ABC's of the Summer- Part Two

Here are just a few more of the highlights from our ABC adventures this summer.

L is for Ladies that are silver...also known as mannequins!!  Raleigh loved getting her picture taken with all of these "ladies" every time we went shopping this summer.

 Raleigh and the silver ladies.

M is for....Movies and Mohawks!!

 We joined a movie club this summer and would go and see movies one day a week throughout the summer.  It was super cheap so it didn't bother me much if we had to leave if Thad was having a hard time.

 My cute little warrior rocked a mohawk quite a bit this summer!!

O is for...Outside.

 Thaddaeus LOVED swinging and being outside so much this summer.  We went to lots of different parks, but could only be outside in small time frames because it was so hot!!

 My two monkeys on the swings.

Q is for...Quackers.  We love feeding the ducks, also known as "quackers" in our family.  

 Thad watching the ducks...

Ra feeding the quackers.

Thad honestly spent most of his time eating the bread instead of feeding the ducks.  Ha!

S is for smart glasses....we read a lot around our house, but we found that our smart glasses really help.

I know you might have thought that was Clark Kent, but it is really Thaddaeus!!

Smart and Sassy Raleigh

W is for... wagon rides.  Another way we can be outside is by taking a wagon ride in the evening.

Sweet loves!!!

ABC's of the Summer- Part 1

This summer has been full of so much fun!!  We tried to go through the alphabet and do a fun activity and craft with each letter.  We did manage to conquer every letter, although it sometimes got extremely creative, but we had a great time overall.  Here is some of the highlights of the fun things we did...

A is for...animals.  We went to several pet stores and saw all kinds of new animals.

 Raleigh's favorite were the tiny mice

 Thad's favorites were the g. pigs....he just kept laughing and laughing at them!!

Bis for...Bugs!!! We bought some bugs for the bath tub and watched them grow and shrink a ton of times.  B was also for bath time...we gave Titus a bath (like I said, sometimes we stretched our creativity).

 Raleigh and her favorite insect....the ladybug!!

C is for Cheetoes!!!  This summer Thad discovered the wonderful world of Cheetoes and is lovin life!!

 Serious about Cheetoes...

D is for a Dangerous new buddy named Skippy Jon Jones.  This summer Raleigh really got into the Skippy Jon Jones books.  Thad just simply enjoyed laughing at my attempt to speak in an accent.

Can you tell that we had to have our hair fixed to where it will match Skippy's ears??

F is for Funny Faces and Funny hats.  Raleigh definitely went through a time this summer where she thought she was just like a dinosaur.  She would copy their faces and try to make everyone laugh around her...silly girl!!

Dinosaur face!!

Thad also had to wear his funny hat this summer every time we swam...I thought it was precious, but everyone else thought it was ridiculous.

I is for Injuries....I know it is inevitable (you like all the letter I usage don't you) but being a member of the Ivy family it is only a matter of time until you get injured.  My sweet boy got his first injury this summer.  Thankfully, we avoided his eye. As you can see, he seems to handle pain pretty well.

MIssion Trips

Along with camps, the kids also have a chance to go on several mission trips.  The junior high went to New Orleans and the high school went to Brazil.  I saved all of my "grandparent babysitting days" to go to Brazil.  It was incredible!!  We started off by sleeping in the airport the first night...which was insane!!  But once we got to Brazil we lived on two big boats the entire time we were there.  We traveled around to different parts of the Amazon river doing missions during the day (VBS, village ministry, dentist ministry, and visiting schools) and then at night the kids put on a huge concert that was unbelievable.  It was  a life changing week that we will never forget.  I wish you all could have been there.  I wish I could sit down and talk to you for hours about how incredible our kids did, or how the simplicity of the gospel was alive.  People with malaria were prayed for, kids were loved on, and God was given glory.

Clint and some of the student staff at the airport...sleeping on the floor was rough!!

 Finally in Brazil!!!  So excited that are sweet friends Ben and Jen were able to go with us.

