A new friend in the backyard

Sunday morning we had a cute little turtle visiting us in the backyard. Of course Caydence wanted to keep it as her pet, and promptly named it "my turtle", quite the creative name! ha! It wandered away and we haven't seen it again :( Oh well. It was a Eastern Box Turtle and cute!

Swimming!!

We were lucky enough to be invited to a pool party this weekend! Caydence loved the pool, she just loves the water!! She spent the entire 4 hours in the pool! And she learned to swim!!!!! She was so proud of herself!

Coupons ROCK!

It is triple coupon time at Harris Teeter again!!!! I bought quite a few extra newspapers in preparation, my friends and I had a coupon swap (and playdate for our kiddos) and thanks to my friend Julie who made an awesome spreadsheet I saved so much money and got more stuff than I know what to do with!! I LOVE it!! Watching your total go down at the register as they scan the coupons, honestly is such a thrill! My first trip started out at $55.28 and after coupons...I paid $.81 cents!!! Over all, after 7 trips to the store yesterday, My grand total is $404.53, and out of pocket I paid $58.99!!! How awesome is that!!!??!

Here is a picture some of my shopping....40lbs of dog food, veggies and meats are not pictured...oh and dog and kid not included! hahahahaha! I should have taken a picture of all of it, but I had to get the ice cream and stuff put away and it is too much of a pain to put it away and drag it back out again just for a picture.
Caydence and Mommy clipping coupons!!!

Josh named this The Maiden Voyage

Josh finally got his chopper finished, running and took it for a ride...it was very LOUD. And now he wants to keep it for himself..........

click the videos below and check it out!

Gem Mining

Over the weekend we went to Chimney Rock, NC and visited some gem mines. It was so much fun. Caydence absolutely loved finding the gems (rocks) and playing in the water. We found quite a few pretty gems and got to bring them all home.

At the gem mine

Caydence found her first gem! Look at her excited expression!
Daddy and Caydence sifting through the stones

Josh and his dad "mining for gold"

Look what we found!

Caydence, Sue and Caydence finding more gems

Caydence was having sooo much fun!

Another great find! and it was purple!!!!

The 4th of July

Caydence and Mommy were in the Hickory Grove 4th of July Parade! Caydence decorated her bicycle and rode in the parade, Mommy just walked along. We joined our friends Steph and Hannah, and we had so much fun, even though it was very hot!!!

Here are 2 cute video clips of Caydence riding her bike in the parade

Caydence all ready to go to the parade!
Hannah and Caydence before the parade started

Mommy and Caydence walking in the parade

Here we are!!!

Breaking all the rules! But it was fun!

Day One

Please don't tell....but we have been ignoring the water restrictions. With 95 degree days and 5 kids to entertain, filling the little pool and turning on the hose and sending them to play with the dog was the right thing to do. Look how much fun they had!

Caydence's friends, Alden & McKenna, Carson & Cameron came to play today....

This is Carson, Caydence says he is her boyfriend :)

Ryleigh jumped right in thinking the pool was his own personal doggie pool, the kids thought it was hilarious

Ryleigh waits to get sprayed with the hose, and you can see the other dog, Maya, calmly sitting in the shade relaxing like a normal dog!

Runnin' in the sprinkler

Day Two

Another day of fun outside, this time Caydence's friend Sara was here.

BFFs Caydence and Sara

Yummm popsicles!

Sara and Caydence playing in the sprinkler

What a hard day of playing....time for some sun bathing