Parker is SEVEN

I truly can not believe my baby boy is SEVEN. Maybe because i missed his sixth birthday due to Covid, and i almost missed it again this year because of Covid. BUT, I didn’t and i loved every minute of celebrating our sweet hearted spunky little boy! 

Him and Ainsley are both big into Harry Potter. He wanted all the wands and all the Slytherin decor. 

He woke up so happy to have his door decorated and to find balloons and presents waiting for him. 

He requested doughnuts this year. For everything. For his school treat to bring in, for breakfast, in place of a cake. All plain glazed doughnuts. (Mommy you know i HATE icing!) 



Seven year old stats: 

46.5 inches (21%) 

48.6 lbs (34%) 

We told him he could have his party wherever he wanted and he made the choice to have it at Malibu Jacks. Him and Ainsley donned their HP gear and were ready to party. 










After his party we walked over to the bowling alley there and made all his birthday dreams come true with a game of bowling. He has insisted he wants do bowling for his fall sport, so we tested it out. He liked it, minus the shoes which he said made him slip and fall. 







He came home and went through all his thoughtful and fun gifts . We are so blessed with so many wonderful friends and even better family. Thank you all for making our sweet boy feel so loved and special! 

Back to School

We started back to school today and waking up at 630 was not easy for any of us. My morning coffee and reading was cut short and replaced with whiny unhappy children who did NOT want to wake up. Ainsley quickly changed her attitude because she is excited for this year and her teacher. Parker however could not muster the energy or joy and moped and cried the whole walk to school. He even wailed “I wish school wasn’t real!” 

They both ended up having really good first days. I was busy but also had a good first day (with students). 

Last week we had open houses and Philip took them each to their open house like a super dad! He lugged all the school supplies in, took pics with their teachers and texted me all the pertinent information. 

We are so excited for this school and are praying it is their best yet. 

Holiday World

The most anticipated trip of the summer: Holiday World! When someone asked my kids “what do you have planned this summer” they would respond “we’re going to holiday world”. When Parker broke his foot his first question was “what about holiday world?”. When Matt’s family got covid , their first concern was “can we still go to holiday world?”

So mom planned it all for us, again, and we took off loaded down with all the things for our 3 night adventure. 

We stayed at Lake Rudolph’s campground. We rented a small cabin and parked the camper next to it. Mom and Dad slept with the kids in the camper and me , Philip, Matt and Rachel slept in the cabin. I’m not sure who had more room us or them lol 

We did lots of nature exploring but the kids wanted to be at the amusement and water park more this year than they did last. I think the fact they are taller and able to do more, helped. 

We got a golf cart and as seasoned campers now, knew to decorate it up. Plus it was Anna Beth’s birthday so the kids called it the “birthday balloon buggy”. 

It rained on and off some but it definitely didn’t dampen our fun. We rode the Raven with the big girls and AB decided roller coasters were not her jam. 

Parker and Millie however, wanted to ride everything  their little bodies were tall enough for. 

Parker’s foot was put to the test - walking miles and miles every day. So he got piggy backed a lot by Pop, Philip and Uncle Bubby and sometimes me:) 

The cousins had the time of their lives.

My heart got full of my family i love so much. 

The girls pulled out their park maps and planned out their rides for the next day. 









We rode alllll the rides. 










We had such a good time. The kids got to do all the rides they wanted to do, sometimes more than once. Parker got to do “the big toilet bowl” twice and Ainsley wore out the big slides.

This was the last year with the camper but what great memories it gave us the last couple of years. 

See you next year Lake Rudolph and Holiday World!