Jack eating a lemon

This is hilarious. The kid has always liked lemons!

Iles Family Vacation

This is going to take several posts. Clint, Jack and I went to Baton Rouge for a couple of days for a family vacation! We stayed with Jenn and Drew (thanks, again guys!) who were the perfect hosts. Thursday night we ate at Acme Oyster House, which was fabulous! Friday we saw Mike the Tiger and went to Blue Bayou, and Saturday we went to the aquarium. It was so good to just spend three days together having fun!

Blue Bayou

On Friday we spent the day at Blue Bayou Water Park. Oh my goodness...that is the most fun I've had in a long time. We will definitely be back next year! Jack was a champ on all the water slides (that he was allowed to go on). They have a section called "Pirate's Cove" that is just for children under 50" and their parents. We were able to go down the big slides with him. He was so much fun! That evening we went to eat then went back to the rides part of the amusement park. Again, they had a section just for little kids and Jack was able to ride several rides. He wasn't scared at all - in fact, he was laughing at yelling and having a blast!

Aquarium

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On Saturday we went to the aquarium in New Orleans. We spent longer in line outside than we did in the aquarium. It seems that Jack doesn't want to stop and read about the fish or take his time! Haha! He would rather run from tank to tank yell "WOAH!!"

Jesus Loves Me

You might need to turn your volume way up to hear this!

Grandma's Dishes

Before I got married, I inherited my grandmother's china from Germany. My grandma was moving out of her big, beautiful house to go live with my aunt and had to get rid of a lot of beautiful things! Of course, all the McCullin's (including myself) were more than willing to take all of these wonderful things off her hands. I was very excited to receive her favorite dishes. They have been in storage at the Iles' house for five years (I know - I'm a terrible daughter-in-law) and we went and picked them up this weekend. I couldn't believe HOW MUCH it was!! I was heart-broken knowing that I'd just have to get rid of it because there was no way I could fit all of this in my kitchen.

But, the more I unpacked, the more determined I was to keep it. And, it all fit!! I can't wait to have a big, nice dinner on my grandmother's china!

The whole set, including glasses and matching pots!

6 different size plates - 12 of each!

Salad bowls and serving ware, including pots and pans - I didn't keep those.

Four different sized glasses - I was only able to keep 3 sizes.

Can you believe it all fit??

Intense Love for Trains

Everything in Jack's life is about trains right now. He carries Thomas with him everywhere - he has several Thomas engines so in case we can't find one we always have a backup! Yesterday he was playing in his room by himself and put together these train tracks! He was so proud of himself and played with his trains for half an hour!

Jack will not go to sleep unless his trains are in the bed with him. This afternoon I went to check on him during naptime and this is how I found him. So cute!!

Summer Adventures

If you asked me what I did this week, I'm not sure I could tell you. That is the beauty of summer! Many times people ask me if I like working and would I want to stay at home. I will admit that there are some weeks during the school year when I would love to be at home. I get stressed, the students can be obnoxious, and I'm so tired at the end of the day. However, I do love my job. And more importantly, I love Jack's daycare. He learns so much while he's there! Jack is very social and talks about playing with friends all the time. AND, I'm there by 3:00 most days, and never after 3:30. Teaching really is a wonderful job for a mother. I only work 37 weeks of the year, I can call in anytime Jack is sick, and I have wonderful benefits.

But, oh, I do love summer. August 5th, the countdown will begin for summer 2010!

This afternoon, Jack and I ventured outside for a while. A wasp nest took over his swing. I got stung a few weeks ago and I'm not going near it again!


Clint's boss gave us some ferns from his yard (don't you love free plants?) and I decided to put them on the shady side of the house. After getting two ferns in the ground, I looked up and saw this HUGE wasp nest! The pictures are terrible because I was SO FAR AWAY when I took them.


Clint's parents are gone to Liberia for the month of July, and we have the privilege of keeping their dog, Ivory, while they're away. She's very old and can hardly move, so she sits on the front porch all day and snores!

Mother's Day Out

Jack is attending Mother's Day Out on Thursdays for the next couple of weeks. This gives me a few hours' break and allows Jack to play with friends. Today I painted my lab tables at school. They look so great! They were wood-colored with tons of lovely grafitti from equally lovely students over the years. Today the tables are all a flat black and look so modern! I forgot to bring my camera to school today, so I'll take pictures whenever I finish the second coat.

I got a new camera this weekend to replace the one I ruined at the beach. I thought I'd love it because it's so small, but the pictures are almost always fuzzy!! Does anyone know how to fix this??

Jack had a great time at MDO! They asked me to put him in red, white, and blue. He also made a firecracker that he thinks is an airplane. Whatever. Here's a couple of pictures from today. Sorry they're all sideways. I forgot to rotate them!