June is gone already?

The month of June was packed with so many things for our family. We had so much going on that the month just seemed to fly by. June 1 was Collin's last swimming lesson. He was up to 7 second breathe control, holding on to the side wall and having a blast in the water. We decided that he could practice his skills over the summer and then we might do lessons in the fall. On the 4th Collin turned 21 months old. He is turning into a little boy now. He talks non-stop and is super smart. He can count to 10 on his own, he starts with 2. He speaks in sentences now, which is still amazing to us! Yesterday he was helping me carry a chair and I said, "I've got it" and he said, "I've got it, Mom". So adorable! He uses his manners most of the time, with please and thank you. I love to hear his little voice, it melts my heart. He still loves to play with my hair and I've noticed that he is drawn to little girls with long hair. June 6th was the wedding reception of my good friend Melissa. She and David were married in St. Lucia and had a reception when they returned. It was beautiful and we are so happy for them. June 9-11 I volunteered for Wacky Week, our church's vacation Bible School. One of the evenings it was storming really bad and the church lost power. It was okay though, we read books with flashlights and the 5 year olds that I was with seemed okay with it. On the 13th we had some VIP passes to Bluesfest. It was a lot of fun, but so hot outside that day. Collin wanted to run all over, so it made it a little hard for us to sit and enjoy the bands. On the 16th Eric and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Collin spent the night with his friend Harrison, so he had his first sleep over. We can't believe it has been 8 years. We have been through a lot together and Eric is my best friend. We had dinner at Trulucks. It was wonderful. I'm not a big seafood person, but that night I ordered fish for the first time in my life. It was really good...I'm glad we went there. After that we saw a movie. On the 18th Collin and I went to our Gateway Mom's Group. We had a blast with other Gateway Mom's and their kiddos. The kids all played in the sprinklers and pool. That night we headed to the lake to stay before driving to Amarillo on Friday morning. Eric's Grandpa celebrated his 75th birthday and we were there to celebrate with him. We got him a signed Cowboys football from Ed "too tall" Jones. It was a great time. On the 20th my Uncle Richard passed away. It was a sad day and I had gotten to spend some time with him on Friday. I took Collin to see him, they had never met. Collin saw him in the bed and said, "Pawpaw?" I told him it was his Great Uncle, so then he called him Uncle. Collin kissed him on the cheek before we left, it was very sweet. I was a little worried that Collin would want to run all over and since we were in hospice I didn't know how that would be, but he did really well and was calm while we were there. On Sunday it was Father's Day...so we spent it with Eric's dad, my daddy and we even stopped by to see Eric's Grandpa. After that we drove to Lubbock and stayed the night with our friend Craig's parents. On the 22nd we left from Lubbock to go to Ruidoso, NM. It was beautiful there. It took a little while to get there since we had Collin and Gracie to keep happy in the car. Overall they did wonderful. Luckily we have a DVD player in the car! We loved the view from our balcony, we could see the mountains, the lake and the golf course. The weather was absolutely perfect! It did rain on Tuesday and the rain in the mountains is cold, but it was refreshing. Then it wasn't humid after...that's great! We did some shopping and when we got back to the room Collin told me he needed to potty, so I took him to the bathroom and he went! For the first time he used the potty for #2. I didn't want to react to crazy and scare him, so I told him he did great and we are so proud of him. The 24th we drove home, and when I say drove home, I mean all day long. Then on Thurs the 25th we spent most of the day loading DVD's in our kiosks and doing a little shopping. Friday the 26th we went back to the lake and spent the weekend. There were 16 people there! There were people in every room and we had 4 air mattresses blown up, plus both couches. It was nuts, but a lot of fun. Out on the lake Saturday it was 107 degrees. We were all spent after that day. Sunday, we got home early and rested. Then it was on the road again on Monday to load DVD's and of course, stop in IKEA to see what they had :) We had a playdate at our house yesterday and I put the pool out and Collin's slide. I think all of the kids had a great time. That pretty much sums up our month of June! Here are some pics:

Collin fell asleep in the hotel floor...bless his heart, he was exhausted!