Why you shouldn't try to iron while your child finger paints

She thought it was really funny when we went to get all
cleaned up and she saw herself in the mirror :)

Summer Vacation

We just got back from our annual beach trip to Destin with my family. We had a great time! The weather was beautiful and the water was about the clearest I have ever seen it be. We stayed somewhere new this year, Pelican Beach Resort, and were very pleased. For the past 11 years we have stayed here. We have made lots of great memories at Holiday Surf, however; their beach has gotten pushed back further and further to where there is pretty much no beach left. We decided it was time to find a new place. The condo was plenty roomy for all 8 of the Hall/Zumwalt family :)

Kenadie and Hayden both absolutely LOVED the beach! They played in the sand for hours and loved being taken out in the water where the big waves were, or as Hayden says, the dinosaur waves :) cute. The two of them are the sweetest of cousins and play so well together. It was so fun watching them on the beach. They are quite entertaining. The swimming pool was also a favorite of Kenadie's. I put her floaties on and she just did her own little thing. I must say everyone in the pool was smiling at her as she was so happily saying "I swimming, I swimming". We know she's cute, she just sometimes likes to let everyone else know too :)

A newer beach tradition of ours that I just LOVE... cooking in. We just started doing this last year and why we didn't start it sooner--I don't know? We ate out twice, which I also love, but I sure do like to stay at the beach all day, come in and get a shower, and not have to worry about fixing hair, make-up etc. Not to mention, it sure is easier with small kids to stay in. When they're done eating, they can go play. So it's perfect for everyone :)

Our trip was perfect. Wishing I was still there and already looking forward to next summer :) One more thing I almost forgot, Aaron gets the "Best Daddy of the Year" award!!! He plays non stop with Kenadie. Anything she wants, he'll do. He couldn't love her more, and she's just as crazy about him :) He is also the biggest help to me and NEVER complains. I can truly say in the 13 years we have been together, I have NEVER not even once heard him complain. Thanks Aaron for being so GREAT!!! I love you! Also, thanks to Papa and Kay Kay for a wonderful trip! We had a fantastic time!!!
Picnicing along the way

Celebrate America

This past Sunday was "Celebrate America" at our church. Celebrate America is a special day that we honor those who have served or are serving our country. Our A.M. worship service was entirely centered on celebrating our wonderful America. In lou of our p.m. service, we had a picnic on the grounds of the church. There was lots of food, fun, and fireworks.

Daddy & Kenadie--Celebrate America--TBC

Happy 4th of July!!!

New Milestone

We reached a new milestone today :) It's called Kenadie went to the grocery store for the last time... or at least for a while anyway :) For as long as Kenadie has been being my Wal-Mart helper, I have always taken extra measures to make sure she stayed as happy as possible while we shopped. She has been faithfully going with me since she could sit up, so around 6 months. There was a time when going to Wal-Mart was one of her favorite places to go. Not because she got a treat or anything, but because she was just content and happy to be there looking at EVERYTHING.

When she started to talk pretty well, around 14 months, she would name as many items as she could and was the MOST friendly little thing, not letting a single person walk by us without saying "hey" or "me five". "Me five" meaning she wanted to give them "5". Needless to say, it was at this stage that we seemed to almost never make it out of the store because we had to talk to EVERYONE :)

Well, at 20 months now, we are at a new stage and Wal-Mart is no longer fun for us :( It makes me a little sad that in just a short time of her life, what was once a fun activity for us, is now, hmmm... how should I put this... well, torture :) haha. It's not that she makes a scene or is ugly tempered or anything, it's just that she could not be less content. I really wish I had a "farewell Wal-Mart" picture of Kenadie today as she was jumping in the buggy, announcing "I jumping, I jumping" as I unloaded groceries onto the counter.

I look forward to Kenadie joining me again as my grocery helper when this stage passes, but for now, if you see us in Wal-Mart just know that it must have been an emergency :)

Swimming Lessons

About a month ago, a friend of mine asked me if Kenadie and I wanted to sign up and take swimming lessons with them at the Wellness Center. I thought, seeings how much Kenadie LOVES the water and how she has NO fear of it, I thought it would be a good idea. We have a decent sized blow up pool and every time we get in it, Kenadie somehow manages to make herself go under in about 2 feet of water. She always laughs and thinks it's so funny. I could just about say she is most happy when she is in the water.

I was expecting her to love swimming lessons. The class met 4 times. We actually missed the first class due to being in Omaha, NB for the College World Series. Well, our first and second lessons went nothing like what I had expected. She fretted the whole time and was continuously saying "out". Needless to say she did NOT have a good time those two lessons. On our third and final lesson, she absolutely LOVED it--just like I had expected her to the whole time. Her smile never left her face and she laughed the whole time. Well, at least we ended on a happy note.

I Hiding

Here lately, one of Kenadie's most favorite things to do is hide. She especially likes to hide under tables and while hiding, she is usually saying "I hiding, I hiding" over and over again in her sweet little voice. Today I told her to go hide and here is where she ended up, while pricelessly saying "I hiding".

So here I am

So, I too have decided to join the blogger world :) I am going to use this blog as a way to record the day-to-day life of our family. I also thought it would be a good way to keep up with the small things that might not make it into our family scrapbooks.