The Parker Family

They love to dance

Georgia

We are home from our time away. It was nice, I had never been to Callaway Gardens before and really enjoyed myself. I think we would seriously consider going back. Okay, so this is seriously one of our first family photos. I'm still not giving up hope for a great family picture one day!
The other picture is of Eva with the GA flag behind her. I have a lot more to post, just going to be a matter of time for me to finish this AND get the kids in bed:)

Sorry, not one picture this time!

I feel so behind in posting, but I have been waiting to get some pictures. We are on vacation now at Callaway Gardens in Georgia and having a blast. The kids are all enjoying their time in camp and we (Trip and I) are enjoying some free time. I took some great pictures this afternoon of the kids playing and watching the circus but have not had a chance to upload them yet. Maybe tomorrow! Our cottages don't have interenet access so I am in the lobby doing some work now. At any rate, we are still around and having a good time, just haven't blogged!

Girl Scout/friend party

This is the party I mentioned earlier.
The girls were great and had a fun time. I have to say the young girl on the bike ( a good friend) of Eva's just speaks volumes of summer to me. Riding your bike around the park barefoot. Does it get any better for a kid? Just look at her face.

It is really really raining now. I love it, although Gabby tends to freak out in storms she's doing okay right now. Just a little pacing. We need the rain so bad, our grass is dying and the twice a week watering that we are allowed to do isn't cutting it.

I love seeing all of the little red dots on my map to see where people have logged on to the blog. I'm guessing many of them are accidents, but how neat to be able to see through the little map thingy at the bottom. I saw one from Vietnam which makes me feel good.

We just got back from the Science museum this afternoon, money well spent on our yearly pass. Air conditioned fun.

Me cooking, Ellis dancing

Gabby is back!

You can see the love Ellis has for Gabby and for her Daddy in these pictures.
Ellis is currently my biggest poser, so these next few posts will have a lot of pictures of her. Don't worry, they all get their turn!

My friend Monique

This is my friend, Monique, with her two daughters, Emma and Skylar. I took these pictures a month ago. We normally take the kids to North Carolina or GA together this time of year, but this is the first summer in 5 years that we are not going. Chris, Kyle, Monique and I decided to take a break in the travels this summer. Maybe we will try it again next year.

The next picture is Eva and Lillian...those two have more pictures together than Eva has as a family with us...no joke. I am currently photographer shopping to get someone to take pictures of us. I cannot do it myself the way I would like to have it done.

The last picture is from exactly a year ago. Lee still enjoys pouring water over his head in the bathtub. I just never noticed this picture until I was going through some old ones tonight.

Gabby is here and school is out! Eva and Lillian hosted an end of the year party in the park the night before last night. The girls all had a great time, I will post some new pictures of that and of Gabby very soon.

graduation cap

Lee graduated from Pre -K last week, I haven't gotten a picture of him with his cap on yet, but Ellis loves. He was so cute at his little program. His teachers have his programs video taped professionally so the parents don't have to worry about taking video at the same time. When I get the disc I will see if I can post any of it on here. He learned a couple songs in sign language, I am so impressed with his skills. He has just blossomed this past month! Exactly 16 months in it seems his English is becoming so full. I don't really feel the need to have to explain what he is saying to strangers anymore (like people who ask him questions in the grocery store or at the doctors) He can actually answer questions fairly well on his own.

Weekend

We had a very quiet weekend. The kids basically played at either the park or in the house the whole time.
Eva and I had some alone time yesterday to run some errands. She has been itching to get a new Nintendo game with her saved money so we went to Target, where else?

Ellis went with me to the grocery store on Saturday and I have to say it was not nearly as painful as it used to be. It seemed I used to run through the store almost sweaty in panic trying to remember everything we needed before she attempted to climb out of the cart or scream...or both. Now she will carry on a conversation with me, so it makes it a bit easier.

There are supposed to be four pictures here. Sometimes while I'm typing I think my computer freezes for a second, then I backspace and I end up deleting pictures I'm trying to post.

The first picture is of Eva wearing the Skidmore shirt in honor of Casey. I used to be her nanny back in the day when she was a baby, now she is going to college in the fall. I feel so old. Congrats Casey on graduation and your acceptance to Skidmore.

Gabby is her dog (the family dog), this is the dog we watch each summer, I will start posting pictures of her again soon since she is coming on Friday.

The picuture are pictures of pictures. I keep this bulletin board in my office/sunroom of some of my favorite pictures or moments in life. At the top is the first photo I took of Lee the moment I met him. Much like birth, it is a moment frozen in time for me. I have several pictures of my wonderful husband up there, and also pictures from our travels to Paris and London. I have Eva's first dentist appointment in black and white on the bottom left, college pictures of Kyle, Rach and I. A few family reunion photos and pictures from our trips to North Carolina with my lovely friends. The blank patches on this bulletin board are spots where I'm assuming some little fingers have swiped pictures. I need to go back and fill it in.

The photo below that is my favorite picture of Trip and I together. It was taken 16 years ago, it was our engagement photo. My total inspiration of a photographer, Eddie Bonfigli took it. As a photographer I know I'm not supposed take photos of photos to display, but I think Eddie would understand.

I need to go be productive. I added some new songs, a couple Brooke White and Natasha Bedingfield. Love those ladies!
Til next time :)