Judah Jay ...

The family grew by one member last week!  My brother's family added a BOY to the mix with his two precious girls! 

Judah Jay was born 7/12 weighing in at 8lb 2oz and 20.5 inches long. 

So, of course when my parents were going down to visit I jumped at the chance to join them and meet the new bundle of joy!

He seriously is the cutest little thing ever, and so tiny!  I forget as the little loves grow so quickly just how tiny they start out! 

And yes, it may have made my ovaries ache just a little bit holding him ...

 He seems to be such a content, easy going little baby - but lets be honest, us 3rd borns are pretty spectacular ;) 

I enjoyed some baby snuggles as the family all went to swim lessons one morning for the girls, and to church the next - staying back at home to help my sister-in-law out and give her some extra sleep as I tended to Judah Jay {and I only got peed on during one diaper change - ha!}

His big sisters are pretty proud and love to swing him and give him loving.

The weekend wouldn't be complete without some snapchat ...

Of course, Judah wanted in on the action too! ;)

A great visit in deed, can't wait to see them all again next month when the WHOLE family will be vacationing together! 

An evening to remember ...

When you have friends who move back north and LOVE the outdoors - if they ask you if you'd like to go to their super secret place, you don't say no.  And, if you get out of the car and walk up a little bit of a hill and see THIS view, you are SO very happy you didn't say no!

What makes it even better is since it's so super secret - the pups joined us!

I'm pretty sure that this evening taught Otis if Matt and Annie want to take us someplace, you just say YES!

After our little hike we ventured down to the water and let the pups enjoy some freedom ...

And Otis the water dog LOVED the water! 

And we LOVED time with our friends! A win win for everyone!

It was great to find a space to just let Otis run and be free - I can tell he's missing his daily runs in the backyard!  

A couple times there were people who came down - and one group that had dogs so we snatched the leashes on the pup sand just took them for a little walk to distract them.

Then we'd let them run some more when the coast was clear - and boy did they LOVE that! 

Rolling around in the sand ... now that wasn't necessarily part of the plan ;) 

But our little guy swam his heart out the WHOLE night getting braver to go out further and further into the water {no worries, it wasn't that deep!}

And finally when he started shaking from being cold we decided to call it an evening.  This pup cuddled up with his dad and slept the whole ride home {even snoring} until we gave him a bath and he proceeded to pass out once again.

Here's to hoping we can visit this super secret location again this summer!

Cherry Festival ...

It is true that my family lives and breathes for the Cherry Festival it seems.  It was always such a fond memory of mine growing up - going to the parades, special activities, eating cherries, seeing friends, etc.  Sadly, this year I didn't make it to that many festivities.  But, we did meet up with friends one night to do some rides at Arnold's - a must do activity during the week! 

I tend to blame my old age, but I just can't do rides like I used to.  So thankfully, Dustin had some willing participants to ride, ride, ride with him! 

I was happy to just sit and wait while they went on rides that spun them around, tipped them upside down, and literally sent them flying up into the air!

So many thanks go out to our friends {and their kids} for making the hubs happy and saving me from exceeding the limits I have and probably just getting sick :) 

I did request that we go on the Ferris Wheel though, the one ride that I do and that I love {besides the bumper cars of course!}

The concert for the evening was just starting as we were stopped at the top of the ride - perfect timing in deed! 

Lets not forget the most important part - elephant ears! :)

A wonderful evening with the hubs and friends in the town that I love during my most favorite week of the summer :) 

Water pup ...

We took Otis down for his first swim of the summer the other night.  We always wait until later in the evening when town has calmed down a bit, the beach empties out, and we have a little slice of paradise all to ourselves.

And this pup, well ... he LOVES the water! 

He would run and run - and jump - and go underwater looking for his Frisbee.  Great entertainment! 

Afterwards he got a bath and then slept soooooo good!  If it didn't take a gazillion hours for our fluff ball to dry we'd take him swimming every night!  But, I do know there will be plenty of swimming fun for him this summer! 

4th of July ...

4th of July is always a big deal up in Northport ... such a big deal that even the dog goes all out! :)

We enjoyed a day filled with lots of family and friends.

It started off with the poker run - 5 boats, 5 drinks while riding around in a dinghy - a fun time in deed! 

Then we spent a little time recouping and just taking in the greatest 4th location.

My family ended up coming up and joining us for dinner and fireworks.  A dinghy ride with the little loves is always a must. 

Then we might have kicked them out, thrown in the cooler, and had an adult dinghy ride ;)

The 4th is quickly becoming my favorite holiday - it's always {mostly} beautiful out, its a relaxing day spent with family and great friends - what could be better?!

Definitely another great 4th in the books! 

A quick visit ...

Before the business of summer really hits - and this family adds a third child - I scooted down to visit my bro, sis-in-law and their two little loves {plus one fluffy one} for an evening.  Unfortunately the hubs had to work, but C let me know that she missed him oh so much.

It was nice to just "hang out" with the family. 

And of course Otis' brother from another mother {they have the same dad}.  I believe Kona is looking forward to his upcoming hair cut ;) 

It was nice to see how good Kona is with the little loves.  He sure is one loved pup! 

Miss A was a big fan of the selfies ...

And then she wanted to be a puppy on snapchat ...

which ended up opening up the doors to all the other fun filters ...

So we took pictures and sent them to their dad who was working :)

Because, well that's just the fun thing to do! 

We played, we talked, we laughed ... it was good for the soul! 

Next time I see these two they will have a new baby brother - another little love to love like crazy!