All the miscellaneous pictures from June…Ready…Set…Go
Ceili Rain was the master zucchini grower this year.
Winter the Cat in her jacuzzi.
Doughnuts. Does it get any better than this?
Peek-a-Boo
Emmie learned to crawl in June. I thought that developmental milestone had passed. But once the braces came off and her neck wasn’t perpetually in a forward motion, she started crawling. Now she gets on all fours and declares, “I a dog. Arrrf.” and takes off.
It’s hard to see, but Ceili Rain colored my hair purple with an exploding purple paint pen.
My brave, cute and amazing girl!
And a silly dress up one.
Smudge declared this day was a computer free day. And enforced it.
Before
After
Cuteness? Of course.
It’s a triple see saw.
My doll.
Selfies with mom.
Showing Mama the pictures while we drive.
Goodness. These two are peas in a pod.
Since Emmie is now in the general anesthesia camp for MRI time, we have to go to day surgery instead of to radiology. That means a different way to do things (they have to intubate for long MRIs and such).
And Ge’s iPad was a hit! 
Zoe and I ran to Goodwill to look fro some summer clothes and came across this gem. 
It was written in Mandarin Chinese (or Cantonese…I don’t know the difference)!
Emmie and I grabbed a selfie, because, no brace.
Enjoying a little Steak n’ Shake in style.
The kids zipped away on the zipline. Hands down, one of the best investments for our super active crew.
There is a fun creek in our hometown and we chose that as a quick meet up with Aunt Yaya and Uncle J and one of the kids’ nephews.
Aunt Yaya and I kept trying to figure out why we had never been out to the creek. The water stays cool year round which makes for a fun, refreshing trip. It’s perfectly wide and just deep enough to wade in.
And it has rocks to skip.
Or just to sit in.
Cousin E found a crawfish and with that captivated the attention of all eight of his cousins.
We all climbed to the top of the silo. That’s my kids way at the tip top.
I even climbed to the top…and took this picture.
It’s always fun to meet with family and hear stories of everyone.
And see my kids be goofy.
Double piggies and a fun cooking apron.
First time swimming in nine months. This was one happy girl. We were glad to see her love for the water hadn’t changed.
We have Taco Tuesday every week. This one Tuesday, she decided she liked tomatoes. And grabbed the serving bowl. And dumped them on her plate and ate them all.
We were so excited that we had Mark’s mom, Grandmere on Mother’s Day. Having a baby close to Mother’s Day has its advantages. Malachi, our resident snuggler, was super happy to get cuddles during church.
Mother’s Day. Holding our baby close. It was a good day.
Papa snuck in some cuddles too.
Zoe and Mark made a yummy fruit pizza for a church fellowship. It was completely gone by the end of the night.
My lap was full.
Emmie loves to stack and build.
So does Ceili Rain.
First time riding facing forward.
And three out at the same time. A record.
Double piggies and patriotic. 
Puzzles are a thing around here. They like to put them together several pieces out and then put those back in. This was a difficult puzzle but with only a few pieces left, Bryant decided to tackle it. With great concentration.
Ge also got some pretty amazing pictures of Emmie with her daddy.
These two have a very special bond.
The boys set up “dominoes.”
Malachi got some cuddles.
Ace channeled the Bear (if you don’t know who the Bear is, you don’t know Alabama football).
Ceili Rain picked out her hair do in the early afternoon and with the help of a neighbor’s curling iron, I was able to pull it off.
This kid is growing up way too fast.
So is this one! My kids are good lookin’
Such a little man.
These three are missing the fourth member of their team of destruction. But they are still adorable.
Do you think he knows how cute he is?
We’re nearing teen years with this one.
And this girl is a young lady now.
Zoe asked for a Gibson tuck and a braid on the side.
Ya’ll. Have you met Mark’s twin?
We got there early and decided to trek over to the botanical gardens and try out the new splash area. It did not disappoint but we made a few mistakes. First of all, it is a far, far walk to the botanical gardens. Sure, they have a tram but there was a line and we thought, “Oh we can make it.” We had a large shopping bag full of swimsuits and towels, an umbrella stroller and a 4 year old who was too tired to walk the whole way. Mark carried him. I pushed the stroller. A kid carried the massively heavy shopping bag.
She chose a panda bear and smiled and laughed and waved. Mark and I both about lost it. Our little Super Ems was gaining even more confidence. I had to look like an idiot crying while she rode, but if we could only show everyone how far she has come. How many battles she has fought. It was definitely a triumphant moment for us to witness.
