The Cow Cafe

After we left the beach on Father's Day, we decided to stop for ice cream at The Cow Cafe in Newbern. This is the coolest little place in downtown Newbern.

They have the best handmade ice cream. It is so good. They also have a kids room in the back where they do birthday parties and kids can play.

There is also a room where you can watch as they make ice cream. They have school classes come in sometimes and actually help them make the ice cream. It is just a neat little place and the kids had fun eating and playing. It was a fun end to a great day!

Father's Day at the Beach

Steve has been wanting to go to the beach for a while now and Father's Day was the perfect day to go. The sun was shining, it was hot but not too hot and everyone had such a great time.

We stopped on the way to Atlantic Beach and bought a couple of pails and shovels for the kids to play with as well as a couple of little wakeboards. They could not have had better toys to play with. You could not get them out of the water hardly to even eat lunch.

I love this picture of the three of them looking at the water when we first arrived. I hope that Steve had a great Father's Day because I know we all think he is just the bestest Daddy ever!!

Daddy's Pants

We've heard the sayings about filling someone's shoes, but the kids were working on filling Daddy's shorts! They looked so cute and thought that putting on Daddy's clothes was so funny that I just had to get some pictures. Justin is the king of funny faces so he is always good for a laugh. But we now have proof that it is going to be a while before they can fill Daddy's pants!

"Chef Posketti" and "Chef Catfish"

Justin and Isabel are so funny. These were taken from one of the last visits up to our house before my brother and his family moved back to Maine. They are both such goofballs and they were having so much fun with the Pampered Chef aprons and hats. Isabel also has a Carolina Mudcats hat on which is a minor league baseball team out here. Very cute and I know Justin misses Izzy so much!

Justin Earns His Bear Badge

These are a few pictures from the last pack meeting for Cub Scouts this year. Justin had completed all of the requirements to receive his Bear badge, which is the last badge before he moves into Webelos and starts wearing the Boy Scout uniform. He also earned 1 gold arrow point and 2 silver arrow points for electives he completed this year. Here is Steve presenting him with his Bear badge and his den leader, John presenting him his arrow points. We are still unsure if Justin is going to continue in scouting but we are working on it!

Justin's 9th Birthday

Well, my boy is 9 years old. Hard to believe how fast he has grown. He decided that he wanted a pizza party and an alien birthday so his cake and most of his presents were Ben 10 toys. Ben 10 is a 10 year old boy who turns into aliens to fight evil aliens. Justin also really loves shirts with funny sayings on them, so he got a few of those as well.

We also got a nice picture of Jasmine being a goofball. The party poppers were again, the hit of the party. The kids love to hear them pop and see the string go flying. Everyone had a good time and had fun playing together because this is the last birthday before Travis and Seana move back to Maine. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Ragged Edge Band

This past weekend the kids and I went up to the outlet mall in Smithfield. We had lunch with Daddy and then went to see a friend of mine's band. The kids were bored at first but ended up having a good time. The band is really good and plays a variety of music.

I tried to get Jasmine and Justin to go up with the band when they brought up all of the kids for a tambourine shake off, but they weren't having any of that. I think they had more fun playing on the riding toys than anything!

Awards Day At School

Here are a couple of pictures from Justin's awards day at school. Justin has had a pretty good year this year and despite some struggles along the way he ended the year on a very positive note. Here he is getting a medal for perfect attendance, as well as a certificate and medal for A,B honor roll all year long! We were joking with him telling him he was going to run out of places to put all his medals!

We are very proud of Justin. Not only did he have good grades and attendance this year, but Justin had to take End of Grade (EOG's) exams for the first time this year and scored 4's on reading and math. These are the top scores he can receive. Justin will be starting the 4th grade this coming fall! Yeah Justin!! Good job buddy!

My Stylin' Girl!

Jasmine decided to give herself a manicure and pedicure. It was just so cute that I had to take a picture. She decided that she wanted blue and pink so she did a mix and match. Clever girl!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has arrived and so have some of the flowers in my garden. Last year for Mother's Day, Steve took the time to plant me a beautiful garden. It is just full of pretty flowers and now my glads and a single calalily have bloomed. They were so pretty that I just had to take a picture. My purple irises have been and gone, but I am waiting for my dahlia so I can take another good picture. If you look close you can see a small green grasshopper on one of the leaves in the calalily picture. I love to drive in and look at my flowers. Steve does such a great job and has even convinced me that I need to help weed!