised, etc.  It will rain.  Just expect it.

These couple of tips helped make this beach trip amazing.  One I think we would all be willing to do again!

Kids had a blast boogie boarding, Kinley loved the sand.  One day we even had our own little private piece of paradise on the bay side where they fisherman fished, kids collected shells, Amanda caught crabs, and I sunned.  Oh and a dead shark entertained us all for hours. 

                       

Arrow marks the rash Rylee sustained from her boogie board.

"If I were a bad guy, I would so steal this baby." -Rylee

We had a little bit of dorky fun with my camera.  Enter The Amazing Levitating Babies.  Children don't try this at home.  No babies were harmed in the making of these photos.

Attempted to teach Amanda to levitate too.  She didn't.

Even the rain storm was entertaining for us.  By us I mean Amanda and I.  Not Aaron and Rusty. They lived though :)

                                    

Another fantastic camping trip down.  

Someone teach me how to slow all the fun down?

She is 9!

Well she has been 9 for almost four months now.  Noticing a pattern?...

Our celebration was very low key as she decided she wanted a Kindle Fire instead of a party.  As much as I love throwing a party, I was grateful for the break this year.  And in all fairness, once I figure in all the decorations, invitations, party favors, food, etc this is only a bit more expensive and longer term use!

                               

Rylee Ann, your still very much our spirited, wild, passionate child.  You are not easy swayed.  Such a strong, admirable quality and yet such an exhausting and frustrating quality.  You are showing such a tender side with little ones, including but not limited to, your little brother.  You continue to love volleyball though you are stretching yourself and trying softball this fall.  You love your American Girl and Lego Friends and still regularly are found playing with your Loving Family Dollhouse.  Your best friends are Lexi L. and Brayden and are a die hard country music fan.  Not sure where you could have gotten that from ;).

We love you my child.

He is 4!

Well to be fair he has been four for four months....

Better late than never, right?

We celebrated our favorite superhero lovin' little boy with a backyard superhero party!

You picked out your friends this year and here they are:

1. Brett & Kyle 
2. Dalton, ( with Jackson, Emma and Kinley)
3. Eden (with Addison)
4. Ryan (with Rachael)
5. Arden (with Halle and Jack)
6. Brennan (with Brody)

For the sake of being completely honest here, 3 wasn't our favorite age ever with this kid.  We flew through 2's without incident.  3 was a little whinier than I would have cared for.  That aside, this kid is still the funniest, most creative, most entertaining boy I can imagine.

You love Batman and Spiderman and at any given moment will be dressed as such.  Still love watching Team Omizoomi, Bubble Guppies, and forcing s us into watching Despicable Me, Lion King and Cars OVER AND OVER AGAIN.  Great sleeper at night and only nap about 50% of the time but will play in your room for atleast an hour a day for some "quiet time".  Still needs a pull up at night but I am ok with it.  Your favorite food is dry cereal. You will not eat your cereal with milk in it.  You prefer it dry with a side of a glass of milk.  Goofy child.  Chocolate papers (peanut butter cups) are hands down your favorite candy and you are mastering swimming.  Colton you are one of our very favorite people ever!

Good Bye Elementary School!

Playing catch up on the blog stinks.  If I am not careful I will miss documenting some big stuff!  Like this.

JADYN FINISHED 5TH GRADE.

We have ourselves a junior higher.

These girls, Leila, Lauren and Chloe are my girls best friends.  She has been with Lauren since kinder and that is the only one she will continue on to junior high with.  We are grateful she atleast has her!

Jadyn and Brooke have known each other since first grade and played soccer together too for awhile!  

Chloe and Issie- J will go on to junior high with Issie.

We are super proud of our girl.  She did fantastic in elementary and we expect nothing less in junior high!  She is outgoing, kind, considerate, confident, and eager- a recipe for success I'm sure!  I know we should be more nervous about this next big stage, but honestly I am excited for more BIG KID activities!

Favorite. DIY. Ever.

Seriously.  Ever.

This man of mine

Built this console table of mine

He had some assistance from Ana, Kreg and me (I am the sander and stainer of this little DIY team).  I won't bother to share how to, Ana White does that perfectly.  I will however say the Kreg Jig tools are AMAZING.

It wouldn't be fair to this post if I didn't share my little mishap.  I wanted to try my hand at a new stain color. I went with a Minwax in gray (can't remember the exact color name).  I was supposed to test a small area first since we had never used the color before.  Can you guess where I am going with this...yeah, I didn't test first.  Nope.  I wiped down the entire top, stepped back and IT. WAS. UGLY.  U-G-L-Y.  UGLY.  The color didn't read gray at all, it was a greenish blue.  I was pretty calm figuring it was only one coat so we could sand it out.  My dear, patient husband came home and sanded it out for us.  Crisis averted :)  And lesson learned.  Ok, I hope lesson learned.  I have been known to have to learn lessons more than once before they set in!

This picture does NOT due this finish justice.  It was UGLY.  We ended up going with Minwax Ebony stain we already have and love.  Go figure.  Although I have recently seen a two tone finish I think would look amazing.  Rusty might kill me this soon though....

Oh and a new table means new decor.  Enter Ross with this pitcher.  It called out to me.  And I answered.