Mountains

Mommy and Ashlan took a weekend trip to the mountains with Kim and Caden. We went to Looking Glass Falls, the fish hatchery, downtown Brevard and Sliding Rock. We lived on the edge! (literally)
While in Brevard, we took the kids to Rocky's...an old time soda shoppe. We had hot dogs and hot fudge sundaes while there. Ashlan showed the people there a modern day temper tantrum before leaving. Ah, the memories!

Caden and Ashlan at Looking Glass Falls


Ashlan at the waterfall


Caden sliding down a rock at the waterfall


Pre-temper tantrum at the soda shoppe

Here is a picture the "barn" we stayed in while in the mountains. We LOVED staying here! The woodwork in the barn was amazing...and the antiques throughout the house added a nice touch. The barn was recently built and we were one of the first people to stay in it. The kids kept saying that they loved their new house. HA!


Ashlan loved the claw foot tub


Caden and Ashlan at a mountain view overlook...too foggy to really see the mountains in the background


my little climber

Sliding Rock

While in the mountains, we decided to take the kids to Sliding Rock (the mommies really wanted to slide). I wasn't too sure about taking Ashlan down the rock. We watched others go down and I felt like it wasn't as dangerous as some had made it out to be. I let Ashlan decide for herself and she was ready to SLIDE!!! I asked her numerous times on the way up if she really wanted to slide and she assured me that she was ready. We made it to the top and we were on our way. It was my intention to hold her up over my head when we reached the bottom of the rock. However, it took all my strength to sit up straight while sliding with her in my lap ...so when I reached the bottom...I took her under the water with me. Thankfully, Kim had given her a mac daddy life jacket so she popped right out of the water! Her eyes were as big as saucers when I looked at her. I asked her if she wanted to go again...."NO".

ashlan and caden getting ready to slide


ashlan watching the others


wanting to slide!


popping out of the water


the water was COLD.

~Dance Class Begins~

The excitement of dancing has been building in the Shriver household for several weeks. I must say the excitement ended the moment that Ashlan walked into the dance studio! She was a little overstimulated by all the music and tu-tu wearing toddlers. Mommy was called into dance class to help ease Ashlan's fears. Mommy's presence didn't help all that much. Ashlan didn't want to participate her first visit but says she wants to go back. Hopefully, she will be a dancing queen in the next few weeks?!?!




Miss Deann had to carry Ashlan during the choo choo train song.

Ethan's First Touch Down

Ethan played his first game of flag football this morning. Each game starts with prayer and then it's time to play! At first Ethan seemed a little overwhelmed, concentrating more on chewing his mouth piece than playing the game. He started coming around after half-time. By the end of the game, he was running like a pro!




GOING FOR HIS FIRST TOUCH DOWN

Fuzzworth Jack Johnson Shriver

Meet Fuzzworth, Ethan's new pet hampster. Ethan wants him on our family blog:)

Ethan Goes to School

Ethan started the first grade this morning. Mrs. Ashlee Quesada is his teacher and her assistant is Mrs. Haire. Both teachers seemed very sweet and I think Ethan will really enjoy this school year!
Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.

Getting ready to go!



Walking into the school...

Summer Break is coming to an end~

Ethan and Mommy are spending the day together! This is Ethan's last summer weekend before school starts. We are going to have breakfast with Ashley and then go shopping for school clothes/supplies. Ethan also wants to go shop at Toys R Us with all the gift cards he received for his birthday. Let me be the first to tell you that this is a MAJOR ordeal. Ethan doesn't like to spend his gift cards on any one thing...he wants to get the most out of his money...$160 worth of inexpensive "stuff" rather than buying something "big" and somewhat expensive that he otherwise wouldn't get until Christmas. He needs a personal accountant along on this trip! He will stretch that money as far as it will go. He constantly asks what the balance is after each item is placed in the shopping cart. Then, he will start changing his mind about the items in the cart when the money starts getting low. This means I have to start recalculating the cart time after time after time until he decides on the perfect balance between quality and quanity. *sigh* I was wanting this to be a father/son adventure but it doesn't look like I will get my way this time:(

This evening, we are heading to Charleston. We get to spend time with Aunt Shell & Charles while there~ Hopefully, we can squeeze in some time with the Schmolkes as well! I'll post some pictures from our trip after we return. Hmmm, Charleston has a Toys R Us. Maybe I can convince Ethan to go shopping there. I wouldn't want daddy to miss out on all the "fun". Ha!

Lazy Saturday

Michael left early this morning to go kayaking with Aaron. I decided to have a lazy day with the kids (a much needed lazy day). I think I took the laziness a little too far. Ashlan decided to go through my makeup while I was resting. I should know better than to take my eyes off of this wild one~

Ethan is 6

Ethan turned 6 years old today! He spent the afternoon at Chuck E Cheese with about 70 tokens in his possession. We also registered him for school. Can you believe that he is going into the 1st grade? I just gave birth to this child...seems like yesterday!

Ballerina Girls

Take a look at these future ballerinas! Ashlan will soon be taking dance lessons on Monday nights. Mommy is counting down the days! It was no surprise that she pulled out the tu-tu and leotards during Baby Arden's recent visit. Doesn't Arden look precious in the ballerina outfit that we had BEFORE Ashlan was even born! Mommy can't believe she had to wait 2 years for dance lessons~ Stay tuned for dance pictures in the near future:)

Ethan's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Ethan's upcoming 6th birthday with a pool party. He was blessed to have many friends and family come join him on such a hot summer day! The kids enjoyed pool fun, pizza and the party pinata. The tiki bar was also a big hit. The kids were served hawaiian punch in coconut shells or tall tiki cups. Ethan had an amazing day with friends and we appreciate all that came to help him celebrate his special day~

Lollipops and Laughter

Mason and his family came to town for Ethan's birthday party. Ashlan and Mason had lots of fun playing together over the 3 days they were here. They had dinner for two, played on the water slide, took a bath together, harrassed Ethan and much more~
They both enjoyed the lollipops that fell from the birthday pinata. We made them sit still while eating them and I think this was the ONLY time they sat still. On Sunday, we took the kids to the splash pad. They both enjoyed running and splashing in the cool water...it was a hot, hot day!