Summer 2013!

I have been meaning to post this for a looong time.  Better late than never, right?  :)  Summer is almost coming to a close....but we have about a month left, and I'm not going to rush it!  :)

Prepare for a picture-heavy post.  ;)

I finished school on May 24th and boy, was I happy!  The best part about it was finishing Algebra 1.  Praise the Lord.

We've been having friends over and swimming....

Excuse the goggle marks on my head.  ;)

We went to the zoo.....

They have an exhibition going on right now where you can pet stingrays and small sharks--it was definitely the highlight for me, and for all of us, I think!  :)

It's MELMAN!

The elephants were really neat.  One of them was born in the early 1960's!

Big, grumpy gorilla.

 

 

The Chinese exhibit where the pandas were was, of course, one of my favorite parts.  It's pretty realistic!  :)

 

Camel ride!  It was really rhythmical and easy--not like I expected!  :)

Petting stingrays (their stingers were clipped, of course)....

 

That's my older brother, Colt, in the white cap (his girlfriend Amber is beside him), and my cousin, Trey, in the green/yellow shirt.  :) 

 

A little sibling love.....

We went to a friend's wedding (Samantha and Michael).  It was great.  And we finally got to wear our new sundresses and cowboy boots!  :)

Samantha, the bride, changed into this cute dress for dancing at the reception.  We didn't get a picture of her in her actual wedding dress, but it was really pretty--it was a mermaid style.

Mama's cowboy boots are on the left, mine are on the right.

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture.  :)

Instead of having rice or bird seed or bubbles thrown/blown when they left, Samantha and Michael and the rest of the wedding party/guests released balloons!  It was really cool.  

We went to a carnival.....

  I. Love. Carnivals.  The seven-year-old in me comes out when I see the carnival set up in our town.  ;)

 

I never get sick on rides.  But this made me so nauseous!

 

We've been buying/checking out books at the bookstore, used book sale, and library....

We've visited cousins and cousins have visited us.....

After swimming in the rain.  :)

These two are so close--I love it!

Oh, and there was the 4th of July!  :)  Happy Independence Day....God bless America!  :)

Sparklers

All the girl cousins coordinated with patriotic nails.  :)

A rainbow showed up on the 4th....

My cousin the over-sized leprechaun.  ;)  

We've played many games of UNO.....

We've played some tennis.....

We've gone fishing.....

Aaaaand, I started a volunteer job at the library!  I love the library.  :)  I work in the children's room.  I shelve, mostly, and I've come to take a lot of pride in "my books," as I call them.  ;)

It's been a good summer so far.  :)

CAKEPOPS!  :D

How has YOUR summer been?  :)

God bless you guys and have an awesome day!

Joy :)