Daytona 2012

Team Reed was Daytona bound once again!

Not gonna lie, the drive is daunting (it usually takes us 10+ hours, crossing through 4 states), and this year even more so, at 28 weeks pregnant!

But, as with every year, it's worth it.

Our first morning there was Sunday, and Josh found us a great local church to go visit. Before we left, I decided to go for it and see if I could get a picture of the kiddos. It's no small feat to get one of all four looking and smiling!!

Success!!

One for Nen, too.

We had an unexpected visitor that came in Sunday afternoon and stayed through late Wednesday night...her name was Debby. A tropical storm that parked in the Gulf of Mexico and did not line up at all with our visions of a glorious week spent soaking up sunshine on the beach. Booooo.

Thankfully, there is so much to see and do down there. So Debby didn't put (too much of) a damper on us! We still went out on the beach every day but Wednesday, but not for long. The rest of the time we spent seeing some of the sights in the Daytona area.

Like this cool chocolate factory in downtown Daytona that gives free tours.

Seriously?! Solid chocolate.

The ladies who started it all...back in the day...

But who needs chocolate when you have this sweetness?

She is edible.

Free samples at the end of the tour...yes, please!

I tried a chocolate covered potato chip...mostly to satisfy my curiosity.

It was surprisingly good!

Couldn't leave without some homemade fudge...

chocolate on top, peanut butter on the bottom.

Stop it.

Took a little stroll through downtown Daytona...

Stopped in a local coffee shop. And it just tastes better in a pretty cup : )

While we waited for Debby to move on out, we had plenty of time to relax.

Mollie spent many hours taking care of her babies.

I think my kids watched enough TV/commercials to last them a whole year. TV is never a thought at home because we haven't had it for the last four years (and haven't really missed it, either). So it was funny to hear them telling us about the different commercials they'd seen...like "Hey Mom! You should buy Mollie some Huggies Hawaiian diapers because they'll make a donation to a charity when you do." Or how about the one for some crazy drink that 'promises' to make you thin (seriously, their slogan was 'Life is better thin'...what in the world!?!)...my Kate leans over and says "Hey, maybe you can drink that after the baby is born to help your stomach go back down." HA!!

All great opportunities to teach them to evaluate what the world is telling them and teaching them to find the lie...

But, in the midst of all that craziness, we sure did enjoy watching Euro 2012, and Wimbledon, and some of the Olympic trials.

I love manatees, so had to snap a quick shot of this mailbox.

Wouldn't that make you happy to get your mail everyday?!

We went to the Marine Science Center just down the road in Ponce Inlet.

Petting the sting rays

Lionfish. Would not want to run into this guy swimming out in the ocean!

Seahorses

I also love turtles!! See the little baby? So cute!!

Uhh, not cute. Creepy actually.

A moray eel...reminded me of Ursula and her dudes from Little Mermaid.

"Yook Mommy, a fishhh!"

Carter-man was the only one brave enough to touch the snake.

Mollie opted not to pet the sting rays.

The lighthouse at Ponce Inlet.

By day 4, we were ready for Debby to go away.

Yuck.

But...we had fun celebrating an early birthday for Hudson!

Thanks, Nen!!

And thank you LORD!!

Thursday morning, the beach looked amazing...and we soaked up every minute of it!

(Probably too much...we all wound up a little toasty by the end of the day) : /

"The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. Th'unwearied sun from day to day Does his Creator's power display; And publishes to every land The work of an Almighty hand."

-Joseph Addison
In The Spectator, no.465, 23 Aug.

Pause.

Little bit needs to regroup.

And Daddy was more than happy to oblige!

Sweet sand car that Daddy sculpted. My creative guy : )

Straight sassy. And so stinkin' adorable.

Both of them : )

Love my girls!!

Ahhhhh.....it was worth the wait...

our last two days down there, the weather could not have been more perfect.

No trip to Daytona would be complete without putt-putt at Pirate's Island across the street. Nen and Josh took the oldest three our last night there.

(They are just to the right of the waterfall...Kate is in bright yellow and Hudson is in bright orange. Sure made it easy to spot them from the balcony of the condo!!)

And Hudson and Carter both got legit hole-in-ones!

Another great vacation, thanks to Nen and Pa!

Sure did miss having Pa down there this year!!

But it was a sweet gift to have a week's worth of time with Nen...

10 years

10 years ago today.

In some ways it feels like just yesterday,

and in others it seems like it's always been this way...

Oh, this moment. One of my very favorites ever.

"I do"...

I adored him on that day, and could never have imagined how that love would grow through the many seasons we have walked together over these last ten years...

How sweet it is to be loved by you, Josh Reed.

Sports Camp

Time for Sports Camp! Wake County Parks and Rec puts this on every summer for 4 and 5 year olds. It filled up before we could get a spot last year, so we made sure we were on top of our game this year to get the boys signed up in time. Such a cool week...basically they get to sample several different sports, learning basic techniques and the object and rules of each game. Since we haven't taken the plunge and got them officially involved in a team sport yet, we figured it would be a helpful tool to see what they actually enjoyed.

And today, they did a showcase where we could come and see a bit of what they've learned this week. It was fun to watch...Carter was into each thing, really focused and had great form at all the stations. Hudson was much more into just moving freely, and every now and then he'd stop to swing or throw or kick, depending on which station they were at.

A last "Hoo-rah" and award from Mrs. Beth who taught them all week.

Way to go guys!!

Of course I had to ask in the car on the way home...

"What was your favorite thing?"

Carter: "Basketball. And football and baseball." But if you had to pick one? "Basketball." (which made Josh's day!)

Hudson: "Football. And baseball. I really liked all of the sports Mom, in real-life."

Hi Baby Reed!

I got to see Baby Reed again at my dr appt today. So very thankful for a good report. Baby is growing right on track...already weighing about 2.5 pounds (I'm 27 weeks)

Can't wait to meet him/her!!

Profile view from left side, right hand up by face

Straight face shot. Loving those round little cheeks...looks very much like Carter's ultrasound!

She surprised me and flipped on the 4D for a minute...I've never had one for any of mine before! The details are amazing.

I see a little Reed nose, just like all the rest of our kiddos : )

Cannot WAIT to kiss those lips!!!

The small things

This Monday morning looked a lot different than last week when we were doing Runner's Camp. Today was cool, rainy and quiet. I think we were all still recovering from the pace and excitement of last week!

The boys were out at their Sports camp, and it was just me and the girls at home.

So, of course, we went to Target : )

We treated ourselves to Starbucks (mocha for me and hot chocolate for Kate). The lady working there was so sweet to give Mollie some cups and a lid to play with, and she was quite content to stack them and put the lid on and off.

When we got home though, I asked if she'd like some milk in them...of course she did. Cutie pie drinking so carefully from her Starbucks cup : )

While we were at the store, we picked up this fun soap dispenser. We thought it was fun prep for our beach trip.

The smell of this gardenia in my kitchen is intoxicating. And short-lived, as it pretty much only lasts a day. But wow, does it smell good while it lasts!

My sweet little bookworm. All curled up on a quiet rainy morning.

And here's our sweet old girl, also all curled up.

Bailey turned 11 this week, and her age is catching up with her. She's slowed down a lot, sleeps most of the day and is beginning to lose her vision. It is pitiful to see her running into things.

She's as sweet as ever though, and we're thankful.

I wish I could bottle the sound of Mollie's sweet voice and laugh.

It's nice to have time to slow down and take notice of the little things in my days that make them so rich. Thankful for God's many blessings, big and small!