Mayfield Dairy.

We made our annual trek out to Mayfield Dairy last Friday.  The Dairy has been a stop on our Summer O'Fun tour for at least three years now (it's hard to beat the free tour, the big cow, and the cheap ice cream), and we enjoyed our time together at the milk factory last week.

We arrived about forty-five minutes early for the tour, so we started the day "milking" the cows in the big field and enjoying our treats on the front porch rocking chairs.

Harry and Babe were super stoked to start the tour, and actually did a really great job staying interested.  It didn't hurt, of course, that the focus of the tour was none other than Hadley's favorite thing on the face of the earth:  milk.  It did hurt, just a little, that we ended up on a tour with quite a few senior citizens who were extremely interested in the milk production process.  The kiddos didn't share quite the same appreciation for the information, but they were troopers and hung in there fairly well.

In the end, we all left smiling and ready for a nap, so it really doesn't get much better than that...

June 14.

Birthdays are a big deal around here, and Harris' latest was no exception.  Ben, Harris, Babe, and I started the morning with the traditional birthday balloons (Harris found five at his seat this year!!!!) and a special birthday breakfast of powdered donuts (Harry's choice).

While Ben headed off to work, the kiddos and I headed out to meet Auntie at the mall, where we caught the $1 showing of "Despicable Me" and took a ride on the "birthday train."  The "birthday train," by the way, is another one of Harris' birthday traditions.  My sweet boy thinks that you can only ride the little train inside the mall on your birthday.  I'm not ready to tell him otherwise.

After the very special train ride, Harry chose to have lunch at none other than the Big M.  Thankfully, "Big M" has given us the Rolo McFlurry, so there were no complaints from me.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Auntie and headed home for a much needed nap before the real birthday celebration started up at Chick-fil-A.

Ben made Harris' birthday cake exactly to his specifications, and we were so excited to share it with the family on Tuesday night.

After dinner, Harris tore into his gifts.  Granti brought him a very cool, very loud xylophone, Babe picked out a "Francesco" car (something from the highly anticipated Cars 2 movie), Auntie and Double Ben brought a Lego Mack truck (again with the Cars theme), and Ben and I gave our sweet boy a Lego car wash set (also from Cars 2).  He couldn't have been more thrilled.

After gifts, we sang and put a serious hurting on the cake.  We like cake.

We finished up the evening on the playground and with a few quick pictures in the parking lot.

I still can't believe I'm the mother of a five-year-old.  And not just any five-year-old, but the kindest, sweetest, funniest five-year-old on the planet.

Man, I love that kid.

Hair Do.

First french braid.

Courtesy of Auntie.

Productivity.

Our Saturday morning started with this:

Progressed to this:

And ended with this (mulch to come later this week):

All thanks to Granti, ten hours of hard work, and four of the most fantastic men I know.

Pool Time!

According to Babe, swimming is "so much fun!" and "great!"

Harris and I agree.

God is...

Awesome!  Magnificent!  Wonderful!  Amazing!

Harris, Hadley, and I had such an exciting time at Dacula Methodist's Vacation Bible School this week.  I re-lived my Summer Camp experiences by serving with my friend, Lori, in the craft room, and Harris and Hadley could not wait to get to their respective groups each morning.

My sweet Harry made a new best friend in his youth leader, Miss Dawson, and Babe enjoyed all kinds of exciting crafts, blowing bubbles, and playing on the playground with the other volunteer kids.

As we left today to celebrate the end of the week at Johnny's with Auntie, both kiddos asked if we could come back to VBS tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

What a blessing it is to see all the good work happening in the Kingdom, and what a blessing it was to get to be a part of it this week. 

I'd say the 2011 Summer of Fun is off to a pretty good start!!!!

The FC Meddlers.

It's hot outside, which can only mean one thing:  it's time for soccer!  Harris and Hadley have been beside themselves excited for the last few days and (for the most part) had a great time kicking the ball around last night.

We've got a great little team in The Meddlers, and, for the second season in a row, two fantastic coaches.  We're slightly bummed that Coach Britton and Quinn didn't return for a second season, but are super proud of Coach Shane for filling in the gap.  Just look at this team warming up!

Just like t-ball, it's been incredible to see what a difference a year makes.  Harris ran his little heart out last night and came really, really close to scoring a couple of goals.  We had a few tears toward the very end, but I can't say that I blame him.  Did I mention it was hot?!?!

Homegirl had a pretty good showing herself.  She is, of course, in love with her shin guards, and enjoys kicking the ball into the net as well.  She got a little confused when it was her turn to throw the ball in; she couldn't figure out why everyone else was kicking it away from her and got a little upset, but I'm expecting big things from her this season.

It was a great start to the beginning of a very hot season.

And by hot, of course, I'm referring to the heat.  Just in case you were confused by the following picture.