Family / 2 year pics

My friend Jenny always manages to take such good pictures of our family. She can capture their personality in ways I am so grateful for. Even though it was sweltering hot, the kids were in such good moods and almost all of the pictures of Ainsley are ways she wanted to pose and things she just randomly did. Which Parker thought was fun so would follow suit :) Parker never "Cheesed" for the camera but she caught some smiles and laughs from him :) 

Total Eclipse

My brother had a fun idea to go to TN and see the eclipse in totality. So months ago, he booked us campsites and rented us a boat so we could spend the day on the lake when the eclipse was set to occur. Sunday we packed up the car (see ridiculous  pic below) and drove to TN. We camped out that night and Rachel and I decided we needed t-shirts that said "we survived eclipse camping trip". The kids were so good, it was just so hot. Mom and Dad made foil packets over the fire (which were so delicious) and Uncle Bubby read us all a bedtime story. We all climbed in our respective tents, and Philip and I took turns scooping Parker off the ground when he rolled off his cot, every hour. 

Monday we got up, made breakfast (birthday pancakes for Parker!) and headed to the lake. We spent the morning doing cannonballs into the lake, tubing, eating and relaxing. Well as much as you can with 4 kids:) 

When the eclipse began, we put on our special glasses and started watching the moon obscure the sun. As it got closer and closer to totality, it was dusky out and we started hearing crickets chirping. One boat was playing "dark side of the moon" and then all of a sudden it was dark. You could see stars. And there was a huge black ball with white light all around it. It was very unearthly and a perfect example of just how BIG our God is. 

The ride home was an hour longer than the ride there because apparently everyone wanted to be in the path of totality. And I don't blame them, it sounds like it wasn't much to see here in Lexington. 

Matt is already planning the next trip for the eclipse in 2025. And he makes fun of ME for planning so far ahead ;) 

2 year party- Parker!

Parker is all boy. It's funny how his personality is so much "boy" when he was raised the same way (with mostly pink toys and dolls at first) that Ainsley was. He loves balls, sports, running, smashing, and CARS. And since we have an abundance of cars in our garage and driveway, why not utilize them for decorations:) 

We rented a cars themed bounce house and kept the food simple since it's a mid-morning party. 

Parker was in awe as they blew up the bounce house. It was a huge hit, and after the party and naps we hooked the hose up to the slide and let Ainsley and Parker have a blast in it! 

The party was a lot of fun! We sang to Parker as he gave us all his classic Parker face (pictured below). We had lots of friends and family who came to celebrate our sweet boy. We felt so much love today and we know Parker did too. As evidenced by his 3.5 hour nap. Poor boy was begging for his "bankee and baba" at the end of the party. Success!