 These are the hammocks that we slept in..the picture on the left is blurry, but that is how close we all slept together.  Not bad and thankfully I didn't fall out!!

 Me, Sarah, and Jen...girl leaders on our boat

 Clint and some guys at an outdoor concert

 Clint speaking at one of the concerts

 After each show all of the kids would talk to everyone and share "their story" and why they were here in Brazil.  It was crazy how they were surrounded like they were celebrities.

In the villages we cut hair, did nails, handed out baby clothes, ran VBS and played lots and lots of soccer!!

Kids at schools singing and hanging out with our kids

One of our girls started her own company based off of her preemie days that is named "Wrapped In Him."  She raised enough money to pay for her trip and several others.  Here she is telling her story.

On the days we traveled on boat, we launched balloons filled with candy and soccer balls to kids that would come out on boat to see us from the smallest villages.

Let the Camp Season Begin!!

It is officially summer, which means....it is camp time around here!!  Daddy is gone for two weeks to Florida for High School and Junior High camp.  This is the first year that I haven't gone to camp...I am pretty sad.  Camp is such a good time to build relationships with kids and I am sad that I am going to miss out on that.  They always have an incredible and life changing week.

Clint teaching at Camp

 Baptizing in the Ocean...this is by far my favorite time of Camp!!

Phil, Chris, Clint, and Duke after baptizing in the rain.  Poor guys were freezing!!

Daddy/Daughter Date

Raleigh and Clint squeezed in some extra time to go on one more date before daddy's schedule gets super busy.  Where did she choose to go? To the movies of course!!!  She loves going to the movies with her daddy.  They get a HUGE icee and lots of snacks.  I love when they go because it also opens up time for me and my little Thad man to hang out.  The more they go on their dates together, the more "rules" Raleigh seems to come up with.  Clint is such a good sport.

 One new rule...they have to match!!  Such a cute purple pair!!

Build a Bear

We went on another "Ivy Day" to Build a Bear.  It was a huge success!!  They both had so much fun building their new buddies and need to have them around at all times.  Here are some pics from our fabulous day.  We were a little camera happy..sorry.

 Raleigh picking out her new buddy

Thad's new buddy 

 Raleigh putting the heart in and stuffing her buddy and taking care of brother's as well

 Cleaning and prepping her buddy

 She was a little bit scared of the shower, but pushed through for the sake of her bunny buddy

 Our favorite part...playing dress up!!

 Our special day gets a big two thumbs up!!

Raleigh and her new buddy Daisy the Aggie cheerleader bunny

Thaddaeus and his new buddy Hulk the bear

Two happy kiddos is a day of fun in my book!!  Don't you just want to squeeze them?!?

Dallas Aquarium

As the end of May is approaching, we know the summer is coming.  For most people they view summer as a time of relaxation and rest.  For us, it when the craziness around here gets kicked into high gear.  Our kids are pretty flexible, but summer is pretty tough on them, especially the not seeing their dad a ton part.  Raleigh and Thaddaeus are both in LOVE with their daddy (I can't blame them...I think he is pretty awesome also) and spending weeks a part is tough.  We thought we would try to ease the pain of the separation by increasing our outings and daddy/daughter dates in the month of May.  This plan could totally backfire on us, but we are hoping it doesn't.  Our most recent trip we went on was a trip to the Dallas Aquarium.  It was awesome!!  I had remembered going on a field trip years ago when I was still teaching and loved how it was laid out by the levels of the rainforest and was so excited about taking the kids there.  Raleigh thought it was amazing!!  Thaddaeus was happy and smiled pretty much the whole time.

Raleigh's excited face!!!

Raleigh's favorite penguin in the outdoor exhibit.  Of course she named it...Gertrude!!! Ha!! 

Ra and me by one of the waterfalls 

Watching the finger monkeys...they were so cute, but a little bit hyper, so Ra was holding on pretty tight!!