The last of the Summer fun: parties, gators, and food

So what's new around here? Well Xander turned 9, and had a b-day party with some boys from his primary class.

Summer is over! Noooooo. We had so much fun bowling and swimming every week, and cramming in as much fun as we could squeeze.  Here are a few more things we did.

We visited GATOR RANCH in a nearby town.

Xander had a memorable experience of getting peed on by an alligator when he was holding it.

We made it to GULF ISLAND WATERPARK, a fun place around these parts.  2 weeks later we went out to Baton Rouge to visit the temple and another water park and amusement park: BLUE BAYOU/DIXIE LANDIN'  It's pretty fun, because when we go we usually get a hotel and stay overnight while we stagger sessions, and make a vacation of it.

We visited our old neighbors, the Loftins, in West Point MS. We've visited before and the kids can't get enough!  What is more fun that riding horses, catching animals (chickens and dogs), shooting guns, swimming in a pool, hiking, and playing in the great outdoors for kids.  We discovered a tick on Xander the last day, but I got it out with some tips from my friend, who has some experience ;)

For Pioneer Day we made candles and scones with homemade butter & honey, and I happened to take pics, so I better share!  I also threw a baby shower at my house with some others for a friend Courtnie. Had fun making paper fans for the 1st time.

Visited the zoo a couple times in new Orleans, went skating, went to the Children's Museums here in town and up in Jackson, and ate lots and lots of food :) These pictures were zoo, skating, museum, Tatonut our favorite donut shop, a classic of Claire from when we tried the Italian buffet, and getting "fed at The Shed," a great BBQ joint out here, one of our many many times. 

The boys stared school at the beginning of the month.  I snuck in and took a pic of my big 1st grader.

Will got stung by a wasp the other day, and had an allergic reaction.
His arm doubled in size! We have an epi-pen in the fridge now, though they weren't too concerned since it stayed in the arm, and didn't effect anything else.

Summer Utah visit

Had a great Utah visit, and saw lots of people!

Lots of Grandma Diane time, mom & dad Curtis right before they went to New Zealand for a year, Vegas friends Lacey & Shannon, my cousins, Ikea, water ballon fight at Ria and Dallin's, sleepover with the boys' favorite uncles, grandparents, lots of cousin time for our kids, drive in with Danny, Dixie & Ben, Dan and Michele's pizza oven, movie time at Kristin's, our Biloxi friend Sabrina, college friend Jen, old neighborhood friends, Jared & Lisa from Vegas, visit at Wendy's house, Heritage Park, Asian festival, Natural History Museum, Wolf Creek, & our favorite restaurants. So glad we could see people and go make some memories with family and friends!

Disney 2013 & now summer!

We hitched a ride to Florida from our air force base here in Mississippi. Best part: free!

Fun that we could share our vacation with Grandma & Grandpa!

Before going to all of those parks at Disneyworld, we tried out Busch Gardens for the 1st time.

 Now, back to the construction zone of our house...

Any of you Utahns that want to get together we're coming for a visit for a couple of weeks at the end of the week!

Well, if you can't tell, I've gotten some new and updated software to make picture collages, and I'm quite excited.  Our old computer had the old version, and the newer computer didn't come with it & it was super expensive. Well, the stars aligned this week and they let me buy the upgrade for pennies on the dollar since I had the old grandfathered version of the program. Hooray! Now I should figure out a way to print these and start making some books!