Bye Bye Summer!!

 Sadly summer has come to an end, but we sure did cram a lot in 6 short weeks!! Let's start with the annual 4th of July trip to Kiawah with cousins! There was plenty of surfing.

 Body surfing

 And cousin love!

 Beckett catching a wave!

 This was the strangest picture. I took this picture and after I took it, I saw the light beam. I looked up and couldn't see it. I tried to take another picture in the exact location when Jackson was gone and I couldn't see it again. I think I may have caught a picture of Jackson's angel. There are several possibilities with my mom, dad, and Glo all looking down on us!

 Beckett did great riding his bike to the beach. There are several large hills, so he decided to stick with the training wheel bike for now.

 Brothers :)

 Obligatory boardwalk to the beach photo!

 I love how Beckett is watching Jackson in this photo. He so looks up to his big brother!!

 4th of July bike parade!

Bikes are decorated and ready to go!

 Happy 4th of July!

 Uncle Sam!

 Sweet cousins.

 Testing his skills on the rock wall.

Jackson made it to the top with no problem!

 2 lovers of Spider Man

 Fishing time!

We found out that they do a fishing contest at marina. These 2 love to fish, so we couldn't miss out on that opportunity!

 Waiting to get their poles in the water!

 Hoping for a big one!

 First to catch a fish!

 Not only was he first to catch a fish, but at the last second caught the largest fish in his age group to win the contest!

 The boys usually get some sort of souvenir at the end of the trip. Our days of toys have seemed to vanish. This one chose a hermit crab.

This one chose a fishing pole...of course!

We learned all sorts of info about hermit crabs and are doing our best to keep these suckers a live! We upgraded the living quarters and since they are social animals, purchased Hermia a couple of friends.

 Beckett and his buddy Clayton. They had 2 sleepovers this summer and did great! We had Clayton over for the first one. I just love to listen to their conversations. Beckett's buzz word is actually and Clayton's is Excuse Me.

 The went bowling and had a great time! Lots of cheering!!

 Our next trip to the beach was to PCB with the Moffett's!! Always a great time!!

Beckett got this float for the pool and insisted on bringing it to the beach. He must have played in that thing for hours!

 This boy LOVES boats!

 Beckett learning how to snorkel. He is really getting to be a pretty good swimmer now!

 We ate dinner at a pirate themed restaurant which was right up this kids alley!

 Not so much the older boys....

 Matching ponchos were purchased because... why not?!

 More fishing on this trip and Jackson had the biggest catch this time!

 The following weekend it was Beckett's turn to sleep over at Clayton's. They went swimming.

 Made pizzas

Played like 5 year olds!

 And cozied up to the end the night with a movie. So cute!

 My American Ninja Warrior.

 Next weekend we rented a house at Lake Burton with the Wonder girls!

 There was of course more fishing!

 Beckett decided it was just easier to sit in the lake and cast.

 Playing King of the Hill or King of the Floating Raft.

We rented a boat and took the kids tubing for the first time. I grew up tubing on a lake, so this brought back so many memories for me!!

 First time out!

 Jackson got brave and started to try to stand up. Daddy quickly flipped him off...

 Beckett's  and mommy's turn!

 This was our first time at Lake Burton and will certainly not be our last. It really is just beautiful and hard to believe it is only 90 miles from our house. Beautiful mountains!

 Time for a little dip in the lake!

 Watch out! Look who's driving!

 Jackson was super proud of his fish...

Beckett had another playdate with Clayton and they went swimming at the club. Here they are walking up there like big boys!

 Beckett with his buds. I just love seeing him interact with kids his own age! His personality certainly shines!

 Summer ended with some cousin fun! My sister and her family came for a 6 day visit. We had the best time! We had snow cones in the square.

 Took them to one of the most exciting Braves games we have been to! There were several homeruns and the Braves won which always makes for better experience.

 The weather was perfect as well!

 Yay for the Braves and dip n dots!

 Walker WOW day! We met Jackson's teacher Mrs. Goggin. It has been such a great year so far. Jackson is really enjoying the additional responsibility being a 3rd grader means. He is taking responsibility for doing his homework by himself and just asks me to check it when he is done. We are only 2 weeks in but there has not been a single bit of whining with homework. Not even reading! I hope this keeps up!!!

 Field and Stream finally opened and this one found his heaven!

 First day of 3rd grade!

 First day of Pre-K. Beckett has worked hard all summer with Mrs. Sarah and has made leap and bounds! He has worked hard and his hard work has paid off. We are so proud of him and can't wait to see all this year has in store for him!

 Look out Walker! Here come the Nesmith boys to rock this year!!

We fit in one more lake trip with the Goodhart's to Big Canoe. We had a decathalon of sporting events and we all had a great time. From this water obstacle course to football to soccer to volleyball to basketball, we hit all the sports!

Beckett got right in!

 The highlight of the trip for Beckett. Paddling in a canoe. They even had smaller canoes that he went in by himself.

We hosted Jackson's new baseball team the Southwest Sox for a kickoff pool party. It was really tough on Jackson at first when he didn't make the 643 team, but it has lit a fire in him to work hard and prove them wrong next year. His team this year is a great group of kids and parents. He is back with some of his buddies from OP including Bennett, Aiden, and Cooper. It should be a fun year!

These 2 melt my heart!!!

One last picture of pure summer joy